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.

Dear Sp5 Edward Morris, Thank you for your service as a Welder. Saying thank you isn't enough, but it is from the heart. It is 2nd Week of Advent, and this week means peace. Time passes quickly. Please watch over America, it stills needs your strength, courage and faithfulness, especially now. Rest in peace with the angels.

SP5 Edward Morris’ death announcement, taken from the Stroud American (Stroud, OK), June 22, 1967, courtesy of Brian Basore, Library Technician, Oklahoma Historical Society, Oklahoma City, OK.

Sp./5 Edward Morris, 37, serving with the Army Engineers in Vietnam, died June 16. The former Stroud resident had been in Vietnam about a month. Services were at 2 p. m. Tuesday in Only Way Baptist Church north of Stroud. Rev. Estal Thomason officiated. Burial was in the Stroud Cemetery with Fairley Funeral home of Cushing in charge of arrangements. Morris was born in Stroud and lived here most of his life. He attended Chilocco Indian School. He had been stationed at bases in the United States and Europe durign his 17 years of Army service. Survivors include his mother, Mrs. Clara Morris of Stroud; three brothers, Sam Morris of Shawnee, Allen K. Morris of Los Angeles, Verl W. Morris of Iowa; four sisters, Mrs. Alice Grant of Ogden, Utah, Mrs. Geraldine Franklin and Mrs. Viola Pruitt of Stroud, Mrs. Marcella Ward of Clocquet, Minn.; and his grandmother, Mrs. Edna Conger of Stroud. Sam Morris Jr., nephew of the deceased, was stationed at Da Nang with the Air Force and accompained the body home. (Obituary courtesy of the Library Staff at Stroud Public Library, Stroud, OK)

SP5 Edward Morris was a welder serving with D Company, 589th Engineer Battalion. While serving in Vietnam, SP5 Morris contracted malaria. He expired June 16, 1967. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org]