THE WALL OF FACES

Never forgotten by the Ramona HS class of 1968.

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.

On October 23, 1969, UH-1H helicopter (tail number 68-16274) from the 158th Aviation Battalion flying out of Camp Evans was involved in accident in which six persons on the ground were killed. The incident occurred in Quang Tri Province, RVN, at a landing zone (LZ) that had been cut by engineers into a wooded area on ground that had an approximate 10% incline. The mission was a combat assault to insert 180 soldiers from A Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Infantry, 101st Airborne. The aircraft involved in the accident was the lead in a flight of six helicopters. The initial lift into the LZ went off without incident. The accident occurred on the third time dropping off infantrymen. The LZ was small and had several large tree stumps, some about three feet high. Six men exited the aircraft on the right, the other four men exited on the left, and all moved about thirty feet away from the helicopter. Before leaving the LZ, the aircraft commander (AC) lifted off to a stabilized two-foot hover and did a takeoff check. The gunner and crew chief responded with a "clear right" and "clear left." Maximum power would be needed to prevent hitting the stumps in front of the aircraft. All gauges looked fine, and power was applied. Unbeknownst to the AC, a stump on the right side was protruding at about a 60-degree angle. The landing skid had slid under it but did not make contact (which would have triggered an instrument signal). As the aircraft rose, the skid caught causing the helicopter to roll and topple hard to the right. The main rotor impacted the ground and six soldiers nearby were killed; four others were injured. The four crew members survived, with only the door gunner receiving a lacerated leg. There were no injuries to the soldiers which had exited on the left. The aircraft was destroyed but did not burn. The lost personnel included PFC Jose L. Borrero-Sanchez, SP4 Larry M. Cleveland, SP4 Manuel G. Martinez, 2LT Kerry B. Love, PFC Dennis N. Hudson, and PFC Dennis M. Clark. Borrero-Sanchez, Clark, and Hudson were posthumously promoted to Corporal. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org and virtualwall.org]

On the remembrance of your 70th birthday, your sacrifice is not forgotten.

HOOAH

Dear CPL Dennis Hudson, Thank you for your service as a Medical NCO. Thank you for the lives you saved. Please watch over America, it stills needs your strength, courage and faithfulness. Rest in peace with the angels.