THE WALL OF FACES

Your sacrifice is not forgotten.

HOOAH

Specialist Four Robert Joe Hardesty, Served with Company A, 229th Assault Helicopter Battalion, 11th Aviation Group. 1st Cavalry Division, 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.

Dear Sp4 Robert Hardesty,
Thank you for your service as an Aircraft Armament Repairman with the 1st Cavalry. Your 72nd birthday just passed, happy birthday. It is now Lent. The war was years ago, but we all need 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.

In the early morning hours of December 27, 1966, three North Vietnamese Army battalions of the 22nd Regiment used a two-day Christmas truce to move into position for a surprise attack on LZ Bird, an U.S. Army artillery base adjacent to the Kim Son River in Binh Dinh Province, RVN. LZ Bird was defended by only part of C Company, 1st Battalion, 12th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division, which was providing security for 1st Cavalry howitzers of B Battery, 2nd Battalion, 19th Artillery (105mm guns) and C Battery, 6th Battalion, 16th Artillery (155mm guns). The combined American strength at LZ Bird was 170 personnel. The NVA attack, estimated at 1000-man strong, began supported by mortar, recoilless-rifle, and machine gun fire. They broke through the perimeter and occupied some of the American gun positions. The 1st Cavalry soldiers fought back, with some of the fighting dissolving into hand-to-hand warfare. A number of the 105mm guns were cranked down to pointblank range, and "beehive" rounds sliced through the attackers like scythes, effectively stopping the assault in it tracks. This and armed CH-47 Chinook helicopter gunship support stalled the NVA momentum, and they began to withdraw. One account of enemy dead was assessed at a total of 211 NVA killed (body count) in and around the LZ. The American losses were 28 killed and 67 wounded. The lost Americans at LZ Bird included from C Company: SP4 Freddie L. Burnette, PFC Alfred L. Davis, PFC Hubert A. Erwin, SP4 Gregory J. Fischer, PFC Howard S. Goldberg, PFC Armand R. Graham, PFC Randall L. Hixson, SFC Paul G. Jackson, SP4 James E. Nunley, SP4 Gary W. Peasley, PFC Jerry E. Schmeltz, SP4 Ronald J. Sheehy, SGT Hugh G. Skipper, 1LT Jerald D. Wallace, and SP4 Larry J. Willis; from B Battery: PFC Samuel Q. Asher, PFC Anthony C. Coffaro, CPL Ronald R. Conn, PFC Richard A. Knaus, PFC Donald H. Lederhaus, SGT Daniel L. Miracle, and SSG Rodney D. Staton; from C Battery: PFC Ronnie E. Norris, PFC Roger D. White, CPL Roscoe Wright Jr., and PFC Ronald J. Zitiello; and 11th Aviation Group helicopter crewmen SP4 Robert J. Hardesty and CPL Robert D. Lajko. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org, 12thcav.us, pownetwork.org, and wikipedia.org]