THE WALL OF FACES

Specialist Four Carl John Green Jr., Served with the 3rd Platoon, Company C, 5th Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 199th Infantry Brigade, United States Army Vietnam.

Thank you for your service to our country so long ago sir. We should be forever thankful for the sacrifices of you and so many others to ensure the freedoms we so often take for granted.

Chub
I remember when I was notified of your death. I remember you now=Over 50 years later. You’ve been missed.

Don Helmick
C Co 228th Aviation 1st Air Cavalry9

On the late afternoon of April 17. 1969, an eight-man ambush team of “Redcatchers” from 3rd Platoon, C Company, 5th Battalion, 12th Infantry, 199th Infantry Brigade, set out on foot from the “Fishnet,” an abandoned fishnet factory near Saigon in Gia Dinh Province, RVN, which the Redcatchers used as their Brigade Forward Base. The team moved about 4-5 miles away from compound and set up after dark near an empty thatch hooch on top of a dike on the south bank of the Kinh Sang canal. Several hours later, at about quarter past nine, while lying prone, an enemy command-detonated Claymore mine was blown near their position. The blast caused no injuries, however, four of the team members moved to their feet while the other four rolled over the edge of the dike. At that moment, a second Claymore was detonated. Three of the four standing Redcatchers were killed by the explosion and the fourth had his legs blown off. The team members below the dike called for help. A medivac helicopter and some support troops arrived, and the casualties were flown to the 3rd Field Hospital in Saigon. The three lost troopers were SGT Kenneth R. Bull, PFC Lawrence J. Lauzon, and PFC William H. Smith. SP4 Carl J. Green Jr., who lost his legs, died of his wounds a week later on April 24, 1969. The loss of life was poignant in its own way for each of the team members: Green reportedly had previously been awarded two Purple Heart decorations before receiving his third for this incident; Bull was within ten days of rotating back to the U.S. as his tour was ending; Lauzon, who had only been in country a month, was new to the Company and was already speaking of a premonition of his death; and Smith had a wife who had just given birth. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org and information provided by Jerry Morehead (February 2020)]

Dear Sp4 Carl Green,
Thank you for your service as an Infantryman. 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.