THE WALL OF FACES

I think about Raymond often, even after almost 57 years. We were all so young back then.

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 Cpl Raymond Ottmers, Thank you for your service as a Quarrying Specialist. Saying thank you isn't enough, but it is from the heart. Lent has begun. Time passes quickly. Please watch over America, it stills needs your strength, courage and faithfulness, especially now. Rest in peace with the angels.

PFC Raymond M. Ottmers Jr. was a Quarrying Specialist serving with the 15th Engineer Company. Ottmers was trained to operate the “crusher,” a machine which made aggregates and road base material. Nevertheless, his unit was deployed to several locations in support of combat operations in II Corps which resulted in Ottmers frequently transporting heavy equipment. On August 23, 1967, Ottmers was driving eastbound on Highway QL-19 in a five-ton tractor pulling a lowboy trailer carrying an armored D7 dozer, part of an impromptu convoy which formed up before heading down the infamous Mang Yang Pass. While descending the steep grade, Ottmers complained to his companion riding shotgun the brakes were fading, most likely due to the massive weight of the dozer. Unable to slow their descent, the tractor-trailer began to pick up speed. Faced with smashing into a refrigeration truck in front of them which would endanger a troop-carrying truck in front of it, Ottmers veered off the edge of the road, leaping from the cab at the last moment. He was critically injured after falling amongst the tumbling tractor, trailer, and 16-ton dozer. Ottmers was still alive when placed on a stretcher after being carried hundreds of feet back up to the roadway. His passenger, who remained in the cab as it plummeted down the mountain, was only slightly injured. A medivac helicopter was requested, and the two men were flown to Pleiku. Ottmers expired during the flight. He was posthumously promoted to Corporal. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org and information provided by Jeryle D. Smith (November 2020)]

PFC Raymond M. Ottmers Jr. was a Quarrying Specialist serving with the 15th Engineer Company. On August 23, 1967, PFC Ottmers was traveling in a military vehicle on Highway QL-19 on the Mang Yang Pass between Pleiku and An Khe when the vehicle lost its brakes and went off the road. Ottmers was fatally injured after he was thrown from the vehicle then hit by an oncoming vehicle. He was posthumously promoted to Corporal. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org]