THE WALL OF FACES

A butterfly lights beside us like a sunbeam
And for a brief moment its glory
and beauty belong to our world
But then it flies again
And though we wish it could have stayed...
We feel lucky to have seen it.

Met Chuck in boot camp. Great guy. I remember how he talked about his dad. He loved him so much. To his family: Chuck was a wonderful person. God bless him and his family.

We were so young. I did stop to visit your Mom and Dad, great visit, you have a wonderful family. SEMPER FI VN 68/69. PLT. 3332. Boot Camp.

LCPL Charles E. Gradoville was a rifleman serving with M Company, 3rd Battalion, 9th Marines, 3rd Marine Division. On June 16, 1967, M Company was in the third day of a search and destroy mission one-mile northeast of Con Thien (Hill 158) in Quang Tri, Province, RVN. Called Operation Cimarron, the Company was operating in tandem with other Battalion Companies, moving from west to east in an attempt to capture or destroy enemy forces. Late in the afternoon, one of the M60 machine gunners test fired his weapon, sending several seconds of fire downrange. Company M’s position suddenly received two major caliber, flat-trajectory rounds from an unknown position. One of the rounds struck Gradoville in the head, killing him instantly. It was later surmised that the incoming shells were due to tank friendly fire. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org and 3rd Battalion, 9th Marines, 3rd Marine Division Command Chronology for June 1967; and from “For some, the war never ended.” Muscatine Journal (Muscatine, IA), May 27, 2007]

Dear Lcpl Charles Gradoville,
Thank you for your service as a Rifleman. It has been too long, and it's about time for us all to acknowledge the sacrifices of those like you who answered our nation's call. Please watch over America, it stills needs your strength, courage and faithfulness. Rest in peace with the angels.