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. PVT Scott N. Jacobson was a Mechanical Maintenance Helper assigned to the 156th Maintenance Company, 92nd Service Battalion, 80th General Service Group, Army Support Command Da Nang, 1st Logistical Command, U.S. Army Republic of Vietnam. On February 27, 1972, Jacobson was in detention at his base camp seven kilometers southwest of Marble Mountain Airfield in Quang Nam Province, RVN, when he was found without life signs in his cell. A later casualty report attributed his death to acute pulmonary edema and hemorrhage, common adverse events after an opioid (heroin) overdose. Jacobson was 20 years old. The day before his death, an administrative decision had been approved to have Jacobson discharged from the service due to poor attitude and performance. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org and “G.I. Heroin Addiction Epidemic in Vietnam.” New York Times (New York, NY), May 16, 1971]

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Some may think you are forgotten
Though on earth you are no more
But in our memory you are with us
As you always were before….

HOOAH

On the remembrance of your 69th birthday, your sacrifice is not forgotten.

HOOAH