THE WALL OF FACES

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning,
We will remember them.

Dear Cpl Jose Lopez, Thank you for your service as an Infantryman. Saying thank you isn't enough, but it is from the heart. The 45th anniversary of the Fall of Saigon just passed, and it is still sad. Time passes quickly. Please watch over America, it stills needs your strength, courage and faithfulness. Rest in peace with the angels.

This is my third post entry on Joe Lopez's Wall profile. On the first post which I entered on November 2014, I mentioned the name of Sergeant/Major Homer Moss. He was our battalion sergeant/major (1st Battalion 46th Inf. 198th Light Inf. Brigade, Americal '23rd' Inf. Division, US Army, Vietnam). Because of the location where Joe fell due to the sniper's bullet, in an open spot of a rice paddy, no one could help him. The medic tried, a helicopter medivac tried, and even an armed helicopter gunship could not stop the sniper's intense automatic rifle fire. Directly another helicopter landed near where Joe laid and a man we quickly recognized as Sgt/Major Moss jumped out and ran to pick Joe up and load him on the chopper. I remember seeing the sniper's bullets kicking the water all around Sgt/Major Moss as he was dragging Joe to the chopper. The man never got hit. For risking his life in trying to save Joe, Sgt/Major Moss was awarded one of our nation's highest awards, the Silver Star. After forty years since I got out of the Army, I found out where Sgt/Major Moss lived and as a result of the incident with Joe, I decided to connect with him. This was in 2009, I went to Killeen, Texas next to Fort Hood to see and visit with Sgt/Major Moss. Over the next ten years, we talked over the phone about six times a year. Of course Joe's name was mentioned just about every time. Sadly Sgt/Major Homer Moss passed away at the age of 92 last July, 2019, in Killeen, Texas. I went to his funeral as he had asked me to say a few words if I could do so. Of course I could do as he asked me. Over the years talking with him, I got to know him pretty good and enjoyed visiting with him. I miss him, I miss talking to/with him about our time fifty two years ago when we were in Vietnam during the war. Rest in peace Sgt/Major Homer Moss and Joe Lopez (Jose de Jesus Lopez). I shall never forget both of you.

I served with Jose de Jesus Lopez, we knew him as Joe Lopez. We came together at Fort Hood, Texas in October 1966 for basic training and I was there in Vietnam January 20, 1968 when I saw him fall to a guerrilla sniper's bullet. After 46 years of not knowing where Joe was resting, I finally found that he is resting at a cemetery in Gonzalez, CA. Not having a picture of Joe and knowing that one is needed at the Memorial Wall in Washington DC, I along with others in the area, searched for Joe's relatives. After 3 years, in 2017, I finally located and visited with a half sister and an elderly uncle of Joe's. They also have no picture of Joe and are trying to find one for me. The picture shown here at THE WALL OF FACES is "not" the Joe we knew. In my search for Joe's picture, this picture was sent to me. It is a picture of an individual from Texas with a similar name. Our Joe never went to any high school in Texas. It is now March 2020 and we are still searching for a picture of Joe (JOSE de JESUS LOPEZ.

Joe Lopez and I first met in the fall of 1966 while going thru boot camp at Fort Hood, Texas. We were both assigned to the same battalion, 2nd Battalion,41st Infantry Regiment, 2nd Armored Division. He had been drafted out of California. I was drafted out of Texas. We were both born in Mexico and that helped us hit it off pretty good. In the latter part of the spring of 1967, we were then both assigned to the 1st Battalion of the 46th Infantry Regiment with the 198th Light Infantry Brigade to begin training for duty in Vietnam. This brigade became part of the US Army Americal (23rd) Infantry Division upon our arrival there in late October, 1967. In Vietnam, I rarely saw Joe as we were assigned to different companies. He ended up with C company and I ended up with E company. On the afternoon of 20 January, 1968, my company got pinned down by a VC sniper to our front. Shortly after, elements of our sister company, C company, began taking positions along side us to our right. Directly another VC sniper came up to the right of C company. The initial burst of this VC's automatic rifle fire hit one of the guys and he fell in the open in the rice paddy water where no one could help him because of the intense automatic enemy rifle fire. A medevac helicopter was called for our casualty but after two attempts and getting shot up by the VC, the medevac chopper left due to smoke coming out of the engine compartment. A helicopter gunship was called to help get rid of the VC, but it did not do any good. The gunship chopper left when it ran out of ammo. In a few minutes, another helicopter landed about 15 yards from where our man was laying. The C company guys were far enough from us that we could not tell or identify any of them. On board the chopper that had just landed were the battalion commander and the battalion sergeant-major Homer R. Moss. Sgt-major Moss is a tall man and he jumped out of the chopper and ran towards our fallen man. From our distance, we recognized Sgt-major Moss right away. With great risk to his life, he drug our fallen man across the water to load him on the chopper. After almost 47 years, I still see the picture in my mind of Sgt-major Moss bringing our casualty to the chopper and the rifle bullets from the VC sniper's AK 47 kicking up the water all around him but the man never got hit. Sometime later, while the two snipers still had us pinned down, I overheard a radio message to the effect that we had sustained a KIA (killed-in-action). Spelling first three of last---lima- oscar-papa. LOP, Lopez, Joe Lopez, I still remember the punch to the gut that hit me upon hearing this. I did not get home till my tour in Vietnam was over in September 1968. For over 46 years I wondered where Joe was resting. Was it in his home state of California or in Mexico? Early this summer of 2014, I got online on Ancestry.com and entered Joe's name. Lo and behold, I am seeing a picture of the entrance to the cemetery and a picture of Joe's grave at the city of Gonzales, California. This past August of 2014, in conjunction with other things I wanted to do out west, I took a trip out there and went to visit Joe's grave. I got a mixture of feelings upon visiting Joe's grave. I am very glad I was finally able to do this. Rest in peace Joe. I tried to locate any of Joe's relatives in the small cities of Gonzales, Soledad, and Chualar but no luck. A lot of people with the last name of Lopez but no relation to Joe and no one seemed to know anything about Joe. I am still trying to locate Joe's relatives, perhaps they have any questions on how their loved died. Five years ago, after learning that Sgt-major Homer R. Moss is still alive and living next to Fort Hood, Texas, I went to visit him. All these years I felt that I needed to thank him for what he did for my friend Joe. I went to his house, told him who I was and that I wished to visit with him about the incident with Joe. This man is now in his mid eighties. At first he did not want to talk about it. I said OK but that I still would like to shake his hand and thank him. Before I left his house, Sgt-major Moss did tell his side of Joe's rescue. He told me that Joe was still alive but just did not make the 15 to 20 minute chopper flight to the field hospital at Chu-Lai. I later learned from others that Sgt-major Moss was awarded the Silver Star for his effort in picking up Joe from the rice paddy. Since I went to visit Sgt-major Moss, we have called each other frequently and every time, we mention Joe's name. What a small world. Back then Sgt-major Moss was a very tough cookie and just about every one of us was scared of this man. Who would have thought that forty some years later, Sgt-major Moss and I would become just like old friends. I guess the war does this to you.