Vietnam Memorial Names – Roy Fryman, Stephen Golsh, Ralph Duemling

Roy Allen Fryman, Aug. 24, 1969 – Roy Fryman, nicknamed “Pepper” by his fellow Marines, is the most highly decorated man on the Vietnam Memorial. He was awarded both the Silver Star and the Navy Cross, the second highest medal for valor.

Pepper Fryman is a legend among the Marines Force Recon units. Force Recon (Reconnaissance) is roughly the Marine equivalent of the Navy SEALs. Roy was born in Kentucky and joined the Marines in the late ’50s. He was a member of the first unit of Force Recon at its formation. After a stint in the Marines, he moved to La Cañada with his Norwegian wife and two kids. There he worked in Hollywood as a stunt man.

As the Vietnam War heated up, Roy rejoined the Marines Force Recon, and was deployed to Vietnam in 1966 as a sergeant. In 1968, while leading a long-range patrol, Roy set up an ambush. In the resulting firefight, a grenade landed in his team’s position. Just before it went off, he picked it up and tossed it back. He was wounded by the explosion but continued directing the attack. As the enemy’s superior numbers pressed in, Roy set up an evacuation of the wounded, and stayed in front while his men pulled back. For this he was awarded the Navy Cross. A year later his unit walked into a night ambush. Under intense fire, Roy charged the enemy position and was killed. He was awarded the Silver Star.

Roy’s son followed in his father’s footsteps, and also became a sergeant in the Marine Force Recon.

Stephen Arthur Golsh, March 21, 1970 – Stephen grew up on the 4900 block of New York Avenue. He graduated from CV High in 1964 and went on to Oregon State where he got a degree in zoology in 1968. Despite his degree, he was drafted in ’69, and became part of the Army’s elite 101st Airborne Division.

Stephen continued his love of plant and animal life in Vietnam. Private Golsh became known as “Bugman” to his fellow soldiers and Vietnamese civilians because of his growing collection of local insects and butterflies that he carried with him everywhere. While on patrol in the Au Shau Valley, Stephen was night lookout in a forward defensive position. He was the first contact in a surprise enemy assault and he was able to relay a warning back to his unit before he was overwhelmed and killed by a satchel charge. For this he was awarded the Bronze Star. He was 11 days from coming home.

Stephen’s mother Nora Golsh turned her grief into activism, and she became a well-known leader of the American Gold Star Mothers. She helped many other mothers through their grief.

Ralph Nelson Duemling, Aug. 18, 1970 – Ralph grew up in South Pasadena and graduated from schools there, where he was both a scholar and an athlete. He then went on to earn a B.A. from Cal State LA. He married a La Crescenta girl and then joined the Marines in 1967. After becoming a helicopter pilot and just before his deployment to Vietnam, Ralph and his new wife bought a house in the 4400 block of Cloud Avenue.

In August 1970, Ralph was the pilot of a Huey gunship covering the extraction of a unit of allied Korean Marines from an operation in the Hoi An area. As the Korean units were being picked up, enemy forces began firing at their transport helicopter. Ralph’s helicopter aggressively took on the enemy positions to protect the transports. His helicopter was hit by a barrage of rounds and went down in flames. The transport carrying the Korean soldiers set down at the crash site, and the Koreans held off the enemy while the bodies of Ralph and his crew was recovered.

He left behind his wife and a 13-month-old son. Ralph had high ideals about the war, but he died for the cause that so many soldiers die for: protecting his brothers in arms.

  mike lawler