TIFTON — Van Davidson served in the Army during the Vietnam War where he lost his friend, Thomas Lester Dukes, to a landmine 50 years ago.

Davidson and his friends Jim Sutterer, Jerry Diline and Lloyd Blankenship served in Vietnam together with Dukes. They have a reunion every year to catch up and talk but they never forgot about their friend Dukes who died in Vietnam.

Born in 1946, Dukes grew up in Tifton where he went to school and raised his horse named Trigger. He joined the Army at age 18 and attended boot camp at Fort Jackson, South Carolina.

Dukes served two tours of duty in Vietnam. He earned several awards including two Purple Hearts and an Army Commendation medal.

The group of friends served together as combat engineers. They served in the First Engineering Battalion of the First Infantry Division. Their unit was in charge of clearing the jungle of land mines and bombs. Sometimes their unit was sent in to clear a jungle before infantry units moved in.

On July 5, 1969, Dukes was driving a bulldozer clearing the jungle of land mines during daytime. His bulldozer struck a land mine and the explosion left Dukes badly wounded in the Vietnamese providence Binh Duong.

Sutterer was also wounded from the shrapnel that came off the land mine that injured Dukes. Sutterer was able to recover from his injuries, but Dukes died in a hospital days after the mine explosion.

The only physical memory Davidson had of Dukes was the wrist watch Dukes was wearing before he died. Davidson carried that watch for 50 years and vowed that if he ever met a family member of Dukes then he would give them the watch.

Davidson and his group of veterans thought Dukes was buried in Florida. For 50 years they had no leads or information about where their friend was buried.

Davidson came across a website in January this year and discovered thathe could look up the names of soldiers who died during the Vietnam War. Davidson typed Dukes’ name into the search bar and discovered someone posted a comment saying, ‘Thomas Lester Dukes is buried at Liberty Baptist Church Cemetery in Tift County, Georgia’ next to a picture of Dukes.  

Davidson contacted the pastor at Liberty Baptist and was put in contact with Dukes’ sister, Latrelle Cheeks.

Cheeks informed Davidson that Dukes never received a proper military funeral, with a 21-gun salute and bugler playing taps. Davidson lives in Tennessee but he wanted to find a way to come visit his friend for the first time in 50 years.

Cheeks began organizing a special ceremony for her brother, for anyone that knew her brother and for people who wanted to show their appreciation for the sacrifice from the Vietnam veteran. On Saturday, July 27, over 60 people showed up to pay their respects to Dukes.   

The American Legion participated in the ceremony and provided a 21-gun salute and a bugler for taps. Cheeks led the ceremony in singing the national anthem and “God Bless America.”  

When the ceremony drew to an end and people started leaving, Davidson found Cheeks and returned her brother’s watch to her. According to Davidson, he found closure from returning the watch and seeing where his friend is buried.

“This meant a lot to all of us,” said Davidson. “I feel like I can actually lie down and sleep a little better finally.”

If anyone wants to pay their respects to Dukes, he is buried at Liberty Baptist Church Cemetery located at 1290 Jacob Hall Rd. For those interested in searching for Vietnam War veterans, visit www.vvmf.org.