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….

Dear PFC Paul McEachron, Thank you for your service as a Rifleman. I researched you on your 73rd birthday, happy birthday. Your 53rd anniversary is in 3 days, sad. Saying thank you isn't enough, but it is from the heart. Time passes quickly, but our world needs help. Please watch over America, it stills needs your strength, courage, guidance and faithfulness. Rest in peace with the angels.

On August 15, 1967, a dawn patrol consisting of over twenty Marines from C Company, 1st Battalion, 1st Marines, were sent toward a village 1 ½ miles east of Hoi An on Cam Thanh Island in Quang Nam Province, RVN, to investigate a possible enemy presence in the area. The group was divided into three squads and left before dawn under the cover of darkness. The plan was to conduct a hammer and anvil maneuver by positioning one squad as a blocking force (the anvil) and use the other two as the hammer. The plan was complicated when the blocking force started receiving sniper fire. Then a Marine from one of the hammer squads triggered a booby-trap. Two men were killed in the blast and two critically injured. A medivac was called and removed the injured. Because of heavy enemy fire, stretchers were tossed out of the aircraft for the Marines to carry back to base the two dead. As the Marines moved towards their base with their two fallen comrades, a second, more violent explosion occurred as another booby-trap was detonated. The effect was devastating. Dead and critically injured Marines were strewn about. Their wounds were horrifying, with limbs and flesh ripped from bodies. Two were decapitated by the blast, and another was blown into a tree, the bottom half of his body missing. A total of ten men were killed in the two explosions. Again, medivac helicopters were called in, and the wounded and dead were placed aboard. The able-bodied survivors then marched back to their patrol base. The Marines lost in the two mine explosions included PVT Clarence R. Angus, PVT Glenn C. Baer, LCPL Larry E. Bowman, LCPL Douglas R. Dickerson Jr., LCPL Gordon P. Eadie, 1LT Robert V. Kemp, LCPL Robert A. Kolas, SSGT James J. McCormack, PFC Paul McEachron, and Navy corpsman HN Clifford K. Coons. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org and the book “Lions of Medina” by Doyle D. Glass]

From another Marine McEachron, also a month past 20. See you in Valhalla warrior

Paul appears to be from the “Northeastern McEachron” clan, while our branch of the family was concentrated in the Missouri Ozarks.

I was surprised to see an email pop up just now – with a link to a new remembrance for Paul. He was 20 years (and almost one month) old when he was killed.

My oldest son (Connor D. McEachron) is now a Corporal in the Marine Corps – and this weekend he will be exactly 20 years and one month old. So many parallels beyond the Dress Blues.

Semper Fi – and Rest in Peace. Your Duty is Done - Thank You for Your Service.

JDMc – Boerne, Texas