THE WALL OF FACES

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 sunlight 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.

Dear SFC Milfred Dingman,
Thank you for your service as an Indirect Fire Infantryman. Your 81st birthday just passed, happy birthday. 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.

Sergeant First Class Milfred Harold Dingman, Served with Company C, 3rd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division.

I never met my grandfather, but I have always known his legacy.
The legacy he left on the field of battle. I have always known about his ultimate sacrifice, for his country, and, more importantly, his men - the hardchargering warriors under his comand.
These actions I never really understood; appreciated, yes. Respected? Definitely. It wasn't until I made my first tour to the middle east did I truly understand what it is like to love, more than  yourself, the men that stand next to you, and it was doubly so when I deployed the second time as a team leader to that very same country.
We were different services, but our warrior spirit remains the same.
I had always felt close to you in that way, I have always felt I had tread on the same boot prints, on that same broken path as you. Maybe it just runs in the family, maybe a part of you was always with me, and Steven during our baptism of fire.
You were gone long before I entered this world, but the glory of battle will always be ours to share.
This Memorial Day, I will toast to you, and all the other gunfighters who wrote that blank check to Uncle Sam.
To my grandfather SFC. Dingman. One magnificent badtard.
Cpl. Matthew Dingman USMC 0311 OIF.

Milfred Harold Dingman
Date of birth: 17-May-27
Date of death: Killed in Action
Home of record: Ottawa Illinois
Status: KIA

AWARDS AND CITATIONS

Distinguished Service Cross

Awarded for actions during the Vietnam War

The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 9, 1918 (amended by act of July 25, 1963), takes pride in presenting the Distinguished Service Cross (Posthumously) to Sergeant First Class Milfred Harold Dingman (ASN: RA-55020025), United States Army, for extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations involving conflict with an armed hostile force in the Republic of Vietnam, while serving with Company C, 3d Battalion, 12th Infantry, 4th Infantry Division. Sergeant First Class Dingman distinguished himself by exceptionally valorous actions on 11 March 1969 as a platoon sergeant during a combat mission approximately twenty kilometers west of Polei Kleng, Kontum Province. An estimated company of North Vietnamese equipped with grenades, small arms and rockets unleashed a vicious attack and threatened to overrun Sergeant Dingman's platoon. He immediately organized his men and led them down the hill where he established an effective defensive perimeter. He then made repeated trips to the top of the hill to administer first aid to the wounded and rescue the casualties from under the hostile fusillade. Braving a hail of bullets, Sergeant Dingman next moved among his troops to provide encouragement and distribute ammunition. As he was returning fire from a threatened sector of the perimeter, he was killed by an exploding enemy rocket. Sergeant First Class Dingman's extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty, at the cost of his life, were in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and the United States Army.
General Orders: Headquarters, U.S. Army, Vietnam, General Orders No. 2223 (June 24, 1969)

Action Date: 11-Mar-68

Service: Army

Rank: Sergeant First Class

Company: Company C

Battalion: 3d Battalion

Regiment: 12th Infantry Regiment

Division: 4th Infantry Division