THE WALL OF FACES

On January 19, 1970, a day after conducting bomb damage assessment of a B-52 Arc Light strike in dense jungle about 45 kilometers north of An Khe, members of C Company, 2nd Battalion, 35th Infantry marched into an ambush by an unknown number of enemy soldiers. The attack came from a concealed bunker complex fixed with supporting firing positions. Five members of 2nd Platoon died in the attack, including PVT Raymond J. “John” Aquino, 2LT Mel E. Salazar Jr., PFC Dale R. Forsythe, PFC Juan Fret-Camacho, and SP4 Aubrey A. Wiggins. All were killed by small arms fire. When the shooting stopped and the enemy withdrew, the five dead soldiers were retrieved. It took a significant effort by their comrades to carry the five and their gear through thick forest a half mile back to a secure area where they remained overnight. The following morning helicopters arrived to extract the fallen warriors. [Taken from cacti35th.org]

Dear PVT Raymond John Aquino, sir

As an American, I would like to thank you for your service and for your sacrifice made on behalf of our wonderful country. The youth of today could gain much by learning of heroes such as yourself, men and women whose courage and heart can never be questioned.

May God allow you to read this, and may He allow me to someday shake your hand when I get to Heaven to personally thank you. May he also allow my father to find you and shake your hand now to say thank you; for America, and for those who love you.

With respect, Sir

Curt Carter

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Raymond is buried at Muncipal Cemetery in Guaynabo,PR. BSM-OLC PH

In memory of our 35th Infantry Regiment (Cacti) Brother. Your service and sacrifice will always be remembered by those of us who proudly served with you. For any family or friends who may read this, we honor you for the sacrifice that you made with your terrible loss. In order to more fully honor our Brother we would love to hear from any Family, old friends, neighbors, schoolmates and teachers so that we might learn as much as possible about his life. We specifically would like to obtain a photo ( It matters not if it is High School, Military, or family – group photo’s are OK) Please contact us if you knew him and let us know that our hero is still remembered.
Dick Arnold and Doc Hall 35th Infantry Regiment (Cacti) Association (www.cacti35th.org ) You can reach Dick Arnold at 3611 Delmar Rd/ Indianapolis, IN 46220 or phone (317) 251-2369 or Doc Hall at 1335 N. Broad St./ Woodbury, NJ 08096 or at e-mail indicated.