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Private First Class Anthony John Pepper

A young White man wearing a Marine Corps dress uniform.
  • Unit: Company G, 2nd Battalion, 26th Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division
  • Date of Birth: October 9, 1947
  • Entered the Military: October 17, 1966
  • Date of Death: April 6, 1968
  • Hometown: Richmond, Virginia
  • Place of Death: Khe Sanh, Vietnam
  • Award(s): Purple Heart
  • Cemetery: Section MK, Site 36, Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia. Courts of the Missing, Court A, Honolulu Memorial National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, Honolulu, Hawaiʻi
Contributed by Ms. Nicole Winter
Cosby High School (Midlothian, Virginia)
2024/2025

Early Life

Anthony John Pepper, known as Tony to his family and friends, was born on October 9, 1947, in Tacoma, Washington. His mother, Ursula Tarver, was one of ten children born to dairy farmers who made their home in Wyoming after leaving Georgia in 1917. In 1941, Ursula married Joe C. Pepper, one of three brothers who served in the U.S. Army during World War II. 

Major Joe C. Pepper made a career in the Army, later serving in Korea, as well as Washington, Utah, Austria, and Virginia, where he retired in 1960. He then worked in a civil service position at the U.S. Army’s Defense General Supply Center in Richmond, Virginia, while his family settled into the nearby Chester community.

As a child, Tony Pepper enjoyed playing Little League baseball, wearing the number nine on his uniform. He loved reading the funny papers, watching Saturday morning cartoons, and pulling his little sister, Carrie, around on her Flexible Flyer when snow fell in Richmond.

As a teenager, he liked skateboarding, playing guitar, and spending time with his best friends, Danny, Lee, and Horace. He mowed his neighbors’ lawns and maintained a paper route to earn extra money. He loved the music of the era, especially the Beach Boys and Bob Dylan. 

Pepper attended Thomas Dale High School, where he was recognized for his academic achievement as a member of the Adloyho (Advancement, Loyalty, Hope) Club. He also participated in the Junior Red Cross and played on the school’s baseball team. 

He graduated from high school in 1966 and hoped to attend the College of William and Mary. He earned a partial scholarship, but for reasons unknown, he chose to enlist in the U.S. Marine Corps in October 1966. His sister, Carrie, felt he enlisted because he and his father were always at odds, but no one really knows.

Tony Pepper and his sister Carrie in Richmond, Virginia, 1958. Courtesy of Carrie Pepper.
Tony Pepper enjoying a snowy day in Chesterfield, Virginia, 1958. Courtesy of Carrie Pepper.
Tony Pepper’s senior year portrait at Thomas Dale High School, 1966. Ancestry Classroom.

Homefront

Chester was a small rural town in Chesterfield County just outside of Richmond, Virginia, that began to experience dramatic industrial development in the 1960s. 

The American Tobacco Company opened a new factory in 1963, and Allied Chemical Corporation opened a new fiber research center in 1964. The local factories of Reynolds Metals and DuPont began developing Nomex and Tyvek products, which provided numerous local jobs. 

Philip Morris, headquartered in Richmond, continued to produce popular tobacco products. The government supplied cigarette rations to active duty servicemen in their C-rations during the Vietnam conflict, as they had in previous wars.

With this industrialization, the population of Chesterfield County experienced rapid growth in the 1960s. The school population doubled to 30,000 students. The county schools began integrating in 1962 during Pepper’s first year of high school.

Chesterfield County also had numerous nearby military installations, including the Defense General Supply Center, a primary warehouse operation that supplied troops in Vietnam. Just south of the county, the U.S. Army Quartermaster Officer Candidate School was established at Fort Lee (now Fort Gregg-Adams) in 1966 to train military personnel in logistics. There, they managed the supply of food, water, and fuel to troops. In addition, a model of a Vietnamese village was created on the base to help prepare soldiers for jungle warfare.

