Veterans, family, community gather to honor life, sacrifice of Elton soldier

American Press

06-05-2025

Sandria Doyle still remembers when her brother, Specialist 4 Albert 'Billy' Sonnier, visited home while in the military and before deploying to Vietnam as an infantryman in 'Charlie' Company of the legendary 1st Cavalry Division.
Even as a young girl, Doyle remembers her older brother as a cool, intelligent, quiet spirit with a huge heart.
'I may have been young when he was killed in Vietnam, but I can remember him coming home in that uniform and being so proud to be a soldier, and he always had a gift for me,' she said.
Sonnier, a native of Elton and a 1960 graduate of Katie B. Thomas High School in Elton, died during the Battle of Ia Drang Valley at Landing Zone X-Ray in the Vietnam War. A special ceremony to commemorate his service and sacrifice was held Saturday at the First Baptist Church in Jennings.
Several veterans of the famous battle, including Medal of Honor recipient retired Army Col. Joe Marm, attended the event to honor Sonnier. The battle, which was an intense conflict of the Vietnam War, was the focus of the book and film 'We Were Soldiers.'
Doyle recounted how her brother would write letters home, sharing his experiences and asking for prayers for himself and his fellow soldiers. His final letter indicated he wouldn't be writing for a while but still requested their continued prayers.
Soon after, the family received the heartbreaking news of his death.
Doyle, who was 10 at the time, remembers the somber visit of two uniformed military personnel who delivered the devastating news to her mother and father. Sonnier had been mortally wounded while defending his position under enemy fire.
Notably, all four of Doyle's brothers served their country, with one also being wounded in Vietnam.
During the ceremony, Doyle and her sister Joann White, expressed how deeply it meant to have their brother remembered and honored, saying he was truly deserving of such recognition.
'We are here to honor the memory of Albert W. Billy Sonnier, who gave his life in the defense of his country, and in the very real way, we are here to pay tribute to all the men and women who sacrifice so much that we might be free,' former journalist and author Dave Precht said.
Precht noted that the 24-year-old soldier's courageous actions were crucial in repelling the enemy attack.
'Billy Sonnier in my research was a dedicated soldier,' said Col. (Ret.) Joey Strickland, former deputy secretary of Louisiana Veterans Affairs and a Vietnam combat veteran. 'A young man who was not only a fighter, but a beacon of hope for his battle buddies, a source of inspiration, amid the turmoil….Sonnier was known by his fellow soldiers for the ability to uplift and energize those around him.'
Sonnier was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star for Valor and Purple Heart.
The ceremony also paid tribute to Staff Sgt. Thomas J. Barrett, who served as a squad leader with the same company as Sonnier. Barrett grew up in Many, La., only 110 miles from Sonnier's hometown.
Despite more than a decade difference in their enlistment dates, both men served in the same battalion, platoon, company, and squad, and tragically, they were killed on the same day in Vietnam. They were also the only two men from Louisiana in Lt. Col. Hal Moore's battalion killed during the Battle of Ia Drang Valley at Landing Zone X-Ray in 1965.
Thomas Barrett III, Barrett's son who was only 5 when his father died, shared his experience of growing up with the profound silence of never having known his father. He followed his father's footsteps, becoming an infantryman and officer.
'While many children of veterans grow up hearing stories that were hard to tell, I grew with a different kind of silence, the absence of a voice that was silenced in the Ia Drang Valley on 15th November 1865, exactly seven days after his 34th birthday,' Barrett said.
'My father, like many veterans, answered the call to serve,' he continued. 'The photographs, letters and stories shared by those who fought alongside him have been my only window into knowing who he was. Through your eyes and memories, I pieced together the man who would have raised me, his courage, his loyalty to his brothers in arms and his sense of duty.'
Barrett stressed the vital role of those who returned home in keeping the memories of the fallen alive by sharing their stories.
'Each time you share a memory of my father or your brothers who didn't come home, you give us the gift of knowing them a little better,' he said. 'To the families, who like mine, bear the Gold Star, who share a bond forged in sacrifice. Though decades have passed, the cost paid in the Ia Drang Valley remains ever present in our lives.'
The memory and legacy of the soldiers of Ia Drang Valley live on not just in military records and history books, but through honoring their lives by striving to live in a way that reflects their sacrifice, he said.
During the event, Marm presented members of the 1st Cavalry with special leather-bound copies of the 'We Were Soldiers Once….and Young.'