THE WALL OF FACES

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.

You will forever remain in our hearts and prayers

We were and will always be brothers. You guys have never left my mind. I think about the laughs we had, the hell we raised, the battles we fought and the way we protected each other. I will love you guys until we meet again.

Dear PFC Cris Holliday, Thank you for your service as an Infantryman. This week is Independence Day, and there is no better time to honor you. Please watch over the USA, it still needs your strength. Rest in peace with the angels.

On the evening of May 29-30, 1969, a squad-sized element of the 3rd Brigade, U.S. 82nd Airborne Division was conducting an ambush patrol when they were attacked shortly after midnight by an unknown size enemy force with rocket-propelled grenades, small arms fire, and hand grenades. Seven Americans were killed in the assault. An eighth trooper died after he managed to make his way away from the action but wandered into an ambush site established by another U.S. Army patrol. The lost personnel, all from B Company, 2/505th Infantry, were PFC James W. Clay, PFC Cris Holliday, PFC Herman L. Judy Jr., 1LT Richard L. Patterson, PFC Joe Rodriguez, and PFC Robert J. Rosenow; the friendly-fire victim was PFC Harry Massey. An article from Pacific Stars & Stripes dated June 8, 1969, reported on U.S. military denials of the “assassination” of the eight B/2-505th soldiers after a U.S. television network broadcast that the enemy came upon the American ambush patrol as they slept and that no one came to their aid. According to the military, another patrol from the same company heard the firing from 1,800 feet away and came to assist. Furthermore, the military insisted that there was “no indication that any personnel were killed by a bullet to the back of the head.” Military officials said they pieced together their account of the incident after interviewing three survivors of the patrol. Four of the troopers, Holliday, Judy, Rodriguez, and Rosenow, were posthumously promoted to Corporal. For members of B Company who served with those from the lost squad, they had their own ideas of what happened. On the morning before the ill-fated patrol went out, one of their senior squad leaders was sent to the rear to have two teeth extracted. He returned to the firebase in significant pain and bleeding gums. His Platoon leader, a Lieutenant, told him he would stay in that night while his squad, call sign Tiger, was sent out on ambush. Insisting on going out with his squad, the Lieutenant ordered him to stay behind. The squad leader remained on the perimeter of the base while Tiger set up about a half-mile out. What he feared occurred is that they set up in daylight but failed to move to a different location after dark as was standard procedure since the enemy is always watching. He believes the Lieutenant, who had only been in country a short time and was with Tiger on ambush, made the fatal mistake of remaining in place. Three senior members of the squad probably didn’t challenge him because he was the Platoon leader. At about midnight, gunfire and explosions were heard, and the white tracers of the enemy could be seen from the firebase as Tiger was attacked from three sides by a probable North Vietnamese Army sapper team. A small reaction force from the base went out immediately to assist, but it was too late. To this day, Tiger’s senior squad leader still carries guilt that he was not with his men that night. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org and “Military Denies TV Report Of Assassination of 8 GIs.” Pacific Stars & Stripes, June 8, 1969; also from information provided by Jim Maskell (November 2018)]