THE WALL OF FACES

1LT RICHARD D BAHR, It will be my privilege to read your name as part of THE READING OF THE NAMES on 11/09/2022 at 5:04am in Washington D.C., as is done every 5 years to honor and thank you (and your family) for your service and ultimate sacrifice.

Thank you for your service to our country so long ago sir. May you rest in eternal peace.

First Lieutenant Richard Duncan Bahr, Served with Company C, 5th Battalion, 60th Infantry Regiment, 9th infantry Division, United States Army Vietnam.

On March 7, 1968, a M113A armored personnel vehicle (APC) commanded by 1LT Richard D. Bahr from C Company, 5th Battalion, 60th Infantry, 9th Infantry Division, was enroute to Cai Lay in Kien Tuong Province, RVN, when it was destroyed by a mine. The explosion created a crater ten feet deep and at least as wide in the road where Bahr’s vehicle had been traveling. The thirteen-ton APC was shredded by the blast. When a reaction force of tracked vehicles from Binh Phuoc arrived at the scene, they were shocked to find the track had been reduced to twisted pieces sticking out of the smoking crater. The mine, estimated at 500lbs. of high explosive, was so powerful that the vehicle’s big diesel engine and forward compartment were blown forty feet in opposite directions. Troops from the reaction force fanned out to search for Bahr and his five-man crew. The driver was found about twenty feet from the crater where he had been blown clear of the wreck, his body still in one piece. The other soldiers, however, were not immediately found, and it quickly became clear that they had been blown into pieces. What discernable remains could be located were gathered up and carried to a firebase in Binh Phuoc and turned over to Graves Registration. The lost crew included Bahr plus SGT Edward R. Cordeau, SP4 Kraig S. Hogan, PFC Theodore T. Leo, PFC Ben McCoullough Jr., and PFC Lewis B. Wilson. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org and the book “American Soldier” by Tommy Franks]

DEAR LIEUTENANT BAHR,
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE AS AN INFANTRY UNIT COMMANDER. HALLOWEEN IS APPROACHING, AND ALL SAINTS AND ALL SOULS' DAYS - THE DAYS WE HONOR THOSE WHO LEFT US. MAY THE SAINTS AND ANGELS GUIDE YOU. REST IN PEACE.