Dear Brennan Family, 

It is with real sadness that I received the information on his passing from one of his great lieutenants of 1967 and 68, Lt Wendover.  I was the battalion forward CP radio operator for the 1st of the 6th Infantry from our formation at Ft Hood in 1967 through our first year in Vietnam.  I must have spoken with then Capt Brennan at least a dozen times a day.  He was the Company Commander for our Alpha Company, which was usually the lead unit in our many missions in Vietnam.  It was a vey distinguished unit, and because they were always in the lead, they suffered our highest casualties.  I remember well the huge battle during the 1968 TET offensive when we were deployed to the Danang area.  Alpha Company became involved in hand-to-hand fighting with a force at least 10 times their size, and they held the ground.  Capt Brennan was badly wounded during that battle (called the battle of Lo Giang).  Now as I read his obituary, I see that he received 3 Purple Hearts in total.  We were amazed when he returned to us some months later in Vietnam, and I had to Medevac him out a second time.  It was on a tiny firebase called LZ Bowman (named after one of his Platoon Leaders killed during the battle of Lo Giang).  I don't know if he shared that particular story with his family, but he was in the middle of a crater on the top of the hill, sleeping with other members of his company in the middle of the night, when he leaped up shouting SNAKE, and holding his wrist.   We guess that a hostile king cobra crawled over several other troopers in that hole in order to bite him.  From our aid station, he was treated by one of our medics, and I called in the Medevac to get him to hospital.  Typical of Capt Brennan, he was out for a month or so, but still came back to join us again.  We all respected him to the highest level.  No mission was too difficult for him or his men of Alpha Company.  I know that many wonderful young brothers from the Gunfighters, have been patiently waiting for him in Heaven, and will hold a fantastic reunion.  They will all be young and tough as nails (especially his best RTO, Joe Picarilli, who was one of my best buddies).

God Bless a great leader of men in battle, and a man who loved his men every day.

Old Sgt Robert Kirsten

1st of the 6th Infantry, 198th Light Infantry Brigade, 1967-1968