THE WALL OF FACES

On May 16, 1971, a New York Times article described heroin use by American troops in Vietnam had reached epidemic proportions. The piece reported that 10 to 15 percent of lower-ranking enlisted men were heroin users, and military officials working in drug‐suppression estimated that as much as a quarter of all enlisted personnel, more than 60,000 men, were hooked. They added that some field surveys reported units with more than 50 percent of the men on heroin. In Vietnam, the drug was plentiful, cheap, and 95 percent pure. Its effects could casually be achieved through smoking or snorting, as compared to the U.S., where the drug was impure, only about five percent heroin, and had to be main-lined or injected into the bloodstream to achieve a comparable high. The habit, which cost $100 a day to maintain in the U.S., cost less than $5 a day in Vietnam. PVT Harry J. Lumpkin was a radio repairman serving with the 261st Signal Company, 21st Signal Group, 1st Signal Brigade, U.S. Army Republic of Vietnam, located at Phu Hiep Army Airfield in Phu Yen Province, RVN. During 1970, the 261st Signal Company provided area communications and base camp communications support to U.S. and other Free World Military Assistance Forces. At 12:30 AM on October 10, 1970, Lumpkin was found unresponsive in the 261st’s cantonment area. He was transported to the 268th Aviation Battalion Flight Dispensary where he was declared dead by medical staff. A subsequent death certificate listed “drug overdose” as the cause of death. Lumpkin was 21 years old. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org and “G.I. Heroin Addiction Epidemic in Vietnam.” New York Times (New York, NY), May 16, 1971]

Thank you for your service to our country so long ago sir. You were born five days after me and died at died at 21 years of age. I am now 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

You will forever remain in our hearts and prayers

You will forever remain in our hearts and prayers