THE WALL OF FACES

Went to high school with Billy and his brother Jim. I was in Navy boot camp when he went to Viet Nam. Did not know til I got home. The ultimate sacrifice. Will remember him forever.

Thank you for your service to our country so long ago sir. Another life taken way too soon.

On the remembrance of your 71st birthday, your sacrifice is not forgotten.

Forever 18.

Semper Fi, Marine.

PFC William M. Bagshaw, PFC Roy S. Spurgeon, and PFC Miles B. Stuart were riflemen, and PFC Michael S. Garrett a machine gunner, all serving with Hotel Company, 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines, 1st Marine Division in the Battle for Hue in Thua Thien Province, RVN, during the 1968 Tet Offensive. On the afternoon of February 26, 1968, H Company was engaged by North Vietnamese Army and Viet Cong soldiers firing automatic weapons and small arms mixed with dozens of rounds of 60mm mortar fire. The Marines returned fire and placed 40 rounds of high explosive 81mm mortar of the NVA/VC positions. A Forward Air Controller, Trail 30, came on station above H Company, and directed two flights of Marine A-4 Skyhawk attack jets, call signs Hellborne 532 and 533 from Marine Attack Squadron 121 (VMA-121), which dropped 20 MK-81 Snake Eye 250lb. bombs on the enemy positions. The grid coordinates cited in 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines Command Chronology after-action reports indicate that the Marines were within 100 meters of the enemy positions when the air strikes were authorized by the ground commander, whose judgement undoubtedly was that the known risk from enemy machine guns and mortars outweighed the potential risk of friendly-fire casualties. Twenty-one NVA/VC combatants were killed in the strike; however, fragments from the exploding ordinance hit Marine positions, killing Bagshaw, Spurgeon, Stuart, and Garrett. Hotel Company's Commanding Officer both won and lost in the engagement—the strikes destroyed men and weapons which could have inflicted heavy losses on his Marines but at the cost of four Marines dead and two more wounded. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org and virtualwall.org]

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.