Brian Riley, April 1969, Hill 200

Lt Brian Riley

1969

Lieutenant Brian Riley

Grimace of Determination for Pine Hill Amputee

School Teacher Brian Riley passes timberline of MT Washington

Happy 71st Birthday to my dad today! A true war hero and a man that didn't let anything hold him back from doing things he loved! He is an inspiration to me and have looked up to him for most of my life! Even with his disabilities he continued to teach and show anyone that came into his life that you shouldn't let things hold you back and keep you from what you want in life! This is something I try to show my own kids and everyone I meet! Here's to my dad and hope you have a very happy birthday today! Wish we were there to celebrate with you!

Posted on Facebook by: Tara Riley June 22, 2017

Brian Riley photo gallery

Brian Riley

Posted by: Kevin M. Riley, November 11th, 2020

A special thank you to all who served today. Too many of my friends to tag you all but just know I am thinking of you today. However an extra special thank you to my father for all he gave.  An amazing photo by my Bubbe (Sara).

Lieutenant Brian Riley

Email from: Gary Graves

November 7th, 2020


I got in touch with Lt Riley several years ago by accident. At the time he was the webmaster of the, I'm guessing here, first 1'st Recon site. I was surfing the internet when I came across the site. This was before social networks. I got in touch with him by email. Lt Riley is now in a VA Home in Vermont. His wife Sara Riley is one of my Facebook friends and she keeps me updated on his condition. Back in 2012 the wife and I took a trip to Maine to see a first cuz of mine. On the way we stopped by Vermont and spend the night with him and Sara. I answered several questions for him on what had happened that day. He had a complete lost of memory. He was medevac to the hospital ship Repose. I glad we got to see one another. I'm sure it brought closer for the both of us. During the ordeal he kept asking me if he was going to lose his leg. I kept telling him "no". For years and years I always wondered if he lost his leg. Hawkins had some shrapnel in his hand and the point man, cannot remember his name, got in the back. As you already know we was patrolling around Hill 200. The patrol came across this creek. The creek had high banks and the VC/NVA had dug holes into the side of the creek bank. Just enough room for a man to sleep in. From Hill 200 you could not visually see the creek. It was completely obscure. The patrol continued to follow the creek. It was getting to the point that the patrol would have to exit the creek and start back to Hill 200. The bank was higher than your head and it took a little bit of an effort to scale the bank. The point, duce point, and Lt. Riley had exited the creek and Hawkins was part way up the bank and I was still standing at the bottom of the embankment. There was an explosion and Hawkins yelled at me and said we have hurt people. As I cautiously scaled the bank I could smell the gun powder. Smoke was rising from the ground and the elephant grass was flatten out from the explosion. Lt Riley was on his back wailing and still trying to give orders to his men. Hawkins at once started calling for assistance on the radio and begin to look for an LZ. The only LZ was a small island about 12-15 feet from the river bank. Just big enough to land a 46. It took 4 of us to carry Lt Riley across to the other side. The depth of the water came well over our waist. It took some effort to keep Lt. Riley's head above the water. We all boarded the CH 46 and the air crew dropped us off at Hill 200 and the 46 continual on to the Repose. I can say for certain this incident took a team effort and every Marine did their job to get Lt Riley out of Harm's Way.