THE WALL OF FACES

Thank you for your service to our country so long ago sir. As long as you are remembered you will always be with us.

The 34th Armor Regiment was a mechanized unit consisting of armored fighting vehicles. It arrived in Vietnam on September 15, 1966, with the 4th Infantry Division. The battalion was attached to the II Field Force and operated in the III Corps Tactical Zone. On November 3, 1966, an M113 armored personnel carrier from Headquarters & Headquarters Company (HHC), 2/34th Armor, was traveling on highway QL-13 (nicknamed “Thunder Road” by U.S. forces) in Bien Hoa Province, RVN, when it reportedly hit a 500lb. bomb and exploded in a ball of flames. Two passengers, SSG Upton F. Ashley and PFC Kenneth E. Sanders, were killed after suffering blast and burn injuries. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org, 25thida.org, and “Tank Soldiers Recall Comrades Lost in Vietnam.” Los Angeles Times, July 29, 1990]

Staff Sergeant Upton Finley Ashley, Served with the Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion, 34th Armor Regiment, 4th Infantry Division, United States Army Vietnam.

DEAR STAFF SERGEANT ASHLEY,
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE AS AN ARMOR RECONNAISSANCE SPECIALIST. I WAS BORN ON YOUR ANNIVERSARY. REST IN PEACE.

Dear SSGT Upton Finley Ashley, sir

As an American, I would like to thank you for your service and for your sacrifice made on behalf of our wonderful country. The youth of today could gain much by learning of heroes such as yourself, men and women whose courage and heart can never be questioned.

May God allow you to read this, and may He allow me to someday shake your hand when I get to Heaven to personally thank you. May he also allow my father to find you and shake your hand now to say thank you; for America, and for those who love you.

With respect, and the best salute a civilian can muster for you, Sir

Curt Carter