THE WALL OF FACES

CAPTAIN

WILLIAM NEWCOMER FEASTER

served as a

CHAPLAIN

in the

UNITED STATES ARMY

and at the time of his death on

26 October 1966

from injuries suffered while out on a

Search and Destroy Mission

with a unit of the

196th LIGHT INFANTRY BRIGADE

on 18 September 1966


The troops made contact with a well-entrenched enemy base camp and immediately received injuries from the enemy shooting from secluded trenches and camouflaged foxholes connected through the tunnel complexes.

Although forward visibility in the jungle entanglement was less than a yard, Captain Feaster assisted the hectic medic plunging into the battle to back up his unanswered calls.

An enemy mine connected to a trip wire exploded, blasting its hot shrapnel into the tree next to him.

All of it, that is, save a sharp chunk which carved a piece out of his leg, obliterating the nerve endings.

Captain Feaster struggled forward to retrieve another wounded soldier.

The chaplain's wound was unnoticed until he escorted the man to the Command Post where his commanding officer noticed his ripped pants with white bone at the base of the V of red flesh.

He directed the medic to tie the gap together with first aid gauze, then ordered the chaplain to remain at the CP with the other wounded.

By the time the MEDEVAC chopper was able to penetrate the jungle canopy with its gurney, this number of wounded had increased.

Although the CO told Chaplain Feaster to leave, this altuistic hero insisted on remaining at the battleground caring for "... those more needy."

The jungle's extreme humidity and temperature, coupled with his prolonged evacuation, caused a rampant infection.

His leg was amputated shortly after arriving at the hospital in Saigon.

His wife, an Army Nurse, was flown to Vietnam from her assignment at the United States Army Hospital in Seoul, South Korea.

She then cared for her husband, lying very sick in a body cast.

In his typical concerned manner, he expressed apprehension about the amputation interfering with his chaplain work.

On 26 October 1966

Chaplain Captain

WILLIAM NEWCOMER FEASTER

became the youngest chaplain to die in Vietnam at the age of 28.



Taken from a story by

RAY PEZZOLI JR

in the

March 2004

issue of the magazine of the

196th LIGHT INFANTRY BRIGADE ASSOCIATION





YOU ARE NOT FORGOTTEN

NOR SHALL YOU EVER BE





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