THE WALL OF FACES

To my uncle Joe I never got a chance to meet or know, you will forever be in our family’s hearts never forgotten and always spoken about, you and uncle chuck may rest in peace together thank you for your courage and bravery and know that your hard work and efforts will never be forgotten your family loves you till the end of days… see you in heaven

I was a soldier from Central Illinois stationed in Berlin Germany and wore this bracelet when deployed during the Gulf War. I have placed it back on my wrist as I thought the veteran had been located in Vietnam.

Thank you for your service to our country so long ago sir. The remembrances from your sister Mary are moving and reflect her eternal love for you. As long as you are remembered you will remain in our hearts forever….

Joe and I were very good buddies in Officer Candidate School at Ft. Belvoir from Mar ’69 through Aug ’69 when we graduated. Joe was a few years younger than most of the rest of us and I kind of took him under my wing so to speak. The Tac Officer frequently gave me projects to do since I was the ‘Tac Happy.’ And I usually relied on Joe to help me out as he was a pretty good carpenter. He was thin, kind of tall and with a last name of ‘Nolan’, I began calling him simply ‘The Nail.’ It seemed to fit pretty good because all the other guys in the first platoon quickly picked up on ‘The Nail’ nickname and so that’s how we all pretty much remember him.
About two weeks before we graduated, we were all given our first and only weekend off during the 23 week OCS training period. For our leave, Joe and I traveled together down to Ocean City, MD and partied there.
Unlike the rest of his OCS classmates, Joe wanted to go to flight school upon graduation and did so of course.
I was commissioned in MI and sent to Nam just a couple months after graduating from OCS. I returned to the States in December, ’70 and was assigned to the staff at Ft. Holabird for the remaining six months of my active Army tour. I remember encountering a few of our OCS classmates during that time and shortly before I was discharged began to hear rumors that Joe was MIA. Having been especially close to Joe during the 6 month OCS training, it broke my heart. I will always remember Joe, The Nail. He had a real good disposition and was a very good friend.

Never forget.

HOOAH