Wednesday, August 7, 1996 Page A3
Patriot memorialized at school
Memories still vivid
for Anderson family
remembering loss
By Liz CarterStaff Reporter
Patriot memorialized at school
It's been nearly 30 years since the Buecker family of Anderson Township buried Richard Michael Weaver in the Camp Dennison cemetery, but time hasn't healed all wounds.
A framed rubbing of Richard's name, taken from the Vietnam Memorial in Washington D.C., hangs on the wall in 75-year-old Hank Buecker's Anderson apartment. It is as fresh and sharp as his memories of the brash, popular, red-headed boy who grew up like one of the family years ago in Camp Dennison.
A recently dedicated memorial on the Indian Hill High School campus commemorates
"Big Red" Weaver, the Marine M-60 machine gunner. It has just begun to fill the
hole left in the lives of the Buecker family.
Weaver did come back, so often that the Buecker family began to think of him as
one of their own. Richard's elderly parents, Everett and Gwen, lived just down
the street from the Bueckers. They were devoted parents, but a special bond
developed between Hank and Richard.
And he got it.
"What a character," Hank said. "He was an outstanding athlete, but he wasn't
cocky or conceited. In my book, there has never been a better Marine. To me,
he's tops."
"He was well-provided for," Wiedemann said. His parents "had the money for him
to go to college, but the Marine Corps was a dream for him and he couldn't wait to
get started on it. He didn't give a thought to Vietnam."
Late in 1967, Hank put Richard on a plane to Vietnam. "I shook his hand and
said, `Good-bye, Richard.'"
The men who knew Richard in Vietnam traveled from Texas and Virginia,
Pennsylvania and Tennessee last month to attend the memorial dedication. They
said he was a hero who volunteered to be a gunner, Hank said. Under attack, the
gunner must lay down cover for the rest of his men. A gunner's life expectancy
from the moment of attack is seven and a half seconds, Hank said.
The men said Richard took green recruits under his wing and tried to teach them
how to survive. "He was like the guy that took care of them. He taught them hoe
to survive, and they made it and he didn't," Barb said.
He was awarded a Purple Heart with two gold stars, the Vietnam Gallantry Cross,
and other honors.
But the letters he sent home to Hank tell what was in Richard's heart.
"You can see him changing in the letters," said Barb. "Toward the end, you could
tell he was scared, but he went on. He was still brave."
Richard wrote his last letter home on May 18, the day before he died.
"His last letter, he said, `Hank, I'm going to get killed. I know I won't make it.'"
Hank said. "Seven-and-a-half seconds each time you get up, and that went on for
six months. That shows who was the best man. If I had to authority to
recommend him for a Congressional Medal of Honor, I would, and that still wouldn't
be big enough."
The last time Hank saw Richard was in 1968.
"I identified his body when it was sent back. I walked in and saw that red, curly
hair and said, `That's him.' He was laid out in his dress blues. I'll never get
over that."
Last year, Hank's son told him Wiedemann, Bagnoli, and other Indian Hill graduates
were organizing a memorial for Richard. They were looking for Richard's closest
relatives, but both his mother and father were dead.
"I didn't even want to do it at first. I didn't want to talk about it. I carried
(Richard's) picture in my wallet, and I couldn't look at it. I never forgave myself
for making him so patriotic. He wanted to be like me. This has been good therapy
for me," he said.
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