THE WALL OF FACES

Thank you for your service to our country so long ago sir. The remembrance from Todd Douglas is especially moving. As long as you are remembered you will remain in our hearts forever…..

May those who served never be forgotten. We can never truly repay the great debt we owe our fallen heroes. Rest in peace CPL. Di Roberto, I salute your brave soul. My heart goes out to you and your family.

Dear Cpl Robert Di Roberto,
Thank you for your service as an Infantryman. Memorial Day is coming up, and we remember all you who gave their all. It has been too long, and it's about time for us all to acknowledge the sacrifices of those like you who answered our nation's call. Please watch over America, it stills needs your strength, courage and faithfulness. Rest in peace with the angels.

It was a December evening in New York when we received the news. It was dark and cold outside when my mother, tears streaming down her face, told us Bobby had been killed in Vietnam, a country that, up until that moment, held no special meaning to me. Later that evening Nancy came over to our house and between tears and sobs told us she had received a telegram informing her CPL Robert Di Roberto had died while out on patrol in Quang Nam. His life extinguished by what we now call an IED. My parents and Nancy, not willing to believe what they had read, turned on the nightly news. Those old enough to remember will recall that every evening the major networks would scroll the names of servicemen who had been killed in action. Sure enough, with the family sitting in front of the console TV, we received visual confirmation that Bobby would not be coming home again, not alive anyway.

People will have different views of the Vietnam War or for that matter any war, but never, ever should we take our personal feelings out on the men and women who had the courage to put their lives in harm’s way so that we may enjoy the liberties of the greatest nation on Earth. I miss Bobby every day and when I say a prayer for friends and family who have passed away he remains where he belongs, at the top of the list.

Semper Fi, Corporal.