THE WALL OF FACES

Dear Raymond,
You Have Not Been Forgotten!

The Society of the Fifth Division, U.S. Army, during its 95th Annual Reunion in Pittsburgh, PA (Sept 10-14, 2015) , held a Reading of the Names Ceremony to honor the 514 Soldiers from the 5th Division that were Killed in Action during the War in Vietnam. Your Name Was Read Aloud Among Those Soldiers. You Have Not Been Forgotten! Rest in Peace, Dear Brother.

Thomas Grafton
Alpha company, 7th Engineer Battalion, 1st Brigade, 5th Infantry Division
Vietnam (1968-1969)

On September 20, 1970, a U.S. Army helicopter UH-1H (tail number 67-17597) from C Company, 158th Aviation Battalion was on a Ranger team insertion near the DMZ when a .51 caliber round came through the windshield and hit the pilot, 1LT Albert M. Finn, perforating his “chicken plate” (ballistic vest) and causing the aircraft to crash. It was estimated that the helicopter was traveling at 100 knots when it hit the ground. There were no survivors. The other crew members were co-pilot WO1 Larry G. Baldwin, crew chief SGT Dan O Felts, and gunner SGT William T. Dotson III. The passengers were members of Team 1-8, P Company, 75th Rangers, and included SP4 Raymond H. Apellido, SP4 Anthony J. Gallina, SP4 Dale A. Gray, PFC Glenn G. Ritchie Jr., and SGT Harold E. Sides. The crash site was immediately secured by a platoon from Alpha Company 1-61st Infantry Regiment (Gators) who lost two men to a mortar barrage on the crash site, platoon leader 1LT Richard H. Stube and PFC Michael T. Linville. 1LT Finn's chicken plate was recovered from the downed aircraft and sent to Da Nang to be tested for a suspected .51 caliber hole. [Taken from vhpa.org and phoenix158.org]

Rest in peace with the warriros.

Much like my sister, I grew up hearing all the stories about you when I was a kid. I looked up to you and I never met you. I wanted to be like you when I grew up. That is the main reason I joined the Army. I wanted to be an Airborne Ranger just like you. You made our family proud of you. Im glad to say that I made it home safe. I found out the hard way that combat is not as cool as it looks on TV. I hope that I carried on the Apellido name the way you would have wanted me to. Rangers Lead the Way!

Rest in peace with the warriors.