THE WALL OF FACES

Thank you for your service to our country so long ago sir. You died at 18 years of age. I am 74 and have lived a long and fulfilling life. It is tragic you never had that same opportunity. May you rest in eternal peace.

Never Forgotten.

HOOAH

As your 71st birthday approaches, your sacrifice is not forgotten.

Forever 18.

HOOAH

Dear Sgt Theodore Leyde, Thank you for your service as an Airborne Qualified General Light Wheel Vehicle Mechanic with the 1st Cavalry. Saying thank you isn't enough, but it is from the heart. Happy Spring! It is Holy Saturday, and Passover. The time passes quickly. Please watch over America, it stills needs your strength, courage, guidance and faithfulness. Rest in peace with the angels.

SSGT Virgil J. Fowler was a unit supply sergeant and SP4 Theodore E. Leyde was his supply clerk, both serving with B Company, 228th Aviation Battalion. On May 6, 1968, SSGT Fowler and SP4 Leyde were at LZ Sharon in Quang Tri Province, RVN, where the 228th flew support missions to Khe Sanh, the A Shau Valley, and nearby firebases. The previous day, Fowler was scheduled to return to the United States. For some unknown reason, he missed his ride on a flight out of Quang Tri, so he went back to the unit area at LZ Sharon, hoping to catch a flight the next day. Many members of B Company slept in trenches at Sharon they had constructed rather than being awoken by nightly attacks and running for safety. Rockets, mortars, small arms fire, and assaults against the perimeter were a regular occurrence. However, both Fowler and Leyde ignored this threat and slept in their supply tent. At approximately 3 AM, the NVA opened fire on LZ Sharon. The second round that came in hit the top of the supply tent, spreading shrapnel down into the tent and across the dirt road into nearby tents. Both Fowler and Leyde were hit by shell fragments. Leyde was killed instantly after suffering a head wound. Fowler received multiple wounds and was medivacked out to a hospital ship where he died three days later. A mechanic from B Company in an adjacent tent suffered a sucking-chest wound and was also evacuated. Leyde was posthumously promoted to sergeant. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org and information provided by Joseph Lee (July 2017)]