The Richmond General Depot was established as part of the U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps in 1942. By 1962, it was renamed the Defense General Supply Center and organized to provide more than $731 million worth of military supplies annually to support military activities. Defense Logistics Agency.
Soldiers practiced their training at a model of a Vietnamese village at Fort Lee, July 26, 1968. The Richmond Times-Dispatch.
Typical C-Rations in Vietnam. Courtesy of Charlie Company Vietnam 1966-1972.

Military Experience

Pepper enlisted on October 17, 1966, in Richmond, Virginia. While his test scores qualified him to attend Officer Candidate School at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia, the minimum age requirement was 20 years old. At 19, he was too young to attend. In January 1967, he attended training at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, and Camp Pendleton, California. 

He arrived in Vietnam on August 6, 1967, and joined Company G, 2nd Battalion, 26th Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division. Pepper’s company was stationed at Phu Bai Camp, located south of Hue, through January 15, 1968. When in the field, his company patrolled the surrounding area during the day and prepared ambushes at night. He encountered the enemy and witnessed “gruesome scenes” as a result. Pepper served as a radioman, walking right behind his platoon leader with a 25-pound radio on his back in addition to his own equipment. Later, he served as a grenadier (a soldier armed with hand grenades) in the Khe Sanh Hill Fights.

Despite the war, the leadership at Phu Bai camp found ways to celebrate the holidays. In 1967, Christmas trees were posted around the camp, holiday music played in the mess hall, and movies were shown each night. One of Pepper’s fellow Marines, Ed Mata, remembered ice cream bars packed in dry ice being air-dropped over the base. He said, “We were like little kids out on the landing strip, ice cream running down our red, dirt-streaked faces.”

In addition, each member of the battalion received five Christmas cards, a Parker ballpoint pen and stationery, a cigarette lighter with the battalion crest, and two cans of beer. Pepper was also pleased to receive a brightly wrapped fruitcake from home and wrote that he wanted to treat his family to dinner when he returned, as he had not had time to shop for gifts. 

On January 16, 1968, Pepper’s company flew to the Khe Sanh Combat Base. From there, they relocated to bunkers two to three miles west of the base to protect its perimeter. Surrounded by mountains and elephant grass, Pepper’s letters described his sturdy bunker as “safe and warm.” He joked about where he could place a pool table and a Van Gogh painting. Even in dire circumstances, Pepper maintained a light-hearted attitude.

Five days later, the North Vietnamese initiated a major assault on Khe Sanh, but the Marines held the base. Ten days later, the North Vietnamese launched the Tet Offensive by attacking more than 100 additional targets in South Vietnam. Growing enemy positions continued to threaten the base at Khe Sanh and the adjacent Route 9. Beginning April 1, Operation Pegasus was meant to be a seven-day mission to provide reinforcements to the base, remove enemy forces from surrounding areas, and retake and repair Route 9. On April 6, Captain Lee Overstreet led Company G, 2nd Battalion, 26th Marine Regiment, to attack the area between Hill 861 and the base.

Tony Pepper in Vietnam, 1967. Courtesy of Carrie Pepper.
An aerial view of Khe Sanh. U.S. Marines in Vietnam The Defining Year 1968.
A map showing troop movements in Operation Pegasus. Ringed by Fire: U.S. Marines and the Siege of Khe Sanh, 21 January to 9 July 1968.

Commemoration

As part of the operation, Pepper was climbing Hill 700 when the enemy emerged from hidden bunkers and attacked the Marines “at point-blank range” using automatic weapons and hand grenades. According to official sources, Pepper and another Marine, Corporal James Trimble, were injured, sought coverage in a crater, then took a direct mortar hit.  They were both killed, as observed by the squad leader and platoon commander. 

However, other witnesses reported that Pepper and Trimble ran over the top of the ridge directly into enemy fire. As the Marines fell, others tried to recover the wounded and were also taken down by enemy fire. Artillery and air support were delayed, and eventually the company withdrew at nightfall, failing to take the ridge. As a result, four Marines were killed in action, 47 were wounded, and six men were declared missing in action (MIA), including Pepper and Trimble. Their remains were not recovered despite several attempts.

