THE WALL OF FACES

Do not stand at my grave and weep
I am not there. I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning's hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry;
I am not there. I did not die.

On September 4, 1967, a U.S. Air Force Fairchild C-123K Provider (#54-0621) from the 19th Air Commando Squadron had departed Bien Hoa Air Base on a flight to Nha Trang with an intermediate stop at Bao Loc Airfield. While on approach to Bao Loc, the pilot-in-command failed to realize his altitude was insufficient and the airplane struck the slope of a wooded mountain eleven miles southwest of the airfield. Eleven USAF personnel died in the crash. It was determined the accident was the consequence of a pilot error as he started the approach prematurely, causing the aircraft to descend below the minimum safe altitude. The lost crew included aircraft commander LTC Merle D. Turner, co-pilot CAPT Edward L. Goucher, and loadmaster A1C James R. Mayo; and passengers TSGT Jacklin M. Boatwright, MSGT Harold C. Cook, CAPT Virgil K. Kelley Jr., CAPT William B. Mahone, A1C Gerald L. Gauthier, A1C William E. Jerkins, MSGT Charles A. Paradise, and TSGT Fredrick L. Thrower. Mahone, Kelley, Boatwright, and Cook were an Operation Ranch Hand C-123 defoliant crew on their way to pick up their aircraft that had been repaired after battle damage. An aerial search located the aircraft on the side of a mountain. During the period of September 9-11, 1967, the 222nd Aviation Battalion conducted a recovery operation at the crash site with the recovery of remains and the destruction of the aircraft. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org, baaa-acro.com, c123sinsea.org, and aviation-safety.net]

Thank you for your service and your sacrifice. Thank you for stepping up and answering your country's call. Rest easy knowing you will never be forgotten.

Dear Msgt Harold Cook,
Thank you for your service with the Air Force. I do not know your MOS, only that you served. It is so important for us all to acknowledge the sacrifices of those like you who answered our nation's call. Please watch over America, it stills needs your strength, courage and faithfulness. Rest in peace with the angels.

Master Sergeant Harold Clarence Cook, Served with the 12th Air Commando Squadron, 315th Air Commando Wing, 7th Air Force.