THE WALL OF FACES

Charlie replaced me in the DaNang depot. Our tours overlapped by a month or so. We became friends. I miss Charlie even now and think of him (and his wife Pat and son) often. RIP, Charlie.

Thank you for your service to our country so long ago sir. The remembrance from your cousin Dennis Manning is especially poignant. As long as you are remembered you will always be with us.

Charlie, as I knew him, was my “big cousin.” He was a generous, warm, kind, highly responsible person who had to be a “man” long before most others his age. Charlie’s was the oldest of eight children and his father died when Charlie was 16. Imagine, the weight of the expectations this loving son would take on as the oldest child? He met every challenge with grace and love. The evidence of his early success as a substitute dad is the enduring love of all his siblings and all who ever knew him. He was smarter than anyone needs to be and when it was time for him to make one of those first, major, life changing decisions, he chose to go to college. Charlie blossomed as a student and budding intellectual. Immediately after finishing his bachelor’s degree, he pursued his master’s and had almost completed his PhD when the U.S. Army, who supported him for many years through his participation in ROTC, decided they would not wait any longer. It didn’t matter that he was married. It didn’t matter that he had two children or that he was about to receive his hard-earned Doctorate in Economics – it was time to go. Having had many years of military experience, including wartime deployments, I can imagine Charlie thinking to himself, “Well, I made a deal, and I will keep it. I will go to Vietnam, assigned to Danang (a somewhat safer place than man) in a noncombat role, do my year return to my wife and children.” to continue my life. That did not happen as you know. Tragically, another American soldier decided to break- into my cousin’s room to steal anything of value and as Charlie returned to his room surprising the other soldier, the soldier took a bayonet and stabbed Charlie to death! Charlie died alone, in a darkened hallway thousands of miles away from his friends and family – not by a gun shot. Not by a mortar explosion. Or a hand grenade. No. He died at the hands of someone he had every reason to believe “had his back.” Another soldier! That man killed a good and decent man who could have lived to share his goodness as a husband and father, friend and colleague. Every death is a tragedy, but Charlie’s death was a truly extraordinary waste of a good life. We miss him and I hope you will better understand why. I hope the pictures I submit help to tell his story. By the way, I do not know who submitted the picture that is on this site now (04/2021) but he does not appear to me to be Charles Vincent Donohoe, my cousin and my hero.

We can never truly repay the great debt we owe our fallen heroes. Rest in peace CAPT. Donohoe, I salute your brave soul.

I worked directly under the Captain, I remember the nice talks we had over work, family, the war and a few other topics. I have visited the wall a number of times and think about him often. Gone too soon, like so many others.