THE WALL OF FACES

FOREVER REMEMBERED

"If you are able, save for them a place inside of you....and save one backward glance when you are leaving for the places they can no longer go.....Be not ashamed to say you loved them....
Take what they have left and what they have taught you with their dying and keep it with your own....And in that time when men decide and feel safe to call the war insane, take one moment to embrace those gentle heroes you left behind...."

Quote from a letter home by Maj. Michael Davis O'Donnell
KIA 24 March 1970. Distinguished Flying Cross: Shot down and Killed while attempting to rescue 8 fellow soldiers surrounded by attacking enemy forces.

We Nam Brothers pause to give a backward glance, and post this remembrance to you, one of the gentle heroes lost to the War in Vietnam:

Slip off that pack. Set it down by the crooked trail. Drop your steel pot alongside. Shed those magazine-ladened bandoliers away from your sweat-soaked shirt. Lay that silent weapon down and step out of the heat. Feel the soothing cool breeze right down to your soul ... and rest forever in the shade of our love, brother.

From your Nam-Band-Of-Brothers

Richard is buried at Arlington Nat Cem.

Alexandria, VA is dedicating a Vietnam Memorial scheduled for completion in the next 15 months. The site will be called the Captain Rocky Versace Plaza and Vietnam Veterans Memorial. The plaza will contain a sculpture of Captain Versace, a former resident of Alexandria, and a Vietnam Memorial with the 61 names of the Alexandrians who sacrificed their lives during service in the Vietnam War. The Friends of Rocky Versace, a group dedicated to this project, is working closely with the city to ensure that the best effort is made to honor these veterans for their ultimate sacrifice. A historical database will be maintained at the plaza with biographical information concerning the veterans from Alexandria and their military service. This information will reside on the computer systems at the plaza and will be maintained for accuracy. For this reason, the Friends of Rocky Versace would appreciate any information you can provide to include in the historical record. Contact: Tony Heisley at [email protected] or telephone: 703-683-6964 or mail: Friends of Rocky Versace, P. O. Box 3441, Alexandria, VA 22302 or check our web site at: http://www.friendsrockyversace.homestead.com/ .