THE WALL OF FACES

At 2:50 PM on August 26, 1969, a U.S. Army II Field Force M35 2-1/2-ton truck from 3rd Battalion, 197th Artillery, New Hampshire National Guard, detonated an estimated 40 lb. mine while traveling south on National Route QL-13, three miles northeast of Lai Khe (32 miles north of Saigon) in Binh Duong Province, RVN. Five artillerymen, all riding in the rear of the truck, were killed by the blast. They included SP4 Guy A. Blanchett, SP4 Roger E. Robichaud, SP5 Richard E. Genest, SSG Richard P. Raymond, and SP4 Gaetan J.G. Beaudoin, all residents of Manchester, NH. They were returning from the field to a rear area for final processing prior to departing Vietnam. Their unit arrived in Vietnam the previous September and was scheduled to return to the United States. Each of the lost Guardsmen was posthumously promoted, Beaudoin, Blanchette, and Robichaud to Sergeant, Genest to Staff Sergeant, and Raymond to Sergeant First Class. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org]

I did not know your names as I drive past the blast site which is within sight of the gate of Lai Khe and a modicum of safety. You were at the end of a year’s tour duty in Vietnam. So close you were to seeing the faces of those you loved and who loved you. You were like lost souls caught in a blizzard for days on end who finally get to safety only to be snatched away by the Wolf of War as your hand makes contact with the doorknob. Added to the macabre twist of fate, all of you from the same town in New Hampshire, Guy Blanchette, Gaeton Beaudoin, Richard Genest, Richard Raymond and Robert Robichaud.

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

A slow hand salute to you and your 4 Veteran Friends who fell with you. .

Sergeant Gaetan Jean Guy Beaudoin, Served with Battery A, 3rd Battalion, 197th Artillery Regiment, 23rd Artillery Group, Second Field Force, United States Army Vietnam.