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PFC Douglas Allen Varner was born on January 1, 1948, in Cincinnati, Ohio. While attending Newark High School, he played football and ran track, maintained a 4.0 GPA, and earned a full-ride college scholarship to Cincinnati University. He graduated in 1970 as a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society and was accepted to Stanford Law School.
He was drafted that same year and assigned to A Company, 11th Infantry Brigade, 23rd Division. He was sent to South Vietnam in February 1971. He was killed by small-arms fire on April 11, during a night attack 20km south of Quang Ngai. He was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart and Bronze Star for Valor. Prior to his death Varner made a letter to be read aloud at his funeral, which read: “That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, but speaking the truth in love, may grow in all things. Ephesians 4:14-15. Look to your soul and open your mind. Peace Brothers”. Those same words adorn his gravestone. His community continues to honor him with a page on their library website. |