THE WALL OF FACES

I have always remembered Joseph Applegate when he passed away in 1968 Vietnam. May God bless him always. - Doc Chaney. HM3/USN FMF

I think about Joe everyday my wife and I unknowingly but later discovered helped raise Joe's son Dwayne was my son's best friend in high school. GOD DOES MOVE IN MYSTERIOUS WAYS !

I was a classmate and friend of Joe’s. I also worked at Garden City food store with him. Joe was a kind and generous person who was always ready to lend a helping hand. I remember the last time I saw Joe. We had a Halloween party for the employees of Garden City and Joe was in my group for a scavenger hunt. We scoured the town for the items on the list and had so much fun. As the party ended, I said my goodbyes to him and wished him well, for I knew he and Neil Smith were going to be sent to Vietnam. I will never forget his reply. He must have had a premonition that he would not return alive for he said he would never see me again. That made me cry, as it still does to this day. Joe was a very special person and I know he has a very special place in heaven at our Lord’s side. I will never forget you, Joe!

I grew up in Monticello, Indiana, and was in the same grade as Joe who was a classmate at Lincoln Memorial School and at Woodlawn school. Joe and I would play pass with a football at recess, and I distinctly remember the smiles on his face. I remember when our school bus would stop at his home and Joe and his siblings would run out to the bus. He and I often sat together for the ride to school. I moved away before high school, but never forgot Joe. I knew he had enlisted, and it was in my sophomore year at Purdue when I learned of his untimely death. I had gone through the draft, but ended up 4F due to a metal rod and multiple metal pins in my leg. I have been back to Monticello several times, and saw a plaque in his honor at the Courthouse (this was prior to the tornado of 1974), and I have visited the Wall in Washington DC and found his name. I carefully ran my fingers over Joe's name and the feeling cannot be described. I continue to remember him always and I smile, and am thankful for the memories. The sacrifice of his untimely death while in service to our country demonstrates a heroism that is of the highest order. He and I were good friends at that period of innocence in life, and he touched my life in ways that have never been, or will be, forgotten. For all whose lives were shared with Joe, how fortunate we are. His spirit lives on in us. I am thankful to have had such a true friend and he will always be remembered.

Do not stand at my grave and weep
I am not there; I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow,
I am the diamond glints on snow,
I am the sun on ripened grain,
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning's hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry,
I am not there; I did not die.

As long as you are remembered you will never die...