THE WALL OF FACES

Your sacrifice is not forgotten.

Semper Fi, Marine

On January 24, 1968, elements of the 320th North Vietnamese Army Division, an elite unit and veterans of the 1954 Dien Bien Phu campaign and newly arrived in the Demilitarized Zone sector, ambushed a U.S. Marine "Rough Rider" convoy. The convoy was on a routine artillery resupply mission from Dong Ha to Camp Carroll. It consisted of three trucks and a jeep armed with quad .50-caliber machine guns. At 1:30 PM, when the trucks were about to turn into the Camp Carroll access road, some 3,000 meters above the Marine base, the North Vietnamese sprang their ambush. The enemy soldiers opened up with small arms, mortars, machine guns, and recoilless rifles, immediately immobilizing all four vehicles. Using their weapons, including the quad .50, to defend themselves, and taking what cover they could, the Marines in the convoy called for assistance. The 4th Marines sent a reaction force from Camp Carroll consisting of a platoon from Company H, 2nd Battalion, 9th Marines; two tanks, one a flame tank, from Company B, 3rd Tank Battalion; and two U.S. Army M42 Dusters from Battery C, 1st Battalion, 44th Artillery. The North Vietnamese, however, were waiting for the reaction column. An enemy gunner fired on the lead tank, stopping it with a recoilless rifle round and killing the reaction force commander, CAPT Daniel W. Kent, who was also the tank company commander. Again, the Marines fought back and called for support. When two UH-1E gunships appeared overhead around 6:30 PM, the North Vietnamese troops broke contact and disappeared. A second relief column of two more Dusters and two trucks armed with quad .50s arrived from Dong Ha and assisted with the evacuation of the dead and wounded. The Marines suffered casualties of six men dead and forty-four wounded. The lost Marines included CAPT Kent, PFC Gilbert Ayala Jr., LCPL Gilbert Diaz, PFC Clayton M. Holland, CPL Robert J. McCarl, and CPL John H. Neal Jr. One U.S. Army Duster crewman, PFC Billy L. Strickland, was also killed. Three enemy dead were confirmed. Not only did the vehicles of the original convoy require extensive repairs, but two of the Dusters and the tank hit by the RPG round also sustained damage. Strickland, the Army Duster crewman, was posthumously promoted to Corporal. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org and the publication “U.S. Marines in

Private First Class Gilbert Ayala Jr., Served with the 3rd Platoon, Company H, 2nd Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, Third Marine Amphibious Force.

DEAR PFC AYALA,
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE AS A GRUNT. SEMPER FI. WE ARE CELEBRATING COLUMBUS DAY, AND THE DISCOVERY THAT LED TO US BEING IN AMERICA. THANK YOU FOR PROTECTING AMERICA. REST IN PEACE.

Dear PFC Gilbert Ayala Jr, sir

As an American, I would like to thank you for your service and for your sacrifice made on behalf of our wonderful country. The youth of today could gain much by learning of heroes such as yourself, men and women whose courage and heart can never be questioned.

May God allow you to read this, and may He allow me to someday shake your hand when I get to Heaven to personally thank you. May he also allow my father to find you and shake your hand now to say thank you; for America, and for those who love you.

With respect, Sir

Curt Carter