Between April and October 1968, Pepper’s family received notifications of his continuing MIA status in a series of seven telegrams from Marine leadership. On October 16, 1968, the government sent a final telegram confirming they had made “a determination of death in the case of your son.” It also specified that the remains of the other Marines lost that day had been recovered and identified, except for Pepper and Trimble. Pepper was assigned case number 1120 with his status listed as “Body Not Recoverable.”

Over the years, various accounts have emerged regarding the location of Pepper’s final engagement with the enemy. Marine Ed Zimmerman shared his recollection of seeing two bodies just beyond the ridge on April 9, 1968. The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency has continued to search for Pepper’s remains with expeditions in 1993, 2014, and 2016. In addition, Pepper’s Executive Officer, Pete Post, returned twice to Vietnam in an effort to locate his men. 

Despite these additional searches, no remains were recovered. Due to his sister’s recent efforts, his case has now been reclassified as “Active.” She has remained hopeful that her brother and Corporal Trimble will be found. 

His fellow Marines described Pepper as “intelligent, quick-witted, and well-liked by everyone,” as well as “quiet and polite,” and “extremely brave in combat.” His platoon commander, Joseph Olszewski, described him as “a good Marine.” In 1969, on the base at the Defense General Supply Center, a baseball field was named Pepper Field in his honor. 

Anthony Pepper’s name, along with the others Missing in Action from Vietnam, is engraved on the Honolulu Memorial at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, Hawaiʻi. 

On April 11, 2007, nearly 40 years after Pepper’s death, the military held a service for him in Section K of Arlington National Cemetery. Carrie Pepper attended, joined by several Marines and their wives, some of whom had served alongside him. She was finally able to see her brother recognized at Arlington, “among the other heroes.”

Pepper’s memorial marker at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia. The Wall of Faces, Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund.
An MIA bracelet honoring Tony Pepper. The search to bring him home continues. Courtesy of Carrie Pepper.
Anthony Pepper’s name on the Honolulu Memorial at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, Hawaiʻi. American Battle Monuments Commission.

Bibliography

Primary Sources

“Anthony John Pepper Honored for Gallentry [sic] in Vietnam,” Southside Virginia News [Chesterfield, Virginia], June 18, 1969.  https://virginiachronicle.com/?a=d&d=SVNS19690618.1.8&srpos=1&e=——-en-20–1–txt-txIN-%22Anthony+John+Pepper%22——-.  

Camp, Col. Richard D. and Lt. Col. Leonard A. Blasiol. Ringed by Fire: U.S. Marines and the Siege of Khe Sanh, 21 January to 9 July 1968. Marine Corps University, 2019. https://www.usmcu.edu/Portals/218/KheSahn_RingedByFire_Web.pdf. 

Command Chronology 2nd Bn. 26thMAR (Rein) FMF. The Vietnam Center & Sam Johnson Vietnam Archive, Texas Tech University. https://vva.vietnam.ttu.edu/images.php?img=/images/1201/1201061002.pdf.

Command Chronology 2nd Bn. 26thMAR (Rein) FMF. The Vietnam Center & Sam Johnson Vietnam Archive, Texas Tech University. https://vva.vietnam.ttu.edu/images.php?img=/images/1201/1201060255.pdf.

Command Chronology 2nd Bn. 26thMAR (Rein) FMF.. The Vietnam Center & Sam Johnson Vietnam Archive, Texas Tech University. https://vva.vietnam.ttu.edu/images.php?img=/images/1201/1201060256.pdf.

“C-Rations,” Photograph. Charlie Company Vietnam 1966-1972. https://charliecompany.org/2018/08/25/c-rations/.

H. Hugh Moore, “Fort Lee Soldiers Storm a Simulated Viet Cong Village,” July 26, 1968, Photograph. Richmond Times-Dispatch [Richmond, VA]. https://encyclopediavirginia.org/143hpr-1f4d207c4e0a098/.

