THE WALL OF FACES

Say not in grief he is no more, but live in thankfulness that he was.

Murray, I am sorry you got killed. You didn't even get to be 21. If you had survived that awful war, I have no doubt you would have lived a good life of service and been a great husband and father and friend and maybe do what I did after I got out of the army, and returned to our hometown of Statesville, NC. You would have made a fine teacher and coach. I bet you would have taught Sunday School to teenagers. All of the class of '63 remembers you with fondness and with thankfulness for your complete sacrifice. David

Operation Birmingham (April 24 - May 17, 1966) was conducted by the U.S. Army 1st Infantry Division’s 1st and 3rd Brigades and the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) 5th Division north of Saigon in Tay Ninh Province, RVN. The objective was to sweep War Zone C and engage the Viet Cong (VC) 9th Division. Beginning at 8:45 AM on the sixth day of the operation (April 30th), heavy contact was established with the enemy as two battalions of the 1st Brigade swept north along the east bank of the Rach Cai Bac (river) on the border between South Vietnam and Cambodia, attracting fire from both across the river in Cambodia and from the Vietnamese hamlet of Lo Go. The 1/2nd Infantry and 2/16th Infantry Battalions advanced north along the Cai Bac, receiving heavy small arms fire from snipers in a tree line north of Lo Go and a greater volume of automatic weapons fire from the Cambodian side of the river. Fire was returned with small arms, automatic weapons, and artillery which effectively suppressed the fire from Cambodia. As part of 2/16th assaulted the village, they uncovered a company size base camp. U.S. Air Force F-100 jets and helicopter gunships supported the battalions during the contact. The fighting at Lo Go continued into the afternoon when the VC, later identified as the C230 Battalion, withdrew at 2:05 PM, leaving fifty-four dead (by body count) and one hundred killed (probable, determined by aerial observation on the west bank of the river); six enemy small arms were captured. U.S. losses were five killed and nine wounded. The lost personnel included (from A-1/2) SGT Edward R. Letourneau Jr. and SFC George T. Stridiron; and (from B-1/2) SP4 Howard R. Hysell, PFC Roger W. Jenkins, and SP4 Murray S. Moseley. Jenkins had been in Vietnam only two weeks when he died. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org and “Project CHECO Report: Operation Birmingham 29 June 1966” at archive.org]

Dear Sp4 Murray Moseley, Thank you for your service as an Infantryman. Saying thank you isn't enough, but it is from the heart. It is 3rd Week of Advent, and this week means joy. Time passes quickly. Please watch over America, it stills needs your strength, courage and faithfulness, especially now. Rest in peace with the angels.

Specialist Four Murray Sims Moseley, Served with Company B, 1st Battalion, 2nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division.