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Some lesser-known facts about Brock Dennis Elliott
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Brock Elliotts sister, Charleen Carroll, third from left, her husband Michael next to her, and other relatives of local soldiers killed during the Vietnam War, join in the Pledge of Allegiance at the start of the 25th annual Brock Elliott Day. - photo by ROSE ALBANO RISSO

Brock Elliott Elementary School in Manteca was named after the first Manteca soldier who was killed during the Vietnam War.

At the time of his death, he was 18 years old, was a Lance Corporal with the United States Marine Corps, and had been serving his country for only 11 months when he was killed in action on May 26, 1967. He was deployed to Vietnam less than a year after he enlisted at the San Francisco Recruiting Office on June 27, 1966 when he was just 17 years old.

He was the son of Leland Arthur and Carmelia Lahoma Brumley Elliott, and the brother of Larry Arthur Elliott and Charlene Carroll, all of Manteca.

Here are other lesser known facts about the fallen Vietnam War soldier.

• His ancestry has strong ties to Lathrop. His late mother hailed from Lathrop. She was the sister of Joyce Gatto, the wife of former two-time mayor and lifelong Lathrop resident Bennie Gatto who is a Navy veteran of the Korean War.

• He was not the only military serviceman in his family. His father, Leland L., served with the Marines in World War II and had been wounded at Guadalcanal.

• In Vietnam, he was assigned to India Company, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division.

• Brock Elliott was participating in Operation Union II, a search-and-destroy operation against the 21st NVA Regiment that was operating in the vicinity of Bin So’n, a district five miles from Khe Sanh, when he was killed. India Company and the Vietnamese 21st NVA Regiment were engaged in battle, and Brock was hit in the head from a fatal hostile fire. He was one of several Marines who were killed during the battle.

• Brock and his brother-in-law, Michael Carroll, were in the same area of operation in Vietnam but they served in different Marine companies. Carroll came home after his tour.

• The plaques bearing Brock’s name, and those of the other 16 Manteca and Lathrop soldiers who died during the Vietnam conflict, plus related information about their service in Vietnam, were brought to Manteca by Jimmie Camper, who was Brock’s best friend. Camper, who was also a Marine and a Vietnam veteran, carved each of the boulders that contain the brass plaques for each of the fallen soldiers. The boulders that Camper transported to Manteca came from the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

• Brock Dennis Elliott is buried at Park View Cemetery on French Camp Road in Manteca.

• On the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, D.C., his name is located at Panel 20E, Line 114.