Hometown: Jefferson City, TN
Branch: U.S. Marine Corps
Unit: HQ Company, 1st Marine Division, 7th Marines
Military Honors: Purple Heart
Date of Sacrifice: January 29, 1969 - KIA Quảng Nam Province, Republic of Vietnam
Age: 19
Conflict: Vietnam War, 1959-1975

William “Larry” Mott was known by his middle name, not to be confused with his father, Willie, whom family and friends referred to as “Bill.” Larry was the oldest of four boys born to Bill and Polly Ann (Cross) Mott. With younger sons Allen, Vernon, and Terry, the family lived in Jefferson City, Tennessee—at the southern tip of the Cherokee Reservoir.

Larry demonstrated a strong work ethic at an early age. While attending school, he worked in the local sawmills beginning at age 13.

In an interview with The Standard Banner, younger brother Vernon recalled that Larry’s motivation for working in the sawmills was to buy clothes. “He liked to dress,” Vernon said. “Tassel loafers, Seersucker pants, GANT shirts. He appreciated good tailoring.”

At age 18, Larry enlisted in the United States Marine Corps on January 8, 1968. U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War (1959-1975) was escalating, and antiwar protests on college campuses and in Washington D.C. were becoming more frequent and intense.

According to Vernon, “It was real important to my brother to know that he was doing his part. There was a history [of military service] in the family. And he wanted to help my mom and send her some money each month. He chose the Marines because of the reputation…and the uniform.”

After basic training at MCRD (Marine Corps Recruit Depot) in San Diego, California, PFC Mott was trained as a rifleman and assigned to a sniper platoon, HQ Company, 1st Marine Division, 7th Marines. He was sent overseas and arrived in Vietnam on July 21, 1968.

While deployed, PFC Mott’s unit participated in a program to improve relations with the local population—building small bridges, culverts, schools, and digging wells. Equipment and materials for the project were provided by the Marine Corps Reserve Civic Action Fund.

Mott was assigned as part of a two-man sniper team, along with Jay Taylor from Albuquerque, New Mexico. Taylor was a specially trained marksman, and Mott served as his spotter.

After the war, Jay Tayler wrote a book about his experiences: Point of Aim Point of Impact. He dedicated the book to Mott, and described his sniper team partner:

Mott was a big kid from Tennessee, and he had a thick southern accent. We hit it off right away. My mom was born and raised on the Alabama/Tennessee state line and as far as Mott was concerned, that made us kin. We became very close. He immediately nicknamed me Jason. When Mott first arrived on Hill 55, one of the guys there tagged him with the nickname “Zeno.” We shared stories with each other about our families, what our parents were like, the good times we had had with our friends, and of course our girlfriends. We learned a lot about each other and our families back home. These stories were our only link to the “real world” as we called it. It was important for us to remember there was another world other than the screwed up one we were in.

Despite being exposed to the horrors of war, Mott’s letters home spoke mostly about his surroundings—the monsoons and the men he was fighting with, “but never anything negative,” according to his brother Vernon. “He always wanted to know how we were doing.”

Taylor recalls:

When Mott found out I chewed tobacco, he had his family send him a package of King Bee Twist chewing tobacco from home. When it arrived he handed the package to me and said, “Here, Jason, try some.” He then watched wide-eyed as I opened the package, tore off a plug, and started chewing it. He looked like a big kid watching me open a Christmas present. “How is it?” he asked. It was terrible, but I didn’t have the heart to tell him.

As strategies and mission assignments changed in South Vietnam, Taylor and Mott would be separated and moved to other teams. In late January 1969, PFC Mott was attached to Company E, 2d Battalion, 26th Marines in a defensive perimeter as a sniper scout.

The unit was engaged in Operation Linn River—a “clear and search” operation in Quảng Nam Province, Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam).

Two days after Operation Linn River began, on January 29, 1969, Mott’s unit came under enemy rifle fire. PFC Mott was struck in the neck and killed, at age 19.

PFC Larry Mott was returned home and laid to rest next to his mother, in Jefferson City, Tennessee. He is honored on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C., with his name inscribed on Panel 33W, Line 16.

Sources
Standard Banner (Jefferson City, Tennessee), Nov. 11, 2010: It was his ‘duty’ to go
Jay Taylor: Point of Aim Point of Impact
East Tennessee Veterans Memorial Association: W. Larry Mott
Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund—The Wall of Faces: William Larry Mott
Standard Banner (Jefferson City, Tennessee), Aug. 29, 1968: PFC Wm. Mott With Marines in Vietnam
Texas Tech University, The Vietnam Center & Sam Johnson Vietnam Archive: Operations Database
Together We Served: Mott, William Larry, PFC
HonorStates.org: William Larry Mott
Burial Site: Find a Grave