THE WALL OF FACES

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 James H. Abram was an infantryman serving with Headquarters & Headquarters Company (HHC), 2nd Battalion, 327th Infantry, 101st Airborne Division. At 7:00 AM on April 9, 1971, Abram was found dead by another individual in his billets at Camp Eagle in Thua Thien Province, RVN. A preliminary investigation suspected the cause to be drug overdose. One week later, an interim casualty report was issued confirming the preliminary findings; however, the report was amended on June 16, 1971, to death from “unknown causes” after mortuary personnel failed to perform a scheduled autopsy. Abram 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]

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

SSGT James Henry Abram is buried in the Sweet Home Community Cemetery in Melville, LA.

Thank you, Staff Sergeant James Henry Abram, for volunteering to serve in our nation's armed forces during troubled and dangerous times, in a troubled and dangerous place. He served as an Infantryman and was assigned to HHC, 2ND BN, 327TH INFANTRY, 101ST ABN DIV.
See http://thewall-usa.com/info.asp?recid=66

You will forever remain in our hearts and prayers