THE WALL OF FACES

Steve...just to put it in writing for the first time in over 30 years..I dedicate alot of time in rememberence of you..not only because of the great friendship we had for a few years, but because I feel I should have been by your side in Nam..I went with you to sign up and we went for the "Buddy Plan"..I got deferred and you made the cut, I tried again and still lost out..but you shipped out and never returned..I was supposed to be with you.I always feel guilty..Never really checked out what happened over there..don't even have a picture of you, but visit the wall every year and shed a lot of tears..I dedicate a motorcycle ride to D.C. every Memorial Day in your honor,I should have been with you.we were so young, but we wanted to serve. You will always be my personal HERO.I wish it could have been different,I wish I would have been there with you.You are NEVER Forgotten. I don't even know where your final resting place is to visit, They have your name on a stone at the square here in C-burg, I visit that alot, I guess I tried to blank it all out back then..always felt guilty I didn't get to serve our country.Maybe I will shake this monkey off my back and finally do some research and find more info out about you and maybe find some guys that served with you and even come up with a picture or two...everytime I drive passed "Uptown Sales" parking lot(our ole hangout)I gotta chuckle. Miss ya Buddy!

I served in the same unit as Steve Dile, the 3rd Battalion (Airborne), 506th Infantry (Currahees), 1st Brigade, 101st Airborne Division (Screaming Eagles). Steve was killed during the Battle at Hill 474 on January 28, 1970, while trying to recover the bodies of his fallen comrades. Steve is a hero and was a fine soldier. He was well liked and respected by his fellow troopers in Company B.

If any family member or friend reads this remembrance, please contact me at: [email protected] or leave a post on our website: www.currahee.org. We have a message for you.

You and I weren't all that close, really, but wherever the rest of the "summer Scotland crowd was, you were usually there also, so were nearly always together during those days. I'm sure all of those guys feel the same as I do - we miss you and we wish you were here now. Even though we rarely see each other anymore it's still fun to remember those days of fishing, swimming, catching hell from one of somebody's parents (usually somebody's mother), and dreaming of all the ice cream we could buy at Wadel's Garage if we could somehow lay our hands on only one dollar. They really were great days and I know we all wish you were here. ...we wish you were here, Steve.