THE WALL OF FACES

A butterfly lights beside us like a sunbeam
And for a brief moment its glory
and beauty belong to our world
But then it flies again
And though we wish it could have stayed...
We feel lucky to have seen it.

Specialist Five Gerald Dean Founds, Served with the Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 52nd Aviation Battalion, United States Army Support Command Vietnam, Military Assistance Command Vietnam (MACV), United States Army Vietnam.

Dear Sp5 Gerald Founds,
Thank you for your service as an Huey, UH-1 Helicopter Repairer. It has been too long, and it's about time for us all to acknowledge the sacrifices of those like you who answered our nation's call. Please watch over America, it stills needs your strength, courage and faithfulness. Rest in peace with the angels.

Thank you for your service and your sacrifice. Thank you for stepping up and answering your country's call. Rest easy knowing you will never be forgotten.

During the early hours of February 7, 1965, an attack occurred on Camp Holloway, a helicopter facility constructed by the United States Army near Pleiku, RVN. At around 11:00 PM on February 6, 1965, about 300 Viet Cong soldiers of the 30th Company, 409th Battalion, assembled at positions outside Camp Holloway where they began breaking through the wire fences. The Viet Cong's mission nearly turned into a disaster when their combat engineers accidentally tripped an electrical wire after breaking through the third fence barrier, but the U.S. Military Police patrolling the area did not detect it. At 1:50 AM on February 7th, the Viet Cong attackers opened fire with their AK-47 rifles, having successfully penetrated Camp Holloway. Shortly afterwards, the Viet Cong mortared the airfield and the U.S. advisory compound, while sections of the 30th Company attacked their respective targets with small arms fire. In a raid that lasted only five minutes, the Viet Cong quickly began retreating from the facility. Later that morning, they claimed victory, having caused the death of nine U.S. soldiers, and leaving another 125 wounded. In addition, ten aircraft were destroyed and 15 more were damaged. The lost U.S. personnel included PFC Joseph K. L. Belanger, SP4 Ralph W. Broughman, SP5 David Craig III, SP5 Gerald D. Founds, PFC Theodore Lamb, CPT George Markos, and PFC Alvin G. Parker. PVT Norman R. Garrett was evacuated to Fort Sam Houston, TX, for treatment of a severe head injury from which he died February 15, 1965. MAJ Sayward N. Hall Jr. died in the Philippines where he was flown after being critically injured in the attack. He died April 21, 1965. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org and wikipedia.org]