THE WALL OF FACES

We thank you for your service and sacrifice. You are remembered, not forgotten because we utter your name with respect to honor you.
Heart of Texas Veterans Memorial.

We thank you for your service and sacrifice. You are remembered, not forgotten because we utter your name with respect to honor you.
Heart of Texas Veterans Memorial.

On May 16, 1971, a New York Times article described heroin use by American troops in Vietnam had reached epidemic proportions. The piece reported that 10 to 15 percent of lower-ranking enlisted men were heroin users, and military officials working in drug‐suppression estimated that as much as a quarter of all enlisted personnel, more than 60,000 men, were hooked. They added that some field surveys reported units with more than 50 percent of the men on heroin. In Vietnam, the drug was plentiful, cheap, and 95 percent pure. Its effects could casually be achieved through smoking or snorting, as compared to the U.S., where the drug was impure, only about five percent heroin, and had to be main-lined or injected into the bloodstream to achieve a comparable high. The habit, which cost $100 a day to maintain in the U.S., cost less than $5 a day in Vietnam. SSG Claudie L. Cox was a mechanic serving with Headquarters & Headquarters Detachment (HHD), 39th Transportation Battalion, 26th General Services Group, Army Support Command Da Nang, 1st Logistical Command, U.S. Army Republic of Vietnam. At approximately 5:00 PM on September 8, 1971, Cox was found sitting in his room in his barracks at Phu Bai Air Field in Thua Thien Province, RVN. He appeared to be unconscious and was transported to the 85th Evacuation Hospital where medical staff pronounced him dead on arrival. At the time of his death, Cox had an alcohol use disorder and drug habit. He was 27 years old. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org and “G.I. Heroin Addiction Epidemic in Vietnam.” New York Times (New York, NY), May 16, 1971; death announcement from the Dublin Progress (TX), September 23, 1971, courtesy of Sheryl Rascher, Erath County Genealogical Society, Dublin, TX]

Image courtesy of Redbird Research LLC, Saint Charles, MO.

Staff Sergeant Claudie Lee Cox, Served with the Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment, 39th Transportation Battalion, 26th Transportation Group, United States Army Support Command (DaNang), 1st Logistical Command, United States Army Vietnam.