THE WALL OF FACES

I never met you. But like your daughter I also lost my dad at early age. My dad was a cpl Royal Canadian Medical Corp.

Kontum City is located about 19 miles north of Pleiku City, in the Central Highlands in Kontum Province, RVN. During the first three months of 1972, a large build-up of enemy forces was detected in the valley area southwest of Dak To and northwest of Kontum City. A battle raged for months in and around the city and military base of Kontum. On May 17, 1972, a USAF Lockheed C-130E Hercules (#63-7798) from the 21st Tactical Airlift Squadron, 374th Tactical Airlift Wing, 7th Air Force, was operating on a resupply mission to Kontum Airfield. As the aircraft departed the airfield, it was struck by an enemy 122 mm rocket while climbing away and crashed. Three crewmen were killed in the crash, pilot CAPT Richard H. Hagman, navigator CAPT John W. Adams, and flight engineer TSGT David L. Wagner. Co-pilot 1LT Clarence P. Lewis was rescued and evacuated to the U.S. Army Hospital at Camp Zama in Japan, where he succumbed to his injuries May 21, 1972. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org]

DEAR CAPTAIN ADAMS,
I WISH YOU HAD A PHOTO GIVEN. I ONCE WORKED FOR AN AIRLINE, AND NEW MANY NAVIGATORS. THEY WERE GREAT PEOPLE WITH GREAT MINDS. THANKS FOR YOUR SERVICE AND REST IN PEACE.

Dad as this would have been your 74th Birthday. Much love always & forever.

Today, I again think of you. I missed having you a part of my daily life. I missed having had the special bond developed between and father and daughter. However, I have never thought for one moment that you died in vain or without purpose. Today, I look at my children and I see you and realize that the bond is there, it is just different than others.

All my love,
DL