THE WALL OF FACES

On May 16, 1971, a New York Times article described heroin use by American troops in Vietnam had reached epidemic proportions. The piece reported that 10 to 15 percent of lower-ranking enlisted men were heroin users, and military officials working in drug‐suppression estimated that as much as a quarter of all enlisted personnel, more than 60,000 men, were hooked. They added that some field surveys reported units with more than 50 percent of the men on heroin. In Vietnam, the drug was plentiful, cheap, and 95 percent pure. Its effects could casually be achieved through smoking or snorting, as compared to the U.S., where the drug was impure, only about five percent heroin, and had to be main-lined or injected into the bloodstream to achieve a comparable high. The habit, which cost $100 a day to maintain in the U.S., cost less than $5 a day in Vietnam. PFC John W. Hines was an Indirect Fire Infantryman serving with Headquarters & Headquarters Company (HHC), 2nd Battalion, 8th Infantry, 4th Infantry Division, U.S. Army Republic of Vietnam. At 7:05 AM on September 24, 1970, an enlisted man attempted to wake an unresponsive Hines in his bed in his unit’s barracks at An Khe Air Field in Binh Dinh Province, RVN. Assistance was requested, and he was pronounced dead by medical staff. A subsequent autopsy determined Hines died of “acute narcotism.” He was 20 years old. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org and “G.I. Heroin Addiction Epidemic in Vietnam.” New York Times (New York, NY), May 16, 1971]

Image courtesy of Redbird Research LLC, Saint Charles, MO.

Thank you for your service to our country so long ago sir. As long as you are remembered you will remain in our hearts forever….

Never forgotten.

HOOAH

PFC John Wayne Hines served with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion, 8th Infantry, 4th Infantry Division, US Army Vietnam (Coffelt Database).

Your sacrifice is not forgotten.

HOOAH