With Veterans Day coming up on November 11, the South Shore Press highlights those who served.
Edmund Giza, Sergeant, Vietnam:
In 1965 at age 21, Edmund Giza enlisted in the Marine Corps and served as an aircraft mechanic in Da Nang, retiring with the rank of Sergeant. He kept A6 Intruders in the air as a member of All Weather Attack Squadron 242, known as the “Bats.”
After nearly four years of service, Giza returned to the States and started GMG Trucking, a company still in business today. The Central Islip native, now residing in Rocky Point, is the proud father of three and has two grandchildren. Serving in Vietnamwas an “exhilarating experience,” the veteran said. “You can’t really understand it unless you’ve been there.”
Giza’s squadron was designed for night-time and adverse-weather missions. They provided close air support for ground troops, deep interdiction strikes, and armed reconnaissance. The Intruder’s capabilities allowed them to fly in challenging conditions, delivering substantial firepower and surveillance capabilities that significantly supported allied forces.
During Giza’s service, the Bats expanded operations to include deep-strike missions over North Vietnam as part of the “Rolling Thunder” campaign, targeting strategic locations and infrastructure. These missions were pivotal, as they disrupted supply routes on the Ho Chi Minh Trail, which ran through Laos and North Vietnam, thus hindering the movement of North Vietnamese troops and supplies.
Throughout their deployment, the squadron recorded a remarkable 16,783 combat sorties and dropped over 85,000 tons of ordnance, establishing them as one of the most active and impactful Marine aviation units in Vietnam.