THE WALL OF FACES

Specialist Four Maurice Stephen Ellis, Served with the 3rd Platoon, Company A, 2nd Battalion, 28th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, United States Army Vietnam.

Specialist Maurice Stephen Ellis served with the 1st Infantry Division, 2nd battalion, 28th Infantry, A Company.

May those who served never be forgotten. Rest in peace SP4. Ellis, I salute your brave soul. My heart goes out to you and your family.

A butterfly lights beside us like a sunbeam
And for a brief moment its glory
and beauty belong to our world
But then it flies again
And though we wish it could have stayed...
We feel lucky to have seen it.

Although I never knew or met Maurice, our paths crossed twice in our lives. The first time was in October 1946, at Angel Hosptal in Franklin, NC where i was born and he about 4 days earlier, The second time was at the battle of Ong Thang during Operation Shenandoah on October 17, 1967. I was in Delta 2/28 and he was in Alpha 2/28. Almost 50 years later I saw his name on the casualty list from the battle and his hometown as Asheville, NC, where I have lived since 1987. Doing some research I was surprised to discover our paths had crossed earlier. I regret that I never knew Maurice. Black Lion!