THE WALL OF FACES

Thank you for your service to our country so long ago sir. As long as you are remembered you will always be with us….

A1C Johnson Ashley Meade is buried in the West Section, Lot 22 of the Rural Grove Cemetery in Dover-Foxcroft, ME.

Your sacrifice is not forgotten.

HOOAH

Dear A1C Johnson Meade, Thank you for your service with the 12th Combat Engineer Squadron. I researched you on the 55th anniversary of the start of your tour. Saying thank you isn't enough, but it is from the heart. The anniversary of the terror attacks just passed. Time passes quickly. Please watch over America, it stills needs your strength, courage and faithfulness, especially now. Rest in peace with the angels.

The first AC-47D Spooky Gunships arrived in Vietnam in November 1965. Their guns had been removed in order to lighten the aircraft for the trans-Pacific flight. The guns would not arrive until a month later. In the meantime, the aircraft were put to work on courier and cargo flights. The 4th Air Commando Squadron (ACS) lost their first aircraft, an AC-47D (serial number 43-49492), on a night time cross country courier flight between Tan Son Nhut and Phan Rang on December 17, 1965 when it was struck by ground fire. The wreckage was located on December 23rd. The bodies of the nine men on board the aircraft, four 4th ACS flight crew members and 5 passengers, were recovered. They included pilot MAJ Robert W. Abbot, co-pilot MAJ Robert L. Abernathy, navigator 1LT Francis R. Buckley, flight engineer A1C Claude W. Mathews, and passengers TSGT John M. Chappell, TSGT Thomas N. Sloan, SSGT Ralph L. Hinson, and A1C Johnson A. Meade. [Taken from ac47-gunships.com and aviation-safety.net]

Dear A1C Johnson Ashley Meade, 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