Douglas Griffin - 1966

DOUGLAS GRIFFIN - COLEMAN HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL Outstanding Lineman - Senior Year, 1965-1966
Douglas Griffin - Senior Guard	In the huddle.
Leslie Elkins prepares to cut behind Douglas Griffin's (in center of picture) block.

Coleman County has lost another young man in the fighting in Vietnam.  He is Lance Corporal Douglas Holtz Griffin, 20, son of Mr. and Mrs. J. W. Griffin of 1203 South Llano Street, who was killed while on a night patrol February 6 near Quang Nam, South Vietnam.  Services are pending at Stevens Funeral Home.  A Marine officer in Abilene has indicated that it will probably be 10 or 12 days before the body arrives in the United States.

Griffin was a 1966 graduate of Coleman High School.  He played football there his junior and senior years, and in his senior year was named the outstanding lineman.  He enlisted in the Marines July 7, 1966, at Abilene, received his basic training at San Diego, attended a supply school in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, then was transferred to Albany, Georgia where he volunteered for service in Vietnam.  He arrived in Vietnam last November.  Griffin was born December 30, 1947 at Brawley, California and had lived in Coleman County most of his life.  He was a member of the Coleman Church of Christ.  The funeral service will be held at the Coleman Church of Christ, with Paul Wallace, pastor of the Austin Avenue Church of Christ in Brownwood, and Bill Wiley, pastor of the Coleman Church of Christ, officiating.

Survivors include the parents; four sisters, Mrs. Shirley Brigandi of Coleman, Mrs. Annette Busby of Abilene, Mrs. Carol Sanders of Carrizo Springs, and Miss Debbie Griffin of Coleman; one brother, Dwight Griffin of Coleman; and his grandmothers, Mrs. W. F. Griffin and Mrs. C. E. Scott of Coleman.

About Douglas:

PERSONAL DATA
    LCPL - E3 - Marine Corps - Regular 
    20 year old Single, Caucasian, Male
    Born on Dec 30, 1947
    From:  COLEMAN, TEXAS
    Religion:  PROTESTANT

MILITARY DATA
    Length of service 1 year.
    His tour of duty began on Oct 26, 1967

CASUALTY DATA
    Casualty was on Feb 06, 1968 in QUANG NAM, SOUTH VIETNAM
    HOSTILE, GROUND CASUALTY
    GUN, SMALL ARMS FIRE
    Body was recovered

ON THE WALL     Panel 37E - - Line 57

"Salute To A Hero .....  Doug was my friend.  I remember the day he told me he had joined the Marines.  It was in English class.  We were both seniors in high school.  Doug sat directly behind me and before class began he said he had joined the Marines on the delayed enlistment program.  Immediately after graduation he was to go to boot camp.  Doug was quiet but with the spirit of a warrior.  I have always said if I had to share a fox hole with someone, it would have been Doug.  I visited the Vietnam Memorial Wall in Washington D.C. last summer and looked up Doug's name.  It was a somber moment for me.  After I attended his funeral I soon thereafter joined the Air Force.  His death had a profound effect on me.  I continue to think of Doug from time to time.  What a great man to die so young." 

"Doug was a quiet, unassuming classmate.  I don't remember his family.  But I will never forget Doug.  We were playing soccer on the same team in junior high school and winning.  Before anyone knew what was happening, a kid on the other team pulled a knife and slashed open Doug's abdomen.  Doug didn't scream or cry.  He just lay down on the grass and held his guts from falling out until help came.  I remember thinking it could have been me.  But Doug went first.  Doug's picture is in our high school year book as the outstanding linesman of the year when we graduated in 1966.  But he doesn't appear much other than that.  After high school he must have joined the Marines.  I don't remember being aware of the Vietnam war in high school but I do remember going to Doug's funeral in 1968.  It was unbelievable that someone we went to high school with could be dead at such a young age.  It seemed impossible.  Then Martin Luther King was murdered in April and Robert Kennedy was murdered in June.  But Doug went first.  I wish I knew more about how Doug died.  I wish I knew more about his family and how he grew up.  I will never forget Douglas Griffin."

"I went to high school and played football with Douglas.  He was a fine young man and an honor to Coleman.  I remember him often."

". . Your brother was one of the finest boys I have ever had on any athletic team.  He was the type you could always depend upon to keep the training rules, to be at practice every day, and to do his best every play of every game.  He never griped, complained, or had a bad attitude - traits you just don't find in many of the young people of today.  Never in the three years of high school athletics, did Doug ever come into the training room for first aid, etc.  Some boys spent more time there, than on the practice field.  Doug was the kind of boy who did his job well, but did not want any praise or glory.  He played football for only one reasons because he loved it.  He loved it because it required work, courage, teamwork, pride and sacrifice.  I cannot understand why a young man with these very rare character traits should be lost in war.  The less courageous young people of today neeed a strong, dedicated leader like Doug as an example to follow.  But God decided he needed Doug on his team.  And you can bet that he will play first team there, too.  Your brother wil be missed greatly by many of us who knew and loved him, and you can be sure that he will never be forgotten.  Ronald Robbins."