THE WALL OF FACES

There is a place
Not far from here
Where spirits walk
And heroes live
And honor still resides.

It is a wall
With names inscribed
Of those who served
When they were asked...
The brothers of my youth.

I go there still
To walk and think
About my life,
And what I've done since
And things that might have been.

There is a debt
I can't repay
Too many lives were spent.
And one man's life cannot suffice
To make their deaths worthwhile.

But there is hope
In the memory
Of those we leave behind
Who know the price that freedom brings
Who can carry on in kind.

I send you now
To touch a name
So the vision can be passed
Remember there is honor still
It is for you to see it lasts.

They are not dead
And have a wish
As all old soldiers do
The reflection you see before you now
Is their wish to live in you.

SP4 Peter V. Mestas’ funeral announcement. Taken from the Trinidad Chronicle News (Trinidad, CO), October 27, 1967, courtesy of Tom Potter, Teen/Adult Services Specialist, Trinidad Carnegie Public Library, Trinidad, CO.

SP4 Peter V. Mestas was a mechanic serving with Headquarters & Headquarters Troop (HHT), 3rd Squadron, 11th Armored Cavalry. The 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, deployed to Vietnam in September 1966, was a mechanized infantry unit used for reconnaissance in force, defense, convoy security, protection for land clearing companies, and as a reaction force. In the summer of 1969, Mestas began his second tour of Vietnam with 3rd Squadron. On October 19, 1969, he died at 3rd Squadron’s Blackhorse Base Camp in Phuoc Long Province, RVN, where it was reported he took his own life. Mestas was 21 years old. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org; obituary from The Chronicle-News (Trinidad, CO), October 22, 1969, courtesy of Jori Johnson, Collections Access Coordinator, Stephen H. Hart Research Center at History Colorado, Denver, CO]

Taken from The Denver Post (Denver, CO), October 23, 1969, courtesy of Jori Johnson, Collections Access Coordinator, Stephen H. Hart Research Center at History Colorado, Denver, CO.

Dear Sp4 Peter Mestas, Thank you for your service as a General Vehicle Repairman. Your 51st anniversary is soon, sad. Saying thank you isn't enough, but it is from the heart. It is another autumn. Time passes quickly. Please watch over America, it stills needs your strength, courage and faithfulness, especially now. Rest in peace with the angels.