THE WALL OF FACES

Never forget.

HOOAH

Dear Lt James Marshall, Thank you for your service as a Tactical Aircraft Pilot. You are still MIA. Please come home. Saying thank you isn't enough, but it is from the heart. Yesterday was Father’s Day and it’s summer. Time passes quickly. Please watch over America, it stills needs your strength, courage and faithfulness. Be at peace.

If I should die, and leave you here awhile, be not like others, sore undone, who keep long vigils by the silent dust, and weep...for MY sake, turn again top life, and smile...Nerving thy heart, and trembling hand to do something to comfort other hearts than thine...Complete these dear, unfinished tasks of mine...and I, perchance, may therein comfort you.

On June 18, 1965, the very first ever B-52 Arc Light combat strike in South Vietnam took place. It was carried out by 30 B-52s grouped in 10 cells of 3 aircraft each, launched from Andersen Air Force Base in Guam. They were on their way to attack Viet Cong forces in a heavily forested area 28 miles north of Saigon. The mission was to be in complete radio silence until outbound from the Philippines on the way home. Through a combination of circumstances, including an ill-conceived air refueling rendezvous plan with KC-135As, one cell elected to make a 360-degree turn for timing purposes and ended up flying head-on through a following cell. Two aircraft collided at a closing speed of about 1000 MPH, the wing of one striking the vertical stabilizer of the other, slicing off both. They went down off the northern end of the Philippines in the South China Sea. Five of twelve crew aboard the two aircraft ejected, but one, CAPT Joe C. Robertson, died in the sea of injuries after his ejection. The bailed-out crewmembers’ distress signals were heard by other members of the squadron, it being the first time they carried beepers on a mission. This incident resulted in six crew members being classified as Missing in Action: 1LT James A. Marshall, MAJ James M. Gehrig Jr., CAPT Tyrrell G. Lowry, CAPT Robert L. Armond, MSGT Harold J. Roberts Jr., and CAPT Frank P. Watson. TSGT William E. Neville was the only confirmed fatality who did not eject. His remains were recovered. [Taken from ejection-history.org.uk]

Dear 1LT James Alfred Marshall, sir

As an American, I would like to thank you for your service and for your sacrifice made on behalf of our wonderful country. The youth of today could gain much by learning of heroes such as yourself, men and women whose courage and heart can never be questioned.

May God allow you to read this, and may He allow me to someday shake your hand when I get to Heaven to personally thank you. May he also allow my father to find you and shake your hand now to say thank you; for America, and for those who love you.

With respect, and the best salute a civilian can muster for you, Sir

Curt Carter