THE WALL OF FACES

SP4 David Lawrence Deckard is buried in Section D, Plot 69, Grave C of the Saint Michaels Catholic Cemetery in Bradford, IN.

He died at the age of 57 of chronic respiratory failure from wounds received in Vietnam.

Your sacrifice is not forgotten.

Thank you for your service to our country so long ago sir. As long as you are remembered you will always be with us.

Thank you Spec 4 Deckard for your courage while serving with H&H Co, 2nd Bn, 8th Inf, 4th Inf Div and all your days thereafter.

Dear Sp4 David Deckard,
Thank you for your service as an Armor Crewman. It is so important for us all to acknowledge the sacrifices of those like you who answered our nation's call. Please watch over America, it stills needs your strength, courage and faithfulness. Rest in peace with the angels.

On March 24, 1969, a resupply convoy from LZ Mary Lou, north of Pleiku, RVN, protected by armored personnel carriers (APC’s) from Headquarters & Headquarters Company (HHC), 2nd Battalion, 8th Infantry, 4th Infantry Division, was headed to LZ Bass carrying needed supplies. After turning off Highway 14 onto the dirt Highway 511, they passed through a small village where friendly locals warned of North Vietnamese Army and Viet Cong soldiers in the next hamlet. The convoy requested assistance from members of its same mechanized unit who were working their way towards the convoy on a mine sweep from the opposite direction. The M113A1 tracks from the mine sweeping operation came in from the west and met up with the convoy in the small hamlet. Its lead track was commanded by SGT Raymond F. Eade, and driven by SP4 David L. Deckard. With them were two combat engineers, PFC Benjamin R. Turiano and SGT Minor W. Pattillo, who had been conducting the demining. While approaching the hamlet on an access road off Highway 511, SGT Eade’s track was hit by a B-40 rocket fired by a Viet Cong hidden under a hooch behind a stack of firewood. The projectile penetrated the armor of the track and exploded, destroying the APC. Eade was killed instantly in the blast. Deckard was critically wounded, with shrapnel wounds to his neck, shoulders, and upper body, including his spine and lungs, paralyzing him from the neck down. His head was protected from injury by his driver’s helmet. The two engineers, Turiano and Pattillo, were in the open back hatch of the track and were cut down by small arms fire after the track was hit. A battle erupted between the Americans and enemy combatants. When the engagement ended, 22 enemy were dead, including the VC who fired the deadly round at Eade’s track. Deckard was dusted off (medically evacuated by helicopter) to the 71st Evacuation Hospital in Pleiku. Eade, Turiano, and Pattillo were placed on a separate helicopter and taken to the Graves Registration Unit at Camp Enari. The wrecked track was picked up and brought back to LZ Mary Lou before nightfall. Turiano was posthumously promoted to corporal. Deckard survived his injuries and was returned to the United States where he spent the rest of his life as a quadriplegic. He died of respiratory failure in 2006 in Louisville, KY. His family petitioned the Department of Defense to have his name placed on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington D.C. In May 2012, Deckard’s name was added the Wall. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org and information provided by Alfred T. Hogue (February 2018)]