Milford Looney Jr. was born Sept. 19, 1948, in Ragland to Milford and Annie Lue (Whisenant) Looney. He enlisted in the United States Army and served in Vietnam.

Looney began his tour in Vietnam on Jan. 2, 1969, with the rank of private first class. His occupation was light weapons infantry and he was attached to the 1st Infantry Division, 1st Battalion, 2nd Infantry Regiment, A Company– nicknamed the Black Scarves with the call sign “Dracula.”

An excerpt from “Call Sign Dracula” by Joe Fair explained the unique nickname anc call sign.

“On April 30, 1966, on a sweep through the village of Lo Go, the 1st Battalion was engaged in heavy fighting and it was during this time that a large quantity of black cloth was captured. This cloth was used by the Viet Cong to make their ‘Black Pajamas’ uniforms. At the direction of the battalion commander, Lieutnenant Colonel Richard Prillaman, this cloth was made into scarves to be worn by the battalion soldiers.

Lieutnenant Colonel Prillaman wanted to be able to distinguish his battalion from other division soldier and to provide the soldiers with something more appropriate than the towels the commonly wore around their necks. It is from this that the battalion has its nickname ‘Black Scarves.’ The battalion call sign was changed from ‘Docket’ to ‘Dracula’ during the same timeframe. The Battalion was being used for night operations … so long with wearing the black scarf, call sign ‘Dracula’ was most appropriate.”

On March 16, 1969, during the Tet 69/ Counter offensive, Pfc. Looney was killed in action by small arms fire in South Vietnam, Binh Long province. He is buried at Morning Star Cemetery in Ragland and honored on the Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial Wall in Washington D.C., Panel 29w, Line 54.

During his service to his country, Pfc. Milford Looney Jr. earned the following commendations.

• Purple Heart

• Combat Infantryman Badge

• Marksmanship Badge

• National Defense Service Medal

• Vietnam Campaign Medal

• Vietnam Service Medal

• Army Presidential Unit Citation

• Vietnam Gallantry Cross

• Army Good Conduct Medal

C.P. Bailey may be reached at christy@athensnews-courier.com and 256-232-2720 Ext. 119