THE WALL OF FACES

During the first quarter of 1968, the 9th Infantry Division’s tactical area of responsibility included twelve provinces within the southern portion of South Vietnam. The division conducted strike operations to locate and destroy Viet Cong (VC) and North Vietnamese Army (NVA) main and local forces and their installations and infrastructures. In response to the VC/NVA Tet Offensive, division resources were deployed against the increased enemy activity in Gia Dinh Province. During February 13th-15th, infantrymen from the 9th Division’s 4th Battalion, 39th Infantry were in sustained battle around Dong Phu, six miles southeast of Saigon. On the 13th, Company B, 4/39th, was airmobiled into the area on a reconnaissance-in-force mission when it came under a mortar and small arms attack. For most of the day, the infantrymen were pinned down in waist-deep waters while artillery and air strikes pounded enemy locations. The next day, Companies B and C were flown back into the battle zone and encountered stiff resistance. Sweeping toward the enemy positions, they discovered a battalion-sized bunker system. They blasted the bunkers with M79’s, fragmentation grenades, and light anti-tank weapons with little result. Later airstrikes were more successful when direct hits destroyed the enemy fortifications. The Americans spent the night in the rice paddies which had risen to about chest high due to incoming tides and offered no overhead protection. Throughout the night they could hear the enemy dragging their dead away and fired on them when they could pinpoint their location. While Companies B and C were battling the bunker complex, Company A swept the area and found enemy weapons and ammunition. They also uncovered ten enemy graves, each containing from one to six bodies. In the tree days of fighting, units of 4/39th accounted for more than eighty-three dead VC and NVA and destroyed over 120 bunkers. A variety of weapons and documents were confiscated. U.S. losses were five men killed and fourteen wounded. The lost personnel included: (from B-4/39th) PFC Jerry W. Jenkins; (from C-4/39th) PFC George H. Dize (posthumously promoted to Corporal), SP4 Dohn W. Johnson, and PFC Ernest M. Weathersbee; and (from C Battery, 1st Bn, 11th Arty) forward observer 1LT Thomas Y. Osborne. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org and “No time for Valentines: 4th-39th slays 83 in 3 days.” The Old Reliable (9th Inf Div publication), February 28, 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.

Dear PFC Jerry Jenkins, Thank you for your service as an Infantryman. Saying thank you isn't enough, but it is from the heart. It's the end of summer. The time passes quickly. Please watch over America, it stills needs your strength, courage and faithfulness. Rest in peace with the angels.

We never met Uncle Jerry, but my Mom spoke of you often. Of the 14 children my Grandmother had, my Mom and you were the two youngest and closest. I read your letters you wrote her after she passed in 2002, which I didn't know existed until then. I saw the love you had for us because your words jumped from the pages. You wrote you couldn't wait to meet me. I'm sorry that never happened for us. According to Mom, my younger brother, who wasn't yet born, was so much like you so I know you were a good man with a great heart and soul.

I will forever be grateful to you for giving your life for our freedom Uncle Jerry. You were so brave to have fought in a war that has never really made since to me. You were doing what our country asked of you and you paid the ultimate price at such a young age. I will continue to read your letters of love and bravery and will never forget you.

Please tell my Mom and Dad and yours, for whom I never met, I love them. I too will be with you one day and will thank you in person. God bless you Uncle Jerry! I know you are flying high with the angels above and our Lord will always have his arms around you.

Love,
Kris

Following my Vietnam service I returned to Mississippi and soon thereafter relocated to Meridian and have lived here since 1973. You fellows from Lauderdale County probably would not recognize the places and the people you left behind – things have changed drastically since you have been gone. News of your deaths brought much heartbreak and many tears to your loved ones and friends. After all these years we still remember the price you paid for your country and our freedoms. As another Memorial Day ceremony unfolds at the county courthouse, each of your 28 names will be read. In remembrance of your sacrifice, friends and family members will come forward to place a Buddy Poppy at the base of the granite wall honoring all the county’s losses since World War I. The patriotism that you felt as you left Lauderdale County for the war in Vietnam is still alive and well in your hometowns and communities. Many of you died protecting one another, but you all served so that we could keep the things we love the most – God, country and family. By remaining true to these principles, we honor your sacrifices.

Van “Mac” McCarty
Meridian, MS
USMC Vietnam Veteran
1968-69, 1970-71