THE WALL OF FACES

Miss you and wish I had been able to see you.

Dear Major Raymond Johnson, Thank you for your service as a Special Forces Qualified Infantry Unit Commander. Saying thank you isn't enough, but it is from the heart. The time passes quickly. Please watch over America, it stills needs your strength, courage and faithfulness. Rest in peace with the angels.

Missing you. A friend of my folks and my family. Smith's Station, Alabama...the Cawthornes

Dear Major Raymond Eugene Johnson, sir

As an American, I would like to thank you for your service and for your sacrifice made on behalf of our wonderful country. The youth of today could gain much by learning of heroes such as yourself, men and women whose courage and heart can never be questioned.

May God allow you to read this, and may He allow me to someday shake your hand when I get to Heaven to personally thank you. May he also allow my father to find you and shake your hand now to say thank you; for America, and for those who love you.

With respect, and the best salute a civilian can muster for you, Sir

Curt Carter
[email protected]

On July 19, 1966, while on a mission supporting 1st Battalion, 14th Infantry, 3rd Brigade Task Force, 25th Infantry Division, U.S. Army helicopter UH-1D tail number 64-13891 had a mid-air collision with a reconnaissance Cessna L-19 Bird Dog airplane. The two aircraft collided at approximately 1500 feet while flying along the Cambodian border west of Pleiku. The airplane slammed into the helicopter from behind, causing the main rotor system of the helicopter to separate and its fuselage fall into a thick grove of trees below where it completely burned. There were no survivors. The impact also caused the left wing of the airplane to fold back and separate from its fuselage. The L-19 spiraled downward and crashed into the Ia Drang River in 10 to 15 feet of water from which it was not recovered. Its pilot also perished in the crash. The helicopter had just volunteered to take its two passengers airborne on a short flight so they could adjust the unit’s evening mortar and artillery fire around the defensive perimeter. Most eyes in the helicopter were spotting mortar rounds landing on the ground to the east. The pilot of the L-19 was flying parallel to the Cambodian border looking for enemy targets to the west. They never saw each other. Crew members of the helicopter included aircraft commander WO1 Johnny F. Long, pilot WO1 Jesus DeLa Rosa Jr., crew chief SP4 James M. Radzelovage, and gunner MSGT Leroy Barnes. The two passengers on board were MAJ Raymond E. Johnson and FSGT Yoshiiwa Nagato. The pilot of the L-19 was CAPT Charles L. Getman. His remains, still in the aircraft, were not recovered from the river until the next day. [Taken from vhpa.org and vvmf.org]