THE WALL OF FACES

On May 16, 1971, a New York Times article described heroin use by American troops in Vietnam had reached epidemic proportions. The piece reported that 10 to 15 percent of lower-ranking enlisted men were heroin users, and military officials working in drug‐suppression estimated that as much as a quarter of all enlisted personnel, more than 60,000 men, were hooked. They added that some field surveys reported units with more than 50 percent of the men on heroin. In Vietnam, the drug was plentiful, cheap, and 95 percent pure. Its effects could casually be achieved through smoking or snorting, as compared to the U.S., where the drug was impure, only about five percent heroin, and had to be main-lined or injected into the bloodstream to achieve a comparable high. The habit, which cost $100 a day to maintain in the U.S., cost less than $5 a day in Vietnam. PFC Robert B. Dickerson III was a machine gunner serving with L Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines, 1st Marine Division, III Marine Amphibious Force. On May 2, 1971, Dickerson was found deceased in his quarters in the Da Nang area in Quang Nam Province, RVN. Postmortem studies revealed the cause of death was pulmonary edema and generalized visceral congestion, common adverse events following a heroin overdose. Dickerson, 18, left a wife and young daughter. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org and “G.I. Heroin Addiction Epidemic in Vietnam.” New York Times (New York, NY), May 16, 1971]

Image courtesy of Redbird Research LLC, Saint Charles, MO.

Image courtesy of Redbird Research LLC, Saint Charles, MO.

Private First Class Robert Bolt Dickerson III, Served with Company L, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, Third Marine Amphibious Force.

My memories of you will never fade. I remember you as if it were just yesterday.
Rest with the warriors.