THE WALL OF FACES

Specialist Four Joseph Michael D'Angelico, Served with Company B, 4th Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment, 11th Infantry Brigade, Americal Division, United States Army Vietnam.

Joe would come over to my house and we would "fly" my model planes around Cooper Street quite often when we were boys. I can never forget his smile and his laugh. Thanks Joey. Thanks for being there for us. You are the best of us.

On the evening of January 2, 1970, B Company,4th Battalion, 3rd Infantry, Americal Division, was in a night defensive posture on Hill 285, eight miles east of Duc Pho in Quang Ngai Province, RVN. The company was combat assaulted to the hill earlier that morning to secure it as a fire base in support of Operation Iron Mountain. The company organized its defenses, and by dark had completed its preparations with sand bags, earthen berms, Claymore mines, and trip flares. Adverse weather prevented resupply helicopters from bringing in additional defensive material. As the sun set, the company’s field strength was 118 men and officers, including three 81mm mortar tubes. Without any warning, at approximately 11:45 PM the American position received about sixty rounds of mixed 60mm and 82mm mortar fire along with heavy small arms and automatic weapons fire. This was followed by a ground attack by an estimated reinforced North Vietnamese Army (NVA) sapper company from the north and northwest. Unbeknownst to the Americans, the enemy had moved by stealth in three platoon-sized elements up the brush-covered draws on the west side of the Hill 285, silently cut the Claymore wires, then opening fire with AK-50’s, B-40 rockets, and Chicom grenades. The defenders returned fire with unit weapons and received support from helicopter gunships and artillery. The southernmost attacking groups, including the NVA commander and his three-man command group, were cut down by heavy M16 and M79 fire. The U.S. artillery forward observer attached to B Company was killed when he moved against six sappers who succeeded in permeating the perimeter on the north side. A quick reaction by a B Company platoon leader and his radioman eliminated this threat. By 3:50 AM, the NVA began to withdraw, dragging away their dead and wounded. U.S. losses were seven killed and twelve wounded. The lost Americans included infantrymen PFC Tanner M. Brown Jr., PFC Raul Garcia Jr., PFC Dallas R. Snodgrass, SP4 Joseph M. D'Angelico, PFC Steven L. Green, and medic SP4 Frank M. Dunsmore Jr.; also lost was 2LT Robert C. Wright, the forward artillery observer from A-6/11 Arty. Brown, Garcia, and Snodgrass were posthumously promoted to Corporal. Sweeps of the area at dawn yielded twenty-nine dead NVA and twelve individual weapons and one crew-served weapon captured. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org and “Operational Report—Lessons Learned, Americal Division, Period Ending 31 January 1970” at archive.org]

May those who served never be forgotten. Rest in peace SP4. D' Angelico, I salute your brave soul. My heart goes out to you and your family.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning,
We will remember them.