THE WALL OF FACES

Lieutenant Colonel Leslie Earl Harris Jr., Served with the 4th Air Commando Squadron, 14th Air Commando Wing, 7th Air Force.

Dear LTC Leslie Harris,
Thank you for your service as a Tactical Aircraft Pilot, and for graduating from West Point. It is Lent, which is a time of preparation. 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.

On the night of May 4-5, 1968, Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army forces started a widespread offensive which came be termed "Mini-Tet" by the Americans and involved attacks on over a hundred towns and cities across South Vietnam. Two U.S. Air Force 4th Air Commando Squadron Douglas AC-47D gunships were launched from Phu Cat to engage Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army rocket and mortar sites that were firing on the Pleiku Air Base. One, AC-47D tail number 43-16159, launched with a short crew (only one gunner aboard), while the other, AC-47D tail number 43-76207, carried two extra men including a new navigator taking his first orientation flight and an Army Warrant Officer observer. Once over target, both aircraft were shot down within minutes of each other, killing nine of the fifteen crewmen. The lost crewmen in AC-47D 43-16159 included aircraft commander CAPT Barry L. Brown, pilot LTC Leslie E. Harris Jr., navigator MAJ Teddy J. Tomchesson, loadmaster SSGT James E. Bowman, aerial gunner SGT Douglas J. Cradeur, and flight mechanic SGT Roy L. Lede; in AC-47D 43-76207, the lost crew members were pilot CAPT Donald L. Merry, co-pilot MAJ Richard W. Wackerfuss, and second navigator CAPT Edward C. Krawczyk. Five others survived. Flight mechanic SGT Nacey Kent sustained a broken leg when 43-76207 crash landed. Despite his injury, he repeatedly entered the wrecked aircraft to rescue other crewmembers. Kent was awarded the Air Force Cross for his efforts. The other survivors included first navigator COL Armstrong, loadmaster Kirby Wilson, aerial gunners Ducat and Bryant, and the Army Warrant Officer, name unknown. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org and virtualwall.org]

The “Friends of Rocky Versace” once again remember one of Rocky’s fellow alumni from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, Lt Col Leslie Earl Harris Jr., USMA Class of 1949, on what would’ve been his 94th birthday - 20 March 2018.

The “Friends of Rocky Versace” remember one of Rocky’s fellow alumni from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, Lt Col Leslie Earl Harris Jr., on what would’ve been his 93d birthday - 20 March 2017.