John M. Joyce was born in Minot on November 15th, 1944, a little over two months after World War II ended. While Joyce missed that conflict, he came of age during another: the Vietnam War.
There were many people who did not want to fight, but Joyce was not among them. He could have received a deferment after graduating, but instead chose to join the Marines, and proved his strength and leadership by becoming a platoon commander. Unfortunately, Joyce was killed on April 17th, 1963 while leading his platoon through a jungle. A little over two weeks later, on this date, he was laid to rest in his hometown of Minot.
Joyce is one of the 198 North Dakotans who lost their life in the war. Each of these soldiers have unique stories, but what is interesting about Joyce is you can read first-hand accounts about him in Ronald Jensen’s book: Tail End Charlie: Memoir of a United States Marine in the Vietnam War. Jensen was one of the soldiers in Joyce’s platoon and speaks highly of him, describing him as never seeming to be above his men, always working with them.
The morning before Joyce died, he helped Jensen by taking half of the heavy C-4 load he was carrying. That same day he suffered several of bullet wounds during a fire fight.
Clearly Joyce had gained the respect of his men, for Jensen and three others carried him to camp as fast they could, though Joyce eventually died. Left behind are Jensen’s first-hand stories that paint a picture of a man who was fiercely duty bound and who had a deep love for the men served with.
Dakota Datebook written by Lucid Thomas
Sources:
http://www.vvmf.org/Wall-of-Faces/26966/JOHN-M-JOYCE
https://www.nd.gov/veterans/heroes/john-morris-joyce
