Local bridge dedicated for Vietnam war hero
The Inter-Mountain photos by Brad Johnson At right, Peter Agriostathes, far right, speaks about his friend Staff Sgt. Thomas Hess as Roger Ware, center, and Roger Hess, left, the brother of Hess, look on during an emotional bridge dedication ceremony.
The Inter-Mountain photos by Brad Johnson At right, Peter Agriostathes, far right, speaks about his friend Staff Sgt. Thomas Hess as Roger Ware, center, and Roger Hess, left, the brother of Hess, look on during an emotional bridge dedication ceremony.
Trending
ELKINS -- In the days leading up to America's patriotic Fourth of July celebration, a group of friends, relatives and fellow soldiers gathered to pay tribute to a Randolph County war hero.
In a moving ceremony, the Spillway Bridge on the Georgetown Road was dedicated as the U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Thomas Gavin Hess Memorial Bridge.
Hess, an Elkins native, was killed May 3, 1970, in the Quang Nam Providence of the Republic of Vietnam.
He was 26 years old and on his second tour of duty in Vietnam, with B Company First Battalion, 501st Infantry, 101st Airborne Division.
Peter Agriostathes, who called Hess "my best friend, my mentor, my hero," traveled to Elkins from Nevada to tell his friend's story.
"I met Tommy on my first day when the chopper dropped me off in the jungle," Agriostathes said, choking back tears.
"I was 18, I was being attached to his infantry company (as a forward observer) … Tommy came up to me on that first day with a big old West Virginia grin. That smile Tommy had on his face always put me at ease."
Agriostathes said he had long wanted to visit Elkins.
"From the first day, when he told me where he was from, I always felt a connection to Elkins, and I always said I was going to visit it one day. Well, it took me 49 years but I made it, and it's every bit as beautiful as Tommy said it was," he noted.
Agriostathes talked about the last days of his friend's life.
"We got into a really intense firefight in a valley … it went on for over six days and six nights," he said. "We scrambled up to the top of this hill to try to hold our position. They just kept coming up that hill, especially at night, and we kept fighting them off.
"One time they sent 20 guys, the next day they sent 30, the next day they sent 40. And there was only 30 of us. I called Tactical Operations Command … I was able to talk to the brass. I said, 'We seem to be badly outnumbered … we haven't slept for three days, we've got sleep deprivation.'
"He called me back the next morning," Agriostathes said. "He said, 'You all have walked into a battalion. And this ain't Charlie, this is the NVA, hardcore North Vietnamese army.'"
Agriostathes was informed that the battalion could include up to 500 men in the valley below his infantry company of 30 men.
He asked his superiors to approve a napalm strike in the valley.
"I said, "Sir, I've never called in napalm, but I'll tell you what, if we've got 500 guys down there against 30 of us, 15 to 1 odds, any night now, they're all going to rush this hill and we're never going to wake up," he said. "We won't be here the next day.'
"They asked me, 'Are there any American bodies down in the valley? … We can't drop napalm on an American body."
One infantryman's body was lying at the foot of the hill, and Agriostathes' superiors said the body had to be removed before napalm could be dropped in the valley.
"Tommy overheard this conversation … I started to go down that hill," Agriostathes said. "The captain screamed at me, saying 'Stop in your tracks! … You do not have permission to go down that hill! I'll courtmartial you if you don't come back here.'
"Before the captain could find someone else to send down, Tommy looked at me and gave me a little grin, and he started down the hill, to get that body and bring it out of that valley," he said.
"Tommy went down that hill, and he got under heavy, heavy fire. He got through all that, and he got to the body and pulled it about a fourth of the way up the hill," Agriostathes said. "That was enough to where I could call in the napalm.
"Tommy took off, trying to run up to the top of the hill, which was like a little mountain," he said. "A long way up. And they got Tommy on his way back up. And I lost Tommy.
"Because of what Tommy did, giving up his life, going down into the jaws of the enemy, 500 men, he saved my life, and he saved the lives of the 28 other men on the hill," he said. 'That allowed us to call in the napalm, and we survived because of Tommy's bravery."
Agriostathes exalted in the bridge being named for his friend.
"Tommy, this one's for you, buddy! We got it done! Tommy and I used to say after every battle, we'd say 'Geronimo!' That was our company's motto," he said. "The dream's come true, Tommy. You got your legacy. Long after I'm gone, your legacy is going to live on."
Agriostathes sent the original email asking that a road be named after Hess, which was then forwarded to Del. Bill Hartman, D-Randolph, 43rd District. Hartman brought the issue to a vote in the state Legislature, where it was approved.
"Dedicating a bridge is a perfect symbol of what Staff Sgt. Hess gave, because when everybody puts everything on the line, that creates a bridge that allows everybody else to live free and travel back and forth," Master of Ceremonies Roger Ware, the commandant of the Marine Corps League, said.
"For those who cross this bridge every day, the signs will serve as a silent reminder that freedom has a price, and Thomas Hess gave his life to help pay for this freedom. The memorial sign and the dedication ceremony will be an everlasting tribute that will honor him, while helping to keep his memory alive for family, friends and the community," Ware said.
Tom Hess's brother, Roger Hess of Elkins, was on hand to take part in the ceremony.
Hartman read aloud the Legislative Resolution dedicating the bridge in the memory of Hess. Another man who served with Hess, Don Hurlbutt, traveled from Connecticut to take part in the ceremony.