THE WALL OF FACES

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

We’re all thinking of you as we do often and always on your birthday. I try to imagine what life would’ve been like if you’d have come home. I’m grateful for the time we did have. Love and miss you always brother.

Thomas Alan Delaney is buried under the last name Hall, which is the Mothers' new last name. He is buried in Oakwood Memorial Park. Santa Cruz, Ca

PFC Thomas A. Delaney was an Indirect Fire Infantryman (mortars) serving with E Company, 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry, 199th Infantry Brigade. In the Spring of 1970, PFC Delaney was at FSB Mace, located at the foot of Nui Chau Chan mountain on National Route QL-1, approximately nine miles east of Xuan Loc in Long Khanh Province, RVN. A little after midnight on March 22nd, a report came into the 199th Staff Headquarters that an explosion killed a man on Mace in a sleeping bunker adjacent to the 4.2 mortar area. The sleeping bunker was constructed of wooden ammunition crates, PSP (perforated steel planking, a material used for the construction of temporary runways), and sandbags. At the time the report came in, it was unclear what had caused the blast which purportedly occurred in a firing launcher. A second report came in an hour later indicating that Delaney was the individual killed (instantly) by the blast. The following morning, EOD (explosive ordnance disposal) and CID (Army Criminal Investigation Command) personnel were on site to investigate the incident. The EOD team recovered fragments indicating that the explosion was probably an M67 hand grenade. No safety pin or safety lever were located near the incident site. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org and “U.S. Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal Detachment Operations in the Republic of Vietnam, Final Report (1972)” at archive.org]

Thank you for your service to our country so long ago sir. I am 73 and have lived a long and fulfilling life. It is tragic you never had that same opportunity. May you rest in eternal peace.