THE WALL OF FACES

Thank you for your service to our country so long ago sir. I am heartened you returned home after the passage of so many years though I wish it had been under very different circumstances. May you rest in eternal peace.

Bob was my first cousin, our dad's being brothers. I always admired and looked up to him when I was a child. His plane was shot down the day after I was married, on my mother's birthday. Bob served so faithfully and I was proud to wear his MIA bracelet for many years, without ever taking it off. Now it is on display in my home, along with the folded flag and Purple Heart(s) of my dear departed Viet Nam veteran husband, Gary.

I was born and raised in Major Holdeman’s home town, Winchester, Indiana. This is where I became friends with his son, Tim. I remember the time when my parents and friends at school were talking about how Tim’s dad became MIA in Viet Nam. It has been 55 years since we received that tragic news but I still remember it well. As the Bible says, “there is no greater love than when a man gives his life for another.” I thank Major Robert Holdeman for his service to our country! I love the USA and because of hero’s like him is the reason why we can enjoy our freedoms! I am blessed to be counted as a friend of Tim Holdeman and I know that his dad would be very proud of him!

Semper Fi, Marine

On November 25, 1967, pilot COL Lewis H. Abrams and bombardier/navigator 1LT Robert E. Holdeman were the crewmen of a U.S. Marine Corps A-6A Intruder (#152612), callsign Packard, from Fighter Attack Squadron (All Weather) 242 (VMA[AW]-242), Marine Aircraft Group 11 (MAG-11),1st Marine Aircraft Wing (1st MAW), on a single aircraft night strike mission against the Kien An Airfield near Haiphong, NVN. An EA-6A electronic countermeasure (ECM) aircraft and three F-4B fighter-bombers flew in support of the mission. At 4:25 AM, COL Abrams radioed that they had crossed the coast of North Vietnam and were on track for the target. The ECM aircraft remained on station until 4:57 AM with no further contact with Abrams. They reported that no anti-aircraft artillery or surface-to-air missile firings were observed during the time they orbited the proposed track for the target run. A sea-air rescue mission for the missing Intruder was conducted along the ingress and egress routes of the mission strike with negative results. Both Abrams and Holdeman were place in Missing in Action status. In 1995, a Joint Task Force-Full Accounting (JTF-FA) search and recovery mission excavated a crash site and recovered remains and other items that were consistent with the loss of Abrams’ A-6A. Equipment found at the site indicated that both crewmen were in the aircraft at the time of impact. The human remains were repatriated and positively identified in June 1997. Abrams was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and Holdeman was promoted to Major during the time they were missing. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org]