THE WALL OF FACES

Thanks for the memories and the friendship you extended to me in country. Semper Fi
Kid.

Leon is buried at Ft Ridgely Cemetery, Fairfax, Mn. PH

Leon Ross Barickman
Marine Corps Lance Corporal
Born: May 2, 1949
Died: July 27, 1969

Leon Ross Barickman was born May 2, 1949 in St. James, Minnesota. He was a member of the Truman Church of Christ and was baptized and received into church membership on April 10, 1960.
Leon attended the first and second grades at old District 17, just a half-mile from his home. The rest of his elementary education was completed at Lewisville Public School. In 1967, Leon graduated from Truman High School. He was very active all through his high school years-he was a member of the Student Council, was president of the FFA, and was wrestling captain and class officer. Leon was also on the staff of both the school paper and the annual. Some of his other activities included the Young Republicans, track, declamation, 4-H and playing the guitar in a band. Leon was a quiet, studious boy when he was small. He was a leader in his group of friends and they always played "Army." When Leon was little, he was a chubby little guy, but about the time he was 14 he slimmed down, and from then on he was slim and trim and never weighed over 140 pounds. He was short, 5'7". like his dad. They could wear the same clothes and shoes. Leon was more like his dad than my other two boys, physically and in other ways, also.
After graduating from high school, Leon enrolled in the University of Minnestota School of Accounting. In March of 1968, he enlisted in the Marine Corps. On April 18th, after completing his second quarter at the University, Leon left for San Diego, California, to begin basic training. On October 2, 1968, he was assigned to a 13-month tour of Vietnam. Leon's leadership abilities were soon recognized by his fellow Marines, who made him squad leader soon after arriving in Vietnam.
Leon participated in many major operations, including Meade River, which was described as the worst the Marines had participated in. On July 21, 1969, he was promoted to Lance Corporal. On July 27, 1969 Leon died when the helicopter in which he was being evacuated was shot down. Since childhood, Leon had suffered from a fungal infection in his legs that had physicaally limited his abilities. In Vietnam, the condition worsened. Despite a medical corpsman's recommendation that Leon not return to combat, a ranking officer mustered as many men as he could, including Leon, to participate in Operation Durham Peak. On July 27, 1969, Leon and his company were near the Laos-Vietnam border. As infantryman, their mission was to search out and destroy the enemy. This particular operation took them into unfamiliar mountainous country with rugged terrain and steep slopes.
When a med-evac helicopter was summoned to remove the bodies of two Marines who had been killed that day, Leon's commanding officers determined that his intensifying leg condition necessitated his evacuation from the area. He was going home. When all were aboard the helicopter and it was approximately 40 feet off the ground, the North Vietnamese Army opened fire and shot it down. The helicopter plunged down the mountainside and crashed.
Leon is sadly missed by all his friends and relatives, especially Dad, Mom, Ivan and Kurt.
Leon is survived by his parents, Earl and Gladys Barickman; his brothers, Ivan and Kurt; five nieces and nephews and two grand-nephews.

The family of Leon Barickman

From "The Faces Behind the Names" by Don Ward.

Semper Fidelis, Marine!

FOREVER REMEMBERED

"If you are able, save for them a place inside of you....and save one backward glance when you are leaving for the places they can no longer go.....Be not ashamed to say you loved them....
Take what they have left and what they have taught you with their dying and keep it with your own....And in that time when men decide and feel safe to call the war insane, take one moment to embrace those gentle heroes you left behind...."

Quote from a letter home by Maj. Michael Davis O'Donnell
KIA 24 March 1970. Distinguished Flying Cross: Shot down and Killed while attempting to rescue 8 fellow soldiers surrounded by attacking enemy forces.

We Nam Brothers pause to give a backward glance, and post this remembrance to you, one of the gentle heroes lost to the War in Vietnam:

Slip off that pack. Set it down by the crooked trail. Drop your steel pot alongside. Shed those magazine-ladened bandoliers away from your sweat-soaked shirt. Lay that silent weapon down and step out of the heat. Feel the soothing cool breeze right down to your soul ... and rest forever in the shade of our love, brother.

From your Nam-Band-Of-Brothers

My brother just joined the Marines and is the same age as Leon was when he died for his country. Those details make his death personal and make me even more thankful of the price he paid for my freedom. Thanks