THE WALL OF FACES

Your sacrifice is not forgotten.

HOOAH

Happy 75th Birthday. You will never be 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….

During the winter/spring of 1969, 173rd Airborne Brigade was assigned security and pacification duties in Binh Dinh Province, RVN. Inside the province were the Soui Ca Valley and “Oregon Trail,” busy infiltration routes used by the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) to move men and materials west from the Ho Chi Minh Trail to the Bong Son and Phu My coastal plains. U.S. efforts to interdict enemy movement along these routes included aggressive patrolling by ground forces and the construction of firebases to provide artillery fire support for infantry operating against the enemy interlopers. Also, along National Route QL-19, Strong Points were established with armored personnel carriers (APC’s) in a ready-reaction posture to respond to calls for assistance. The NVA was displeased with these developments they viewed as impediments to their own tactical objectives. Subsequently, throughout the province, the enemy launched frequent ambushes against Allied units and repeatedly mined the roadway along QL-19. A constant target was the daily convoys that resupplied the numerous Allied bases in the region. On February 14, 1969, a convoy traveling on QL-19 was attacked by the NVA near the hamlet of An Tan (2), approximately two miles northeast of An Khe. Small arms and rocket-propelled grenades were fired from both sides of the road and explosive satchel charges were tossed at immobilized vehicles. Elements of C Company, 1st Battalion, 50th Infantry, 173rd Airborne Brigade operating nearby reacted to calls for help and employed artillery and gunships in support of the besieged convoy. The attack killed one convoy driver, PFC Roger D. Lewis from the 523rd Transportation Company, and wounded seven others; one Provisional Forces soldier operating with C-1/50th was also killed. Enemy losses were put at five killed, three prisoners of war (POW) captured, and an assortment of enemy weapons confiscated. Reportedly, one of the POW’s gave information of NVA rallying points which was immediately passed up to command headquarters who ordered artillery fired on the locations. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org and “History of 1st Battalion (Mechanized), 50th Infantry, 173rd Airborne Brigade, 1 January 1969 – 31 March 1969” at ichiban1.org]

Never forgotten.

HOOAH