Primary sources supplied directly by Howard McGrew: his DD214, the 10 Jan 1972 General Order awarding him the Army Commendation Medal (Headquarters, 3rd Brigade (Separate), 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), GO Number 57), and a personal day-by-day timeline he compiled from his own 1971 field calendar ("D 28 Cav 1971 personal timeline and locations.xlsx"). This timeline is a companion to, and corroborates, the archive's separate hand-transcribed record of that same field calendar (see sources/mcgrew-calendar/MDM-SOURCE-MCGREW-CALENDAR.md, built in an earlier session). Grid coordinates for FB Mace, FB Silver, FSB Fontaine, FSB Fanning, FSB Jeffries, FSB Makowski, and both Vung Tau R&R visits come from this timeline and have not yet been cross-checked against the master FSB gazetteer.
1970
Training
Basic Training and AIT — trained as Light Weapons Infantry
Basic Combat Training at Fort Knox, Kentucky, followed by a nine-week Advanced Individual Training course in Light Weapons Infantry (MOS 11B10) at Fort Polk, Louisiana.
1971-01-11
Arrival
Arrived in Vietnam, assigned to the 1st Cavalry Division
Departed Fort Lewis, Washington, on 9 Jan 71; arrived Cam Ranh Bay on 11 Jan 71 via Alaska and Japan. Processed through Bien Hoa — assigned to the 1st Cavalry Division on 13 Jan, in-country orientation at "First Team Academy" the next day.
1971-01-21
Assigned to D Co.
Assigned to Range Platoon, 1st Squad, at FB Silver
Joined Company D, 2nd Battalion, 8th Cavalry — Range Platoon, 1st Squad — at FB Silver on 21 Jan 71, as rifleman and ammo bearer for the squad's M60.
1971-02-02
Probably present
On a trotter (trail), War Zone field, III Corps, RVN
1971-02-17
Hospitalized
Hospitalized with mononucleosis
Evacuated to Long Binh with mononucleosis on 17–18 Feb 71; discharged from the hospital 24 Feb, released for full duty after a follow-up appointment 3 Mar 71.
1971-03-17
R&R
First Vung Tau stand-down
Flew to the First Team R&R Center at Vung Tau on St. Patrick's Day for a stand-down period, before returning to FSB Fontaine.
1971-03-22
Medevac
One of the more unusual entries in his own record: medevaced to FB Mace after being stung by bees. See events/bee-incident-1971-03-22.
1971-04-20
Company Loss
Range Platoon, which McGrew had been assigned to since 21 Jan, walked into a fortified NVA bunker complex near Suối Gia Ui. His own timeline doesn't detail his specific actions that day, but places him with the unit — a CA to mission the day before, and a return CA to Fontaine three days later. See events/contact-fsb-fontaine-1971-04-20.
1971-04-24
Company Loss
His timeline places him at FSB Fontaine from 23 Apr through 26 Apr — spanning the date of the helicopter crash that killed CPT Martin Fanning, WO1 Gabriel Jeffries Jr., and SGT Richard Colburn. See events/crash-fsb-fontaine-1971-04-24. The base was renamed FSB Fanning in the pilot's honor shortly afterward.
1971-04-26
Squad RTO
Designated squad radio-telephone operator (RTO)
Moved from rifleman/ammo bearer to squad RTO, two days after the FSB Fontaine crash.
1971-07-08
Promoted to SP4
Promoted to Specialist Four (SP-4)
Orders specifying promotion to SP-4, MOS 11B20, effective 8 Jul 71.
1971-07-27
Home Leave
Two-week home leave
Processed out through Bien Hoa and Tan Son Nhut, flew home on leave 27 Jul 71 — traveling via Chicago and Alaska — and returned to Bien Hoa 10 Aug 71.
1971-09-28
Company RTO
Moved to the Company CP as Company RTO
Designated Range Platoon RTO on 15 Sep 71, then assigned to the Company CP as Company RTO on 28 Sep 71 — his final role in-country.
1971-10-21
Company Loss
His own timeline records "Contact" on both 21 and 22 Oct 71 and a return to FSB Jeffries on 23 Oct, corroborating the engagement that killed PFC William Makowski of Range Platoon. His position or actions at the moment of contact aren't detailed in his entries — by this point he'd moved to the Company CP as Company RTO. See events/contact-nui-ba-1971-10-21.
1971-12-20
DEROS
DEROS — departed Vietnam, transferred to the USAR
Out-processed through the 90th Replacement Battalion at Long Binh (17 Dec) and departed Vietnam 20 Dec 71 via Guam and Travis Air Force Base. Transferred to the U.S. Army Reserve the same day under a Vietnam-era phasedown release program, rather than a hard discharge — Honorable character of service, with a reserve obligation through 11 Aug 76.
