THE WALL OF FACES

Dear Private First Class Baird, You Are Not Forgotten!
This is the 2nd year, on the anniversary of your passing, that I ran a mile with you in my thoughts and prayers. Rest in Peace, Dear Brother.

Each year since September 2015, at the annual 5th Division Army reunion, members of the Society of the Fifth Division, U.S Army remember the 514 soldiers from the 1st Brigade, 5th Division, who were Killed in Action in Vietnam. You are among the soldiers remembered. You Are Not Forgotten!

Phil “LT Mike” Maniscalco
Society of the 5th Division, U.S. Army
Delta Company 1/11 Infantry
Vietnam Sept 1968- Sept 1969

El Paso Herald-Post
El Paso, Texas
16 Feb 1970, Mon • Page 25

Dear PFC Baird ~ You Are Not Forgotten!
Today, on the anniversary of your passing, I ran a mile with you in my thoughts and prayers. Rest in Peace, dear brother.
Each year since September 2015, at the annual 5th Division Army reunion, members of the Society of the Fifth Division, U.S Army remember the 514 soldiers from the 1st Brigade, 5th Division, who were Killed in Action in Vietnam. You are among the soldiers remembered. You Are Not Forgotten!

Phil “LT Mike” Maniscalco
Society of the 5th Division, U.S. Army
Delta Company 1/11 Infantry
Vietnam Sept 1968- Sept 1969

Do not stand at my grave and weep
I am not there. I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning's hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry;
I am not there. I did not die.

A little after noon on February 7, 1970, a Naval Support Activity Depot (NSAD) Cua Viet logistical craft, LCM-32, was transporting a U.S. Army 6x6 truck and trailer and six Army personnel on the Cua Viet River in Quang Tri Province, RVN, to Dong Ha when it struck a mine. The blast occurred about 300 yards from the Dong Ha ramp and the craft immediately began to sink in the middle of the river. The explosion tossed the 12,000 lb. truck and trailer carrying two 10 kilowatt generators and one TRC-24 receiver clear off the LCM into the water. Of the personnel aboard, five were blown into the river. Four men were picked up by a tug, and one man swan ashore. A U.S Navy PBR patrol unit diverted to the scene, and with the help of other PBR’s, the stricken LCM was towed to the north bank of the river. Once beached, the craft was pumped out and temporary patches were applied to stop the flooding. When the battle damage was brought under control, the PBR’s towed the LCM to the south bank near the Dong Ha ramp. The incident stopped all logistic traffic on the river and an emergency mine sweep was conducted. NSAD divers commenced a search for missing personnel and located the truck and trailer and recovered two bodies. Later questioning of the coxswain revealed the mine detonated when the LCM hit a broomstick in the water. The mine was believed to be a North Vietnamese Army pressure-type mine with a long delay fuse. By 4:00 PM, the casualties were two U.S. Army killed, two U.S. Navy wounded, three Army wounded and one Army missing. The wounded were treated and released from the 18th Surgical Hospital in Quang Tri. A third body was later recovered. The three lost Americans included PVT Terry S. Loprino, PFC Michael H. Baird, and PFC Thomas W. Muir. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org]