THE WALL OF FACES

Never forgotten.

Semper Fi, Marine

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.

On February 17, 1966, an enlisted man from the U.S. Army’s 10th Radio Research Unit (attached to the 1st Cavalry Division) was on the airstrip at Phu Bai Airfield, RVN, attempting to hop a flight back to his unit at An Khe. The Specialist Five was on a courier run, carrying a packet of intelligence material needed by 1st Cav commanders. He talked his way onto a U.S. Marine Corps UH-34D Seahorse helicopter (#149380) from Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 163 (HMM-163) bound for An Khe. While waiting to takeoff, an Army officer came aboard and informed him he was pulling rank and that he would have to get off. The officer, 2LT William E. Leatherwood Jr. from A Company, 8th Field Radio Research Field Station, 509th Army Security Agency, had significant cargo with him which exceeded the load capacity of the Seahorse. The courier was steamed as he climbed down and watched from the edge of the runway the helicopter takeoff and rise away. He was still watching when, to his horror, the aircraft lost power around 300 feet and came back down rapidly, its main rotor blades coning up above it. It crashed about mid-runway, rolled on its left side, and burst into flames. Another Marine helicopter came over, its crew exiting to assist survivors. The aircraft lifted into a hover over the burning ship and beat down the flames, remaining until the airfield’s crash crew arrived. The Seahorse’s pilot and crew chief survived with severe burns. Leatherwood was fatally injured, and the gunner, CPL Calvin R. Hebert Jr., sustained second and third-degree burns over 70% of his body. He was medically evacuated to the U.S. Naval Hospital in Oakland, CA, where he expired five days later. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org and vhpa.org]

Corporal Calvin Raymond Hebert Jr., Served with Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 163 (HMM-163), Marine Aircraft Group 16 (MAG-16), 1st Marine Aircraft Wing (1st MAW), Third Marine Amphibious Force.

Calvin was a classmate. Thank you for your service. You will always be remembered.