THE WALL OF FACES

"Long time, no see" Everal,

You were my father's beloved cousin. My father Ivan Sutterfield, a career Marine who served in WWII, Korea and Vietnam was a true Marine who was a patriot and married my mother who is Japanese.

He shared you wanted to serve our country during the Vietnam War and he told you to join the Air Force and not the Navy, but you chose to enlist in the Navy.
My father shed tears as he told me the last time he saw you was when you met each other at the old fashioned malt shop in Little Rock, AR.
He said "long time, no see" as you both had ice cream shakes, shared stories and laughs and wished each other well as you parted.

It devastated my father when he learned you died in Vietnam, my father served in Chu Lai and Danang and came back with PTSD. He said this war was such a waste of human life.

We kept your memory alive, my father is gone now, but as a proud Marine Corp daughter, I continue to share the story of you and my father to my children, friends, clients and the public so that we always remember the sacrifices you made.

I wish I could have met you and know we would have been close.

Thank you for everything you have done and I am truly sorry your life was cut short.

You and everyone on the wall will always be in my heart and your lives will be catalysts for those that want to make a positive difference with their lives.

I never forget and hope through my actions, you feel that your death was not in vain.

Look over our country and help us be great again.

Never forgotten.

Semper Fortis

"The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again, who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause; who at best, knows the triumph of high achievement; and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat."
-Theodore Roosevelt, "Citizen in a Republic", April 23, 1910

EOH3 Everal F. Avey was a driver serving with A Company, Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 133 (NMCB-133), 3rd Naval Construction Brigade, U.S. Naval Forces, Vietnam. On May 26, 1968, EOH3 Avey was driving a tractor-trailer carrying logs or telephone poles. While traveling on a highway two miles south of Hue in Thua Thien Province, RVN, Avey came to a stop. Reportedly, the load was not properly lashed down and came forward into the tractor striking Avey. He was fatally injured in the incident. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org and information provided by Donald Stimpson (November 2019)]

DEAR PETTY OFFICER AVEY,
THANKS FOR YOUR SERVICE AS AN EQUIPMENT OPERATOR (HAULING). I HATE THAT YOU DIED IN THE SAME MONTH AS YOUR BIRTH. WE ARE CELEBRATING COLUMBUS DAY, AND THE DISCOVERY THAT LED TO US BEING IN AMERICA. THANK YOU FOR PROTECTING AMERICA. REST IN PEACE.