THE WALL OF FACES

Thank you for your service to our country so long ago sir. May you rest in eternal peace.

Corporal Edgar Hunter Beasley, Served with Battery A, 1st Battalion, 8th Artillery Regiment, 25th Infantry Division, United States Army Vietnam.

DEAR CORPORAL BEASLEY,
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE AS A FIELD ARTILLERY BASIC. I WILL ALWAYS HAVE A SPECIAL PLACE IN MY HEART FOR ARTILLERYMEN. IT HURTS ME TO SAY IT, BUT YOU DIED ON MY BIRTHDAY. SIGH. IT IS STILL THE CHRISTMAS SEASON.AND WE ARE THANKFUL FOR YOU. IT IS NEW YEAR, 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.

Operation Attleboro was a search and destroy operation conducted northwest of Dau Tieng, Tay Ninh Province, RVN, during September 14 – November 24, 1966. While the initial fighting was light, in late October U.S. forces, consisting of the 196th Light Infantry Brigade and the 1st Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment (25th Infantry Division), encountered the 9th Viet Cong Division, resulting in a major three-day battle. It was a slugfest of small units set amid treacherous terrain of tangled forest, overgrown jungle, and booby-trapped elephant grass. On November 3, 1966, CPL Edgar H. Beasley of A Battery, 1st Battalion, 8th Artillery, 25th Infantry Division, was killed by the enemy concealed in a wood line while his unit was searching for a main Viet Cong traffic arterial. When the Viet Cong opened fire, CPL Beasley was hit multiple times, including in the chest. He died within an hour. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org, wikipedia.org, and the book “Ambush” by S. L. A. Marshall]

I took my son who is a Midshipman at the United States Naval Academy by to show him your name on the wall. I told him I was very young when this happened, but he should come by and see you when he is in DC. Let me know if he does?