THE WALL OF FACES

Thank you for your service to our country so long ago sir. You were born one day after me and died at 19 years of age. I am 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 forget you brother always remember that smile when we were in the houtch in the rear.

Never forget you brother always remember that smile when we were in the houtch in the rear.

Never forget you brother always remember that smile when we were in the houtch in the rear.

Operation MacArthur was a U.S. Army military operation conducted by the 4th Infantry Division in the Central Highlands of South Vietnam from October 1967 to January 1969. The division was responsible for the defense of the provincial and district capitals that lay along National Highway QL-14, an interprovincial paved road that ran north to south through the middle of the Central Highlands. The general mission was to conduct surveillance and offensive operations along the Cambodian border and destroy North Vietnamese Army and Viet Cong units. At 4:46 PM on October 27, 1968, a U.S. Army OH-6A light observation helicopter was brought down by hostile ground fire five miles southwest of Oasis Airfield in Pleiku Province, RVN. Three crewmen were injured in the crash. An Aero Rifle Platoon quick-reaction force and the 2nd Platoon of A Company, 2nd Battalion (Mechanized), 8th Infantry, moved to the vicinity of the downed aircraft and extracted the injured personnel. During the operation, they made contact with an unknown-size enemy force, killing six North Vietnamese Army (NVA) soldiers. U.S. losses were two killed and two wounded. The lost Americans were SGT Edward J. Maslyn from Aero Rifle Platoon, C Troop, 7th Squadron, 17th Cavalry, and SP4 Robert C. Siebenaller from 2nd Platoon, A/2-8. Two rifles and other assorted enemy weaponry were captured. The following day, a sweep of the battle area revealed an additional seventeen NVA dead. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org and “Lessons Learned, Operational Report of the 4th Infantry Division for the period ending 31 October 1968” at ttu.edu]