“History of DLA Aviation,” Photograph. Defense Logistics Agency.  https://www.dla.mil/Aviation/About/History/.

“Notification of NOK of Change in Status to Presumptive Finding of Death.” Manuscript/Mixed Materials. Library of Congress (PWMASTER_60411). https://www.loc.gov/item/powmia/pwmaster_60411/.

Pepper, Carrie. Telephone interview with the author. January 29, 2025.

Pepper Family Photographs. 1947-1968. Courtesy of Carrie Pepper.

Shulimson, Jack and Lt. Col. Leonard A. Blasiol. The U.S. Marines in Vietnam The Defining Year 1968. Photograph. History and Museums Division Headquarters U.S. Marine Corps, 1997. https://www.marines.mil/Portals/1/Publications/US%20Marines%20In%20Vietnam%20The%20Defining%20Year%201968%20%20PCN%2019000313800_5.pdf.

Utah. Salt Lake County. 1950 U.S. Census. Digital images. https://ancestryclassroom.com.

Wyoming. Big Horn County. 1930 U.S. Census. Digital images. https://ancestryclassroom.com.

Wyoming. Campbell County. 1930 U.S. Census. Digital images. https://ancestryclassroom.com.

Secondary Sources

“Anthony John Pepper.” American Battle Monuments Commission. Accessed December 1, 2024.  https://www.abmc.gov/decedent-search/pepper%3Danthony.

“Anthony John Pepper.” Find a Grave. Updated August 28, 2024. Accessed February 17, 2025. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/120708118/anthony_john-pepper.

“Anthony John Pepper.” Find a Grave. Updated July 21, 2021. Accessed February 17, 2025. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/134323642/anthony-john-pepper.

“As Vietnam Search Ends, Local Marine Recalled Fondly.” Richmond Times-Dispatch, September 12, 2016.

Camp, Col. Richard D. and Lt. Col. Leonard A. Blasiol. Ringed by Fire: U.S. Marines and the Siege of Khe Sanh, 21 January to 9 July 1968. Marine Corps University, 2019. https://www.usmcu.edu/Portals/218/KheSahn_RingedByFire_Web.pdf. 

“Fort Gregg-Adams.” Military Installations.  Accessed January 8, 2025. https://installations.militaryonesource.mil/in-depth-overview/fort-gregg-adams.

“Pfc. Anthony John Pepper.” Defense Personnel POW/MIA Accounting Agency. Accessed December 1, 2024. https://dpaa-mil.sites.crmforce.mil/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt0000000BTRJEA4.

“PFC Anthony John Pepper.” Find a Grave. Accessed December 1, 2024. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/134323642/anthony-john-pepper.

“PFC Anthony John Pepper.” Find a Grave. Accessed December 1, 2024. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/120708118/anthony-john-pepper.

Pepper, Carrie. Missing on Hill 700: How Losing a Brother in Vietnam Created a Family in America. Cottage Ink Publishing, 2016.

Silvers, Dorothy Fuller. Chesterfield: An Old Virginia County, Volume II, 1955-1989. Don Mills, Inc., 1992.

“Smoke ‘Em if You Got ‘Em.” The Army Historical Foundation. Accessed January 8, 2025. https://armyhistory.org/reflections-smoke-em-if-you-got-em/.

Thomas Dale School Yearbook. Chesterfield County Public Schools, 1962. https://ancestryclassroom.com.

Thomas Dale School Yearbook. Chesterfield County Public Schools, 1963. https://ancestryclassroom.com.

Thomas Dale School Yearbook. Chesterfield County Public Schools, 1964. https://ancestryclassroom.com.

Thomas Dale School Yearbook. Chesterfield County Public Schools, 1965. https://ancestryclassroom.com.

Thomas Dale School Yearbook. Chesterfield County Public Schools, 1966. https://ancestryclassroom.com.

This profile was researched and created through the Researching Silent Heroes program, sponsored by the American Battle Monuments Commission.