THE WALL OF FACES

Corporal Robert Raymond Berning, Served with Company C, 5th Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, United States Army Vietnam.

The Cambodian Incursion was a brief series of military operations conducted in eastern Cambodia in 1970 by South Vietnam and the United States as an extension of the Vietnam War. The objective was to defeat the approximately 40,000 North Vietnamese Army (NVA) and the Viet Cong (VC) soldiers which sought sanctuary in the eastern border regions of the country. While deployed to Cambodia, C Company, 5th Battalion, 7th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division operated out of FSB Neal, a temporary firing base constructed inside the country to provide fire support to infantry units conducting search and destroy missions. C Company patrols focused on locating and destroying the caches of food, weapons, and ammunition of the enemy and capturing the elusive headquarters of the NVA/VC, known as the Central Office for South Vietnam (COSVN). On May 28, 1970, they uncovered a large underground cache containing a variety of supplies, including Bic pens, sweatshirts, and medical supplies. They even located a small donkey cart which was used to haul the confiscated materials to a hastily cleared landing zone (LZ) for removal. In the evening, to the delight of the company, a “log bird” (resupply helicopter) brought in a hot meal of wieners and sauerkraut. After dinner, some men returned to the task of hauling the cache to the LZ. While two of the troopers were pushing the cart, the prop wash of a helicopter entering the LZ caused a large branch to break and fall to the forest floor. The heavy limb landed on infantryman PFC Robert R. Berning. It took several men to lift the branch so the medics could work on the critically injured soldier. They found a multitude of injuries, including a fractured skull, broken neck, several broken ribs, a fractured right arm, and a crushed chest. Despite a robust heartbeat and the best efforts of the medics, they were unable to revive him, and Berning soon expired. He was posthumously promoted to Corporal. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org, wikipedia.org, and information provided by Platoon Leader Thom Vollmar (June 2020) and the poem “The Meal” by medic Gary “Doc” Cramer]

You were my brothers best friend. I was a little girl when you were killed. Though i have vivid memories of you still and the memories of how my mom thought of you as a son. If I'd only had the chance to know you now in our later years.
May you always know your in the hearts and memories of all. Thank you for your sacrifice.

DEAR CORPORAL BERNING.
WHEN I BEGAN TO WRITE THIS REMEMBRANCE, I SAW THAT TODAY IS YOUR 67TH BIRTHDAY. HAPPY BIRTHDAY IN HEAVEN! THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE AS GRUNT WITH THE 1ST CAVALRY. THIS WAS THE UNIT OF A FRIEND'S BROTHER. SAY HI TO MIKE. WITH EACH YEAR THAT PASSES, IT MAKES IT FAR TOO LONG FOR YOU TO HAVE BEEN GONE. WE APPRECIATE ALL YOU HAVE DONE, AND YOUR SACRIFICE. WATCH OVER THE U.S.A., IT STILL NEEDS YOUR COURAGE.. GOD BLESS YOU. MAY THE SAINTS AND ANGELS BE AT YOUR SIDE. REST IN PEACE.

Bob,
You were a great soldier and a great person. Your willingness to do any job, and your ability to work with any of the diverse men in our platoon was a great example to us all of us. Your loss was huge. 45 years later, I still well remember your willingness and work to help our cause for freedom for our Vietnamese friends. We have 5/7th Reunions every 2 years ... we always talk about the great person we all knew. Your legacy lives today.
Thom Vollmar
Villa Hills, KY