THE WALL OF FACES

Vietnamization was a policy of the Richard Nixon administration to end U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War through a program to expand, equip, and train South Vietnamese forces and assign to them an ever-increasing combat role, at the same time steadily reducing the number of U.S. combat troops. In June 1971, the program was in full swing in Thua Thien Province, RVN, where the U.S. Army’s 101st Airborne Division closely coordinated with the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) 1st Infantry Division and local district officials. The missions provided a protective shield for the populated lowlands of the province by locating and destroying enemy forces, staging areas, and forward cache sites. At 10:32 AM on June 3rd, elements of B Company, 2nd Battalion, 501st Infantry, 101st Airborne Division, accompanied by a scout dog and its handler, were patrolling two miles west of Firebase Powder when a trooper detonated an unknown type mine. The blast wounded two, one seriously, and killed the scout dog. Between two and four enemy then opened fire and threw fragmentation grenades from a position fifty yards northwest of the American’s location. The patrol returned fire with unit weapons and called artillery on the enemy. A search of the enemy position after the contact ended resulted in one captured AK-47 rifle. The trooper critically injured by the mine, SP4 Thomas E. Baumgardner Jr., died of his wounds four days later at a U.S. military medical facility. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org and “Operational Report – Lessons Learned, 101st Airborne Division (Airmobile), October 1971” at ttu.edu]

Thank you for your service to our country so long ago sir. The remembrances from your sister Anne are especially poignant and reflect the anguish experienced by so many who lost loved ones in this war. May you rest in eternal peace.

On the remembrance of your 70th birthday, your sacrifice is not forgotten.

HOOAH

Thinking about family members that had served this country and still are serving . Thanks for you service to our country and prayers for you and family. Gone but not forgotten.

DEAR SPEC 4 BAUMGARDNER,
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE AS A GRUNT. MY SISTER WAS BORN ON YOUR BIRTHDAY. CHRISTMAS IS HERE.AND WE ARE THANKFUL FOR YOU. THE NEW YEAR IS JUST AROUND THE CORNER, WHICH MAKES IT FAR TOO LONG FOR YOU TO HAVE BEEN GONE. WATCH OVER THE U.S.A., IT STILL NEEDS YOUR COURAGE.. GOD BLESS YOU. MAY THE SAINTS AND ANGELS BE AT YOUR SIDE. REST IN PEACE.