THE WALL OF FACES

TJ 68 hasn't forgotten you and thanks you for your service for our country.
Semper Fi !

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.

Lance Corporal Thomas Vincent Haas, Served with Company E, 2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, Third Marine Amphibious Force.

On the remembrance of your 70th birthday, your sacrifice is not forgotten.

Semper Fi, Marine.

I was a temporary clerk at company headquarters and received the news. This is my diary entry:

CHRISTMAS EVE 1969
Wednesday, December 24, 1969. Spent day working. Flares going up all night – red, green, white, star clusters. Tom Haas & Mitchell died tonight. Sad effect to Christmas.

I was at HQ this Christmas Eve. Flares were one of the mediums for communication and night lighting. We used different colors for different occasions. Night ambushes that needed to return to the safety of the perimeter used them for recognition to prevent friendly fire. Needless to say, the base was huge and the entire perimeter exploded at midnight with flares. It was a rainbow of colors and most spectacular.

These effects were spectacular yet at the same Tom Haas and Mitchell met their deaths. What I recall is that the unit had security at Liberty Bridge. This was the one and only bridge for the convoy to reach us at An Hoa. One of the concerns was night attacks via the river water. Personnel on bridge security were required to frequently throw grenades in the water to disrupt an underwater attack on the bridge pylons. Grenades have a time delay once you pull the pin. This is so that one can throw it some distance away. Apparently they decided to delay the release of the grenade in order to get an explosion close to the surface of the water. Unfortunately they held the grenade too long and it exploded in their midst. That is what I remember mentioned. Such a sad event during this celebration.