Mother of four servicemen honors eldest son buried at sea

Mother of four servicemen honors eldest son buried at sea
Montana Standard
Renata Birkenbuel
September 13, 2015

Aila West, 93, is one of only two surviving mothers of Butte Vietnam veterans now honored with an exhibit at the Butte-Silver Bow Archives.

Her eldest son, radarman Kenneth Peter West, 24, drowned in Vietnam's Mekong River on June 22, 1969, while maneuvering between two pontoon boats.

His body was recovered the next day; the Navy buried him at sea in Vietnam waters on July 1, 1969. His family was unable to attend the services.

West’s remains did not return home, and neither did Butte’s lone Missing in Action serviceman from Montana, Capt. Robert Holton, 27, presumed to have gone down with his Air Force fighter plane near Laos on Jan. 29, 1969.

Aila West, formerly of Butte but who now lives in Whitehall, is considered a Blue Star Mother. Her son died accidentally while serving in the U.S. Navy in Vietnam.

Dorothy Hoerner, a Gold Star Mother who lives in Columbia Falls and is unable to attend Sunday’s Vietnam Exhibit ceremony, is the only other surviving Montana parent of the honored vets, said JoAnn Piazzola, an Archives volunteer. Dorothy's son, Raymond Dale Hoerner, died in action on Jan. 10, 1967.

Aila’s youngest, Mary Jane West, barely knew her oldest sibling, Kenneth. She was only 4 years old when he died. She remembers clearly when Naval recruiting officers came to the family home in Butte to notify the Wests of Kenneth’s death.

“There’s a hole,” Mary Jane said, acknowledging the grief her family has endured since Kenneth’s passing 46 years ago.

Four of Aila’s sons served in the military, including Edward, who served in Vietnam, where he was exposed to the horrors of war. After returning home, Edward died by suicide in 1984.

Butte’s 24 veterans who died in Vietnam

Here are Butte’s 24 fallen heroes, in chronological order in which they died in Vietnam:

Joseph Edward Parker Jr., Daniel John Janhunen, Raymond Dale Hoerner, Weston Henry Reece, Ronald Gregory Babich, Kenneth Sanford Bercier, Edward Anthony Carruthers, Dennis Wayne Sonsteng, Sanford Kim Archer, Robert William Cawley, Edward Joseph Hagl, Florian J. Zahn, Marvin Kent Robertson, Gregory Phillip Helsley, Raymond George Kriskovich, Steven Patrick Murphy, Lester Allan Doan, Russell James E. Hevern, Daniel John O’Neill, Richard D. Satterthwaite, Kenneth Peter West, Raymond L. Robertson Jr., Greg Neal Henderson, Robert Edwin Holton.

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