THE WALL OF FACES

I remember. Many remember the other Seabee at Dong Xoai that won a Medel of Honor but lost his life. My privilege was to step aboard a Pan Am DC-8 Freedom bird at 9:00AM on that June 10,1965. As we stepped aboard, we watched four USAF C-123 transports being loaded with Vietnamese Airborne troops. They dropped into Dong Xoai and were slaughtered. The joy of going home was tempered by the feeling that so many Americans were dying only 58 miles to the Northwest. William Hoover and the others killed that day were a sad reminder that we didn’t all come back. The Seabees lost at Dong Xoai were hero’s, not because they died, but because they exhibited courage beyond that displayed by so many young men. Many Army Special Forces and Army Chopper crews died in that battle. The Seabees certainly prevented more American losses that day, having worked to build and strengthen the Camp defenses, and then for their outstanding contribution to holding off such a huge enemy attack. That is why I hold those Seabees as being so heroic. Ed Keith, formerly US Army

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.

Petty Officer Second Class William Clifton Hoover was awarded the Bronze Star Medal for Valor, with Combat Distinguishing Device (V), for his exemplary gallantry in action. He served as a Steel Worker Second Class and was assigned to TEAM 1104, NMCB-11, 3RD NC BDE.
See https://navy.togetherweserved.com/

On the remembrance of your 81st birthday, your sacrifice is not forgotten.

Semper Fortis.

On June 9, 1965, a Viet Cong force estimated at 1500-2000 strong attacked the Dong Xoai Special Forces Camp, located approximately 60 miles north of Saigon in Phuoc Long Province, RVN. The camp was occupied by eleven men of a U.S Army Special Forces team, a Vietnamese force of approximately 400 men, and nine U.S. Navy Seabees. The attack occurred shortly before midnight with mortar and 57mm recoilless-rifle fire. Some of the first mortar rounds struck the communications building, medical aid station, and the quarters where the Americans were sleeping, inflicting casualties in the first moments of the attack. Friendly aircraft arrived to drop flares followed by armed helicopters which bombed and strafed the areas north and west of the camp. The Viet Cong pressed the assault, overrunning the west berm of the north area of the camp. The defenders were scattered and suffered many casualties. American and Vietnamese aircraft arrived at daybreak, the defenders directing highly effective air strikes against the attacking enemy. Shortly after noon, rescue helicopters came in through the Viet Cong fire and successfully evacuated thirteen American survivors. The Viet Cong withdrew on the morning of June 11th, and the remaining Americans survivors were lifted out by rescue helicopters. Twenty Americans died in the battle, including three Special Forces soldiers: SSG Donald C. Dedmon, SGT Charles O. Jenkins Jr., and SFC Bobby Russell; and two Seabees: SWF2 William C. Hoover and CMA3 Marvin G. Shields. Of the surviving 15 Americans, 14 were wounded. Additionally, about 43 CIDG Montagnards and South Vietnamese troops were killed. Outside of the camp, American deaths included eight helicopter crewmen, four from the 118th Aviation Company: pilot CPT Walter L. Hall, co-pilot Donald R. Saegaert, crew chief SSG Joseph J. Compa Jr., and gunner SGT Craig L. Hagen; and four from the 82nd Aviation Battalion: pilot CWO Raymond C. Galbraith, co-pilot WO Zoltan A. Kovacs, crew chief William R. Batchelder, and gunner PFC Walter R. Gray. Five U.S. Army advisers were also killed: SP4 Ronald E. Blake, SSG Robert L. Curlee Jr., LTC Bruce G. Johnson, CPT Edward E. Krukowski, and SFC Fred M. Owens, three from helicopter crashes and two killed while attached to South Vietnamese units. More than 400 South Vietnamese soldiers died in fights in the outskirts of the camp. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org, historynet.com, and the publication The Military Engineer (November-December 1965 issue)]