THE WALL OF FACES

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning,
We will remember them.

On December 14, 1970, a U.S. Army helicopter UH-1H (tail number 69-15137) from Aviation Platoon, 326th Medical Battalion, 101st Airborne Division, was conducting a night medical evacuation in Thua Thien Province, RVN, when it struck a mountain in bad weather. Five crewmen were killed in the incident. They included aircraft commander WO1 Paul R. Brass, pilot WO1 Randall G. Freeman, medics SSG Steve F. Johnson and SP4 Jeffery D. Kuersten, and crew chief SP4 John W. Murphy. The aircraft reportedly was headed to the pick-up location when at approximately 4:32 PM it diverted to Camp Evans to refuel. Later, the helicopter was returning to perform the evacuation when it crashed into Coc Muen Mountain (Hill 1298), eleven miles northwest of the hamlet of A Luoi. A 2nd Brigade aircraft monitored their last transmission at 5:00 PM: “This is Dustoff 922 on guard.” Nothing more was heard from the crew. They were placed in a Missing in Action status until December 21, 1970, when their remains were recovered and identified. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org and vhpa.org]

Warrant Officer Randall Gaylord Freeman, Served with the Aviation Platoon, 326th Medical Battalion, 101st Airborne Division, United States Army Vietnam.

Without people like you our great nation would not exist. Rest in peace WO. Freeman, I salute your brave soul.

I remember Randy as a child who came to our baseball games with his parents. His older half brother, Rick Olson and I were close friends and played baseball together. We were a few years older than Randy. I knew his family very well. As Randy grew up he, too, played baseball. His death was very hard on his family, esp. his mother.
Rest in peace, Randy!