THE WALL OF FACES

Thank you for your service to our country so long ago sir. While all deaths in Vietnam are tragic that you died just six days after your 24th birthday is especially so. May you rest in eternal peace.

Dear Sgt Dennis Martin, Thank you for your service as an Infantryman. Your 74th birthday is soon, happy birthday. Saying thank you isn't enough, but it is from the heart. Father’s Day just passed, and it’s summer. Time passes quickly. Please watch over America, it stills needs your strength, courage and faithfulness. Rest in peace with the angels.

At approximately 6:40 PM on July 10, 1970, a U.S. Army helicopter CH-47A (tail number 65-07999) from the 242nd Aviation Battalion was hovering at a spot seven miles southeast of Dau Tieng in Tay Ninh Province, RVN, when it was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade and crashed. Two crewmen and seven passengers were killed in the incident. The aircraft was hovering approximately 50 feet above a load of empty fuel blivits after having just picked up fifteen 25th Infantry Division passengers at a firebase called “the Mushroom,” named so because it was located in a mushroom-shaped loop of a river. The rocket struck the Chinook in the rear pylon, causing the fuselage to break apart and the cockpit to fall separately from the main fuselage. When the fuselage section hit ground, it caught fire. The left door gunner, SP4 David P. Schultz, was killed on impact. The flight engineer, SP4 Ross E. Bedient, was able to escape the burning aircraft; however, he was critically burned, and died three days later. The seven lost passengers included SFC Thomas A. Campbell; SP4 Roy E. Harris (died at the U.S. Army burn center at Camp Zama in Japan on July 26, 1970); SP4 Dennis K. Martin (his remains were recovered from the charred wreckage and identified five days later); SGT Robert L. Oldham, SGT Carey J. Pratt (succumbed to his injuries July 12, 1970), SFC Elroy Simmons (died at the U.S. Army burn center at Camp Zama in Japan on July 19, 1970); and SP4 Michael P. Vullo (expired the following day). The aircraft commander and co-pilot escaped the cockpit by crawling out through the outside air temperature gauge window. Both suffered minor injuries, but neither were burned. Another nine persons survived with injuries. Martin was posthumously promoted to Sergeant, and Pratt was posthumously promoted to Staff Sergeant. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org and vhpa.org]

Sergeant Dennis Keith Martin, Served with Company D, 2nd Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division.

Sergeant Dennis Keith Martin, Company D, 2nd Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division.