Michael H. Kessel
Michael Kessel, son of Michael P. and Kathryn Kessel, was born on November 25, 1946 in Glendive, a small town in eastern Montana. He attended St. Patrick’s School and Dickinson High School in Dickinson, North Dakota, and his family later moved to Patronella Avenue in Torrance.
Kessel enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps on January 14, 1965 and was assigned to the H & S (Headquarters and Service) Company, 2nd Battalion, 26th Marines, 3rd Marine Division.
On September 3, 1966, Lance Corporal Kessel was traveling in a M422 “Mighty Mite”” lightweight tactical ¼-ton 4 x 4 truck in the Quang Nam province when his vehicle struck a land mine. It was destroyed and the trailer badly damaged.
LCpl. Kessel suffered fragmentation wounds to his back and was among several Marines killed with others wounded. He was 19 years old, and had been expected to come home on leave within a few days when his jeep struck the hostile mine.
He was awarded the Purple Heart, and a Requiem Mass was held for him at St. Catherine Laboure Church in Torrance. His burial was at the Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City.
Kessel was described by one of his out-of-state cousins as a big brother to all his younger cousins who taught him how to surf when he visited California.
Less than a year before he died and just a few days before he left for Vietnam, PFC Kessel wrote to the editor of the Dickinson Press, outlining his thoughts on patriotism and the war:
“We are going to Vietnam to stop the spread of Communism in Southeast Asia. Some of us will die, some will return to the States to see again the faces of people whose safety we are trying to insure… Democracy is a thing not to be taken for granted. Our forefathers fought for it, and we will continue to do the same thing until the day no unfriendly aggressor will dare offend us.”
-Michael H. Kessel
