Cambodian campaign forgotten, now remembered! "Shakey's Hill"

You may wish to look up "Shakey's Hill" or Norman Lloyd! Learn about the 5th Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment's role they played in finding the largest cache of enemy weapons ever found in this war. I have a selfish interest in you knowing about this event. My jr. high and high school schoolmate who was very young at the time lost his life in this event. This event and his loss made national headlines for several days and then was forgotten. He was never forgotten in his own community but he was forgotten in the media. Chris was an inspiration to me in his participation and conduct while in the high school band. Due to eye problems I was rejected from participating in high school sports so with his inspiration I found a way to participate in the marching band. Chris Keffalos was a talented drummer who performed the finest drum cadence I have ever heard. His seriousness at developing his talent inspired me to take an interest myself in this and that was greatly needed for me after having to give up sports participation. Chris enlisted and within a few months we were to hear the headlines that gave us the sad news. I searched for his story for years and could find nothing but his mention on the memorial wall. Yes Chris Keffalos is the "Shakey" mentioned in this video as he was nicknamed for having a "Mel Tillis" like stutter. You would soon ignore this if you knew him as his depth of personality quickly took you past that.

For those of you of interest this video made by Norman Lloyd actually shows some winched extractions of wounded by helicopter and other vivid shots of the regular battle field grind as they progressed toward this cache and is some of the most exciting video I have ever seen in this war. I will leave it to you to see for yourself as it speaks for itself much greater than I can describe. I understand that Lloyd purchased the footage from CBS and created this documentary due to his personal wish to portray what he witnessed and filmed amongst these great men who participated in this campaign to capture the cache to save fellow soldiers lives. Those I have spoke to from Chris's community like myself were taken to tears to view this. It is not for the weak of heart. I will complete my rejoicing at this video having been made when it gains national audience sometime as that is what I hope for both for Chris and Norman Lloyd's work as a journalist whom I feel portrays the ideal concept of what a journalist should be. Thank you for reading this and thank you for looking up this interesting and movingly sad story of Chris and the other heroes of this campaign.

 

Thanks Biak, I am not always able to do things in my rural location due to poor phone lines and dial up service, so soon I hope to acquire an improved access but in the mean time I am lucky to get a post up without falling off line. Thanks for the links and trailer that you put up. My system couldn't do that. The extra effort is appreciated here.

 

I have this link mostly about Norman Lloyd that I should have included in my first posting because of its description of newsmen I hold in great respect.

VIETNAM VETS VENT ANGUISH

 

Some progress........I understand this documentary by Norman Lloyd was featured in some of the Military Channel's offerings. Unfortunately I do not get this channel. In Bloomfield New Mexico a new display depicting two heros of the town Chris Keffalos and Alex Munoz was dedicated and placed in front of the new high school. I am still hoping for greater circulation and viewing of this interesting documentary. Alex Munoz was a victim of the Beirut Lebanon bombing.