THE WALL OF FACES

I first met Charlie Atwood at the Tan My Detachment. We were doing logistics and minesweeping on the Perfume River. My earliest memory of Charlie was when he fell overboard, and I was driving the boat so had to circle back to fetch him out of the water. In late November I was back in DaNang and Carrol Minor and I were both assigned as seamen/deck hands on the LCM 873. When it came time for the boat to deploy back up North, Charlie, a short timer, volunteered to accompany the boat up North to show a new young Engineman Fireman the ropes. He didn't need to go. Since the Mike 8 boats only needed a four-man crew, they left me behind and Charlie would be the "fourth." The last time I saw Charlie, he was checking out of the barracks the day before deployment. After 55 years, I don't remember the names of the other two fellows -- the coxswain and the young engineman. I saw them about a month later in DaNang just going about their business but never served with them again. Life is precious and every is a blessing. Thank you for your service Charlie. I will never forget you.

my husband was on the boat with charlie when he was killed and he escorted his body back to miami... .. thank you charlie and wayne for your service...

Do not stand at my grave and weep
I am not there; I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow,
I am the diamond glints on snow,
I am the sun on ripened grain,
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning's hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry,
I am not there; I did not die.

As long as you are remembered you will never die...

Without people like you our great nation would not exist. Rest in peace EN3. Atwood, I salute your brave soul. From a Coast Guard vet.

On the afternoon of December 9, 1968, the U.S. Navy landing craft LCM-873 was directed by Naval Command at Cua Viet U.S. Navy Base to head over to Hon Gio (Tiger) Island and conduct an operational and weapons “shakedown,” the testing of its weapons and diesel motors prior to being assigned combat operations along the Cua Viet River. Unbeknownst to the four crewmen on LCM-873, U.S. surveillance of the area failed to notice that the island, eleven miles from the Vietnamese coastline, had been infiltrated by a contingent of 30-50 North Vietnamese Army soldiers. When the sailors began firing their weapons, the NVA opened up on the unsuspecting LCM. The craft was hit by AK-47, automatic weapons, and rocket-propelled grenade fire. Fragments from one of the rockets fatally injured EN3 Charles A. Atwood Jr. in the throat and chest. A second rocket knocked SN Carrol W. Minor overboard; his body was carried away by the tides and never found. The two remaining wounded crew of the LCM signaled with a white rag to a passing heavy attack destroyer, the USS Canberra (CA-70), and ran their craft into its port side. The crew of the Canberra lashed the two ships together, and the wounded were taken aboard. A detachment of Republic of Korea (ROK) Marines arrived on the Canberra by helicopter and descended to LCM-873 where they placed Atwood’s body in a body bag. It was later flown to one of the U.S. Navy’s hospital ships off the coast of Vietnam. The Canberra and two other Navy destroyers then opened fire, blasting suspected NVA positions on the island with its 5-inch guns for an hour before sending ROK Marines and a group of forty U.S. Marines to kill or capture any remaining enemy troops. No prisoners were taken. The damaged LCM-873 was later cut loose and towed back to its base at Cua Viet by another LCM. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org and information provided by Bob Wiltse (September 2019)]