THE WALL OF FACES

Thank you for your Service to our Great Nation. AATW!

Thank you for your service to our country so long ago sir. The remembrances from Mallon Faircloth are poignant. As long as you are remembered you will always be with us….

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

The Battle of An Ninh took place September 18–19, 1965, between the North Vietnamese Army and the U.S. Army’s 2nd Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment and Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) Rangers. It occurred during an operation code named Operation Gibraltar, developed to clear the area around the U.S. Army’s 1st Cavalry Division base at An Khe, RVN. Around 7:00 AM on the 18th, after preliminary airstrikes, the first wave of helicopters dropped 224 men of the 2/502nd Infantry and a company of ARVN Rangers in a landing zone near the village of An Ninh, 18 miles east of An Khe. Unknown to the U.S./ARVN forces, they had landed in the middle of an NVA training base. When the second wave of helicopters arrived at the landing zone, the NVA unleashed intense fire, forcing back the second wave without dropping the soldiers. The lack of artillery support posed dire difficulties for the Americans on the ground. Air support was initially unavailable due to a contaminated fuel supply at Bien Hoa Air Base, and it was only shortly after 9:00 AM that the first F-100 fighter-bombers arrived. Fifty close-air support missions were flown by dusk, hitting targets as close as 100 yards from the U.S. lines, causing two casualties from friendly fire. The continuous effort to reinforce the besieged troops and evacuate the wounded under enemy fire involved 26 helicopters. In the afternoon, a U.S./ARVN relief force was transported to a landing zone not far from the battle, but before they could regroup and advance, night fell, and they had to stop. By the time the relief force arrived, the NVA had already retreated. U.S. casualties were seventeen dead and twenty-four wounded. The lost Americans included SP4 Frank Boynton, SSG George E. Burchett, 1LT Patrick A. Deck Jr., MAJ Herbert J. Dexter, SSG Johnnie W. Faircloth, 2LT Edward H. Fox, PFC Ernest K. Gerhardt, PFC Leroy Hicks, SP4 Joe L. Meek, SP4 Ernest L. Miller, CPT Robert E. Rawls, PFC Paul E. Rytter, SSG Duane C. Schell, SSG Roynald E. Taylor, SSG Larry L. Truesdale, PFC Jerry D. Underwood, and PFC Johnnie P. Winfrey. A body count conducted after the battle claimed between 226 and 257 NVA dead, most of them killed by air bombardment. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org and wikipedia.org]

Johnny and I delivered the early morning edition of The Atlanta Constitution in the City of Cordele about 1953. We would meet at the local Greyhound Bus Station restaurant in the early hours before making our deliveries. I remember the two of us dipping our oreo cookies in hot chocolate. As I look back, Johnny was extremely bright, articulate and a tough cookie. I count him as a true American patriot. When I travel to Washington and to the Vietnam Memorial I always look for Johnny's name. Thanks Johnny for your service and sacrifice!