THE WALL OF FACES

According to the Coffelt Database, SGT Roe Hopson is buried in the Hopson Family Cemetery in Inez, KY.

Your sacrifice is not forgotten.

At 9:55 AM on June 1, 1970, a Recon Team, call sign Cherry Jam, from B Company, 1st Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division, III Marine Amphibious Force, was conducting a patrol seven kilometers north of the U.S. Army’s 5th Special Forces CIDG camp at Thuong Duc in Quang Nam Province, RVN, when it engaged four North Vietnamese Army (NVA) soldiers with small arms. The team killed two NVA, then hastily moved to a landing zone on Charley Ridge for helicopter exfiltration. At 10:45 AM, a CH-46D Sea Knight helicopter from Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 262 (HMM 262) landed for the extraction. As the Recon Team approached the aircraft, one of the Marines detonated a booby trap under the forward part of the helicopter. The powerful blast caused the aircraft to overturn, catch fire, and explode. The pilot, MAJ Robert M. Fitzgerald, perished in the post-crash fire. Cherry Jam Team Leader, SGT Roe Hopson Jr., sustained fatal blast and fragmentation wounds in the explosion of the booby trap. Eleven other personnel were wounded. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org, popasmoke.com, and “III MAF Command Chronology, June 1970” at ttu.edu]

Thank you for your service to our country so long ago sir. The remembrances from those who served with you are touching and reflect their admiration and respect for you. As long as you are remembered you will always be with us….

Dear Sgt Roe Hopson, Thank you for your service as a Rifleman. Please watch over America, it stills needs your strength, courage and faithfulness. Rest in peace with the angels.