THE WALL OF FACES

James Odell Ashton married my mother on April 30, 1968, deployed May 15, 1968 and was killed in battle on June 8, 1968. She always spoke highly of him and said that he wanted to make sure she was taken of if something happened to him while in battle. Unfortunately, he was taken from her way too soon. Thank you, sir, for your service for our country. My mother made sure we knew the price you paid.

Your sacrifice is not forgotten.

HOOAH

Never forgotten.

HOOAH

SGT Ronald E. Forget was a Radio Operator serving with Headquarters & Headquarters Company (HHC), 3rd Battalion, 8th Infantry, 4th Infantry Division. Forget worked in the 3/8th Tactical Operations Center at Dak To coordinating daily infantry and artillery operations. In early June 1968, Forget travelled to Pleiku. On June 8, 1968, he checked in with the 4th Aviation Battalion Pathfinder Detachment at Pleiku Heliport to organize transportation back to his unit. The Pathfinder put him on a helicopter to Kontum instead of Dak To. When Forget arrived at Kontum, he was presented with the option of waiting until the next day to catch the next flight to Dak To; instead, Forget opted to hitch a ride with a convoy to Dak To that afternoon. While enroute, the convoy was ambushed on National Route QL-14, nine miles north of Kontum city in Kontum Province, RVN. During the ensuing firefight, Forget was fatally wounded in the head. Two other 4th Infantry Division personnel were killed in the ambush: SP4 Arturo S. Rodriguez, a communications specialist from C Company, 124th Signal Battalion; and mechanic PFC James O. Ashton from C Battery, 5th Battalion, 16th Artillery. Ashton had only been in Vietnam three weeks at the time of his death. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org and information provided by Ray Lussier (November 1998) at members.tripod.com]

Private First Class James O'dell Ashton, Served with Battery C, 5th Battalion, 16th Artillery Regiment, 4th Infantry Division, United States Army Vietnam.