THE WALL OF FACES

Remember to save for them a place inside of you, and save one backward glance when you are leaving, for the places they can no longer go...

SP5 John J. Laskowski, 21 years old, son of John S. and Emilea (Przybyc) Laskowski of 50 Cross Street, Chicopee, MA, a meteorologist, was killed on May 18, 1969 in Xuan Loc, Vietnam when enemy mortar fire shelled his company. SP5 Laskowski was a member of H.H.B. 2nd BN, 35th Arty, 54th Arty Group, and had three months left of an enlistment in Vietnam.

SP5 Laskowski had been awarded posthumously the Bronze Star Medal for heroism, Purple Heart, and the Good Conduct Medal. Prior to his death, he had been awarded the National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal with one Bronze Service Star, Vietnam Campaign Ribbon, and the Expert Badge with Rifle bar.

He was born in Holyoke, October 23, 1947, was educated in the Chicopee school system and was graduated from Chicopee Comprehensive High School in 1965. SP5 Laskowski played basketball and baseball with St. Mary's of Williamsett.

He enlisted shortly after his graduation from high school and took his basic training at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey and had been in Vietnam for about nine months. SP5 Laskowski had 3 sisters, Ms. Linda Hernhe, the late Mrs. Joan Deforge and Mrs. Phyllis Potvin. SP5 Laskowski was buried in the St. Stanislaus Cemetery, Chicopee on May 28, 1969.

Dear Sp5 John Laskowski, Thank you for your service as a Meteorological Observer. Saying thank you isn't enough, but it is from the heart. For many of us, we have begun Lent. The time passes quickly. Please watch over America, it stills needs your strength, courage, guidance and faithfulness. Rest in peace with the angels.

At approximately 1:00 AM on May 18, 1969, elements of the U.S. Army 54th Artillery Group at Husky Compound, a defensive position one mile east of Xuan Loc, Long Khanh Province, RVN, came under a ground assault by an unknown-size enemy force firing AK-47’s, automatic weapons, rocket-propelled grenades, and tossing satchel charges. The attack was preceded by a mortar barrage. The enemy, later identified as part of the North Vietnamese Army’s 5th Division, penetrated a portion of the 54th’s perimeter but were driven out by the artillerymen. The artillery troops defended their position against the assaulting enemy with their own rifle and automatic weapons fire and the use of their artillery cannons, lowered for point-blank for delivery at close range. Helicopter gunships responded to the fight, and tactical air support along with AC-47 gunship cover was provided. As the action continued, an element of the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment in tanks and armored personnel carriers moved to the area and engaged the enemy force. Fighting continued until approximately 6:00 AM when the enemy disengaged. Later policing of the battlefield revealed 24 enemy dead, some of whom were killed on the perimeter barbed wire. U.S. casualties were 14 killed and 39 wounded. The lost Americans included SP5 Larry J. Budde, CPT Allen R. Culpepper, PFC Henry F. Evans, SP5 Robert L. Freeman, CPL Larry L. Holmes, SP5 John J. Laskowski, SSG Kenneth E. Lockhart, CPL Gary D. McCray, PFC Ronnie E. Parker, SP5 Patrick L. Rice, CPT Norman P. Singer, SGT Dana M. Sykes, and SP4 Garry L. Uplinger. One U.S. Naval personnel, CE2 Philip L. Grieser from Seabee Team 1013, Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 10 (NMCB-10), was killed by shrapnel. CPT Singer, a battalion surgeon, was killed by an incoming enemy mortar round while rendering first aid to personnel who were in a perimeter gun pit. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org and Operational Report - Lessons Learned, Headquarters, 5th Battalion, 2nd Artillery, Period Ending October 31, 1969]

John arrived in Nam only a few weeks before I left. One of the quietest people I've ever known, I never really got acquainted with him but could tell he was a nice fellow. It was a sad night over thirty years later when I learned of his death.