THE WALL OF FACES

Thank you for your service to our country so long ago sir. While all deaths there are tragic yours is especially so given the circumstances.

On august 24th 1966, Anthony was off-duty and was hanging out with his fellow soldiers who were playing with a grenade. One of them gave the grenade to Anthony and said it was a fake grenade. He pulled the pin and rolled it across the floor when everybody jumped for cover. Anthony realized that it was a live grenade and he ran to it to throw it away when it exploded in his hands. He died from his wounds.

This event is written down in Terry L. Naus book called "Proud Americans"

You would have been 76 years old today, retired and probably with children and grandchildren. Instead of this, on this day, it has been 54 years since you left this world. Only 22 years old, with your whole life ahead of you... Instead you got killed in a far away land.

Your mother passed away in 2007, not that long ago. I believe that you are reunited in heaven, the whole family.

God bless your soul, Spiffy.

God bless your soul, Anthony.

SP4 Anthony J. Abruzese was an artilleryman serving with C Battery, 2nd Battalion, 32nd Artillery, 23rd Artillery Group, in Hau Nghia Province, RVN. On August 24, 1966, SP4 Abruzese and several other soldiers were sitting around in a squad tent when he pulled out a grenade. He reportedly referred to it as a training grenade even though it was painted OD (olive drab green). Abruzese pulled the pin and tossed it on the ground as all the surrounding troops dove for cover. Still thinking it was a dummy grenade, he bent over to pick it up when it detonated. Abruzese died after suffering multiple metal fragmentation wounds of the head and chest. No one else was hurt. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org and information provided by Bernd D. Pasler (March 2018)]