THE WALL OF FACES

Operation Attleboro was a search and destroy operation conducted northwest of Dau Tieng, Tay Ninh Province, RVN, during September 14 – November 24, 1966. While the initial fighting was light, in late October U.S. forces, consisting of the 196th Light Infantry Brigade and the 1st Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment (25th Infantry Division), encountered the 9th Viet Cong Division, resulting in a major three-day battle. It was a slugfest of small units set amid treacherous terrain of tangled forest, overgrown jungle, and booby-trapped elephant grass. On November 6th, an airmobile assault by two battalions from the 28th Infantry was launched in an effort to seek out a Viet Cong regiment and its base camps where fighting had been raging in the previous days. After patrols “mopped up” the hostile fire that was taken in the landing zone, the battalion settled in for the night. The next day patrols were sent out, but no enemy contact was made. On the early morning of the 8th, as the battalion was preparing to pull out, a Viet Cong battalion attacked. PFC Howard L. Bowen was on listening post duty 30 meters outside the perimeter all night before the attack. When he tried rejoining his Bravo Company in the morning before sunup, he had been shot down by the VC. A platoon fire-team leader making his rounds found Bowen, lying flat and sore, stricken with a wound in his right side. The platoon medic was called, but instead SP4 James M. Kelly came on the run, out of the dark. He knelt to examine Bowen’s wound. A bullet ripped through the left shirt pocket of his blouse, shredding the garment without breaking skin. Kelly laughed nervously. Fingering the tear, he said to the fire-team leader, “Just look at it. Isn’t it a funny one?” Suddenly, a second bullet hit Kelly through the neck, killing him instantly, then, deflecting downward, went through Bowen’s heart. The fire-team leader checked them both for pulse and heartbeat, and finding nothing, crawled on. At a foxhole 15 meter along, SP4 Nathaniel Wyley and PFC Rafael Vega-Maysonet, were dead, killed by enemy small arms fire. Meanwhile, at the platoon command post, 1LT Bernard F. Kistler had been killed by an enemy .50 caliber round through his head. In the Alpha Company sector, as the enemy blew bugles and assaulted the perimeter, CAPT Ronald V. Putnam was killed by a machine-gun burst, nine bullets hitting him in the head, five of which perforated his steel helmet. Despite the casualties, including 22 killed, the battalion, supported by air strikes, held its ground and the enemy withdrew. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org, wikipedia.org, and the book “Ambush” by S.L.A. Marshall]

Dear SP4 James Mathew Kelly, 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

James is buried at Godwin Cemetery, Bratt, Escambia County,FL. PH

It is said a man hasn't died as long as he is remembered. This prayer is a way for families, friends and fellow veterans to remember our fallen brothers and sisters. 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 hush, I am the swift, uplifting rush of quiet birds in circled flight, I am the stars that shine at night. Do not stand at my grave and cry, I am not there, I did not die

I will always remember you and what you stood for you work for my dad my family will always remember you thank you for what you did for us. Dale Shirk