Peter Jon Kaulback

Peter's story

Peter Jon Kaulback was born on December 22, 1942, in Onondaga County, New York, and grew up in Webster, New York. His parents were Hazen and Beulah Kaulback, and he had a brother, Stephen.

On May 10, 1967, at 24, Peter enlisted in the Marine Corps in Buffalo. He arrived in Vietnam on December 18, 1967, and served as a rifleman with B Company, 1st Battalion, 1st Marines, 1st Marine Division.

In the spring of 1968, his company was fighting near Khe Sanh, in Quang Tri Province, close to the Laotian border. On May 31, 1968, Marines of the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marines ran into a large, dug-in North Vietnamese force, and Peter's company was sent to reinforce them. Along Route 9, south of the Khe Sanh Combat Base, they ran into North Vietnamese troops waiting along the road. Peter was killed in the fighting that day, one of more than two dozen Marines lost. He was 25.

He was first listed as missing. His remains were recovered on June 30 and identified on July 3, 1968. He came home to Webster and is buried in Webster Rural Cemetery.

Peter was awarded the Purple Heart. His name is on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., Panel 62W, Line 11.

The people who knew him have never forgotten him. A fellow Marine who was near him when he was killed says their platoon still honors Peter at their reunions. A family friend remembered that he kept writing letters to his parents until the day he died. His father kept Peter's photo with a four-leaf clover beside it.