THE WALL OF FACES

On May 16, 1971, a New York Times article described heroin use by American troops in Vietnam had reached epidemic proportions. The piece reported that 10 to 15 percent of lower-ranking enlisted men were heroin users, and military officials working in drug‐suppression estimated that as much as a quarter of all enlisted personnel, more than 60,000 men, were hooked. They added that some field surveys reported units with more than 50 percent of the men on heroin. In Vietnam, the drug was plentiful, cheap, and 95 percent pure. Its effects could casually be achieved through smoking or snorting, as compared to the U.S., where the drug was impure, only about five percent heroin, and had to be main-lined or injected into the bloodstream to achieve a comparable high. The habit, which cost $100 a day to maintain in the U.S., cost less than $5 a day in Vietnam. PFC Warren G. Ingram was a Heavy Vehicle Driver serving with A Company, Support Battalion, Army Depot Cam Ranh Bay, Army Support Command Cam Ranh Bay, 1st Logistical Command, U.S. Army Republic of Vietnam. On July 18, 1970, Ingram was found expired on his bunk in his unit’s company area at Cam Ranh Bay Army Airfield in Khanh Hoa Province, RVN. Army Postmortem studies determined he died as the result of “drug intoxication.” Ingram was 21 years old. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org and “G.I. Heroin Addiction Epidemic in Vietnam.” New York Times (New York, NY), May 16, 1971]

Image courtesy of Redbird Research LLC, Saint Charles, MO.

Never forgotten.

HOOAH

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.

Thank you for your service and sacrifice Uncle Warren G. I was born after you passed on but mom proudly told me about you and I have letters you wrote her from the war. Your memory will forever live on.