THE WALL OF FACES

Operation Taylor Common (December 6, 1968 - March 8, 1969) was a search and destroy operation conducted by Task Force Yankee, a formation based around the 5th Marine Regiment of the 1st Marine Division supported by the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN), southwest of Hoi An in Quang Nam Province, RVN. Their objective was Base Area 112, a Viet Cong (VC) and North Vietnam Army (NVA) base area located in the mountains of Quang Nam Province southwest of Da Nang near the area known to the Marines as the "Arizona Territory." The base was believed to support the NVA 21st Regiment, 3rd Battalion, 68B Rocket Regiment, 2nd Battalion, 141st Regiment, and command and support units. The operational plan for Task Force Yankee was to secure the An Hoa Basin together with the ARVN 1st Ranger Group. The Task Force would then construct a series of fire support bases to support operations west into the Base Area to destroy enemy personnel and equipment. On March 6th, the second to last day of the operation, a platoon from D Company, 1st Battalion, 5th Marines, was in place as a blocking force two kilometers (1.2 miles) southeast of Liberty Bridge. An approaching friendly unit mistook it for a hostile force and opened fire. A radioman from Headquarters & Service Company (H&S), 1/5, embedded with the platoon, PFC Philip N. Malone, was hit in the head by a round from an M16 rifle. He was fatally injured. At the time of his death, Malone’s father, Mr. Eugene J. Malone, was a Trans World Airlines representative living in Bangkok, Thailand. His mother, Mrs. Jean M. Malone, residing at the family’s home in Arlington, VA, managed her son’s funeral arrangements while her husband was overseas. Their son was laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org and wikipedia.org]

"The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotions and spends himself in a great worthy cause; who at the best, knows in the end triumph of high achievement and, at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while caring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold, timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat." Theodore Roosevelt

Phil came to live with us in Alexandria. My Dad was his uncle. I was about 6 or 7 years old at the time. He was larger than life to me and my brothers, and I remember him coming to my birthday party. It was like Elvis had dropped by. He had stopped at the store and bought me a toy boat- I can see it today. I also remember answering the door when the Marines came with the news. He was just a kid.....

During a "clandestine, spontaneous happening" at the CPT Rocky Versace Plaza and Vietnam Veterans Memorial on Memorial Day 2020, the "Friends of Rocky Versace" remembered Private First Class Philip Newman Malone, U.S. Marine Corps, as well as Alexandria's 67 other Vietnam War Fallen Heroes. A video of the "happening" is available for viewing at this link/URL:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/imz166z2qreygsu/Friends%20of%20Rocky%20Versace%2C%20Memorial%20Day%202020.mp4?dl=0

I remember when you would come to the playground at Maury School. Always someone us younger kids looked up to. It was a sad day when I heard you died. My son is in the Marines now.