THE WALL OF FACES

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.

Specialist Four David Jarrell Enmon, Served with Company D, 589th Engineer Battalion, 35th Engineer Group, 18th Engineer Brigade, United States Army Vietnam Engineer Command, United States Army Vietnam.

SP4 David J. Enmon was trained as a mason and served with D Company, 589th Engineer Battalion. In June 1967, SP4 Enmon’s unit was working on a bridge rehabilitation project on Highway QL-19 at a river crossing near a POL pump station between Qui Nhon and An Khe in Binh Dinh Province, RVN. The causeway, designated 19-10, had been destroyed by enemy action, and D Company was installing a Baily bridge alongside the old one. Enmon and the other engineers were working an exhausting schedule of two 12-hour shifts each day to keep the traffic flowing over the waterway. Security on the project was shared with a Republic of Korea (ROK) army unit. On the evening of June 15, 1967, Enmom reportedly was dozing against a sandbagged bunker at the end of the old span, when a dump truck came rumbling by. Startled by the noise of the truck, Enmon scrambled to his feet. The commotion outside the bunker surprised an ROK guard who attacked Enmon, fatally beating him with an M1 rifle. The incident caused considerable hard feelings between the engineers and the ROK soldiers as the Americans struggled to understand why it happened. These bad sentiments lasted for about three weeks before the two allies could move past the tragedy. The new crossing was completed, but it too was damaged by an enemy bombing shortly afterwards. Enmon was later honored during a memorial service conducted by the Battalion Chaplain that took place at the 589th’s Base Camp at Vinh Thanh. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org and information provided by Willie Bonney (March 2020); obituary from the Galveston News (Galveston, TX), June 16, 1967, courtesy of Dennie Pendergrass]

Thank you for your service and your sacrifice. Thank you for stepping up and answering your country's call. Rest easy knowing you will never be forgotten.

Bo, I was only 7 when you died, but I distinctly remember when my mom (Janice, your first cousin) got the call that you had been killed. She was so devastated. Every day I saw your framed obituary on our living room wall and listened to Mama's stories, so I grew up with you in a way. Thank you for your service and sacrifice for our country. I will always remember you with love and gratitude.