Danny Lliteras

Published on Feb 23, 2018
Danny Lliteras was a Navy corpsman who served with a Marine Recon unit in Vietnam. In this clip, he talks about his first patrol and what that patrol was like.

D. S. Lliteras

Lliteras was born in the Bronx, New York on July 13, 1949 to Serafin (Frank) and America (Mecca) Lliteras. Originally fromPuerto Rico, his father received a bachelor's degree from Emory University (LaGuardia Aeronautical School) in aircraft design in 1959 and worked as a postal clerk for the U.S. Postal Service until his retirement in 1971. His mother, also from Puerto Rico, received her bachelor's degree in nursing from the University of Miami in 1965 and worked for the state of Florida until her retirement in 1991 as the Rehabilitation Nurse Supervisor of Dade and Monroe County, Florida Workers' Compensation.

Lliteras attended St. Athanasius in the South Bronx until 1959 at which time his family relocated to Miami, Florida. His interest in the theater was sparked by Robin Werner, a teacher at Riviera Junior High School, who encouraged him to join the cast of the University of Miami Shakespeare Festival, where he served as a member during the summers of 1964 and 1965. He graduated from Southwest Miami High School in 1967. During his teen years, Lliteras worked evenings as an orderly at Baptist Hospital. His extra-curricular activities included wrestling, track, and gymnastics. He was offered a gymnastics scholarship to the U. S. Merchant Marine Academy, but instead enlisted in the U. S. Navy and volunteered for Medical Service Duty (Hospital Corpsman).

OCTOBER 12, 2013Flames and Smoke Visible
D.S. Lliteras talked about his book, Flames and Smoke Visible, in which he discusses the hazards of being a firefighter and shares his experiences on the job. He spoke at the Norfolk Fire Department Fire Station Number 1 in Norfolk, Virginia.

Vietnam

After completing Navy basic training and the U.S. Naval Hospital Corps School in Great Lakes, Illinois, he served aboard the USS Canopus (AS-34), home-ported in Rota, Spain from February 1968 to June 1968. He attended Field Medical Service School in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina in June and July 1968. In May 1969, he was ordered to the First Marine Division, FMF, Vietnam. Upon arrival in Vietnam in July 1969, he volunteered to join the 1st Reconnaissance Battalion, First Marine Division, where he served as a combat corpsman and diver until July 1970. Midway through his tour, he attended diver training in Subic Bay, Philippines. During his tour in Vietnam, Lliteras participated in twenty long-range reconnaissance patrols deep within enemy-held territory. He also participated in eighty combat dives, eighty bridge checks, three river sweeps, five body recoveries, and three weapons recoveries. He was awarded a Bronze Star Medal (with combat “V”).

D. S. LLITERAS

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