THE WALL OF FACES

Thank you for your service to our country so long ago sir. As long as you are remembered you will remain in our hearts forever...

May this remembrance find you in the eternal Holy Kingdom of our Lord.

CPL Nicholas C. Bianconi served in the U.S. Marine Corps as an Automotive Mechanic assigned to Force Logistics Support Unit 1 (FLSU-1), 3rd Service Battalion, Force Logistics Support Group Alpha (FLSG Alpha). Working as a mechanic in a rear echelon capacity in a war zone did not preclude the handling of weapons as part of CPL Bianconi’s daily routine since many clerks, cooks, and others with administrative and supply duties were required to participate in providing security on the perimeters of the bases where they were assigned. On July 24, 1967, Bianconi died in Quang Tri Province, RVN, where it was reported that he was fatally wounded in a grenade accident while on a defensive perimeter. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org; obituary from the Altoona Mirror (Altoona, PA), date unknown, courtesy of Joshua McConnell, Information & Community Education Services Supervisor, Library Archivist, Altoona Area Public Library, Altoona, PA]

DEAR CORPORAL NICHOLAS BIANCONI,
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE AS AN AUTOMOTIVE MECHANIC. SEMPER FI. IT HAS BEEN FAR TOO LONG FOR ALL OF 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 ANGELS BE AT YOUR SIDE. REST IN PEACE. MANY OF US HAVE BEGUN OUR JOURNEY TO EASTER. YOU ARE ALL IN OUR PRAYERS

He loved us so.
Every day, in a hundred ways, he told us so.
In honesty, in affection, he told us so.
He loved us so.
Every day, in a hundred ways, he showed us so.
With loyalty and bravery, he showed us so.
He was our defender, and he kept us free!
He took an oath to guard us, and fought for liberty!
He loved us so, and we should know.
For we loved him so.
Corporal Bianconi, you were the very essence of DUTY!...HONOR!...and COUNTRY! You had been there and done that in Vietnam! You were one brave man who did brave deeds for our America! You had fought for the right without question or pause! Your name and fame are the BIFRTHRIGHT of EVERY American citizen! In your youth and strength...your love and loyalty...you had given all that mortality can give to defend liberty everywhere! Altoona is very proud of you! You had sacrificed your life so that freedom and justice may live! You had lived up to the motto of the Corps!---SEMPER FIDELIS!---and to the code of conduct and chivalry of those who guard this beloved land!...an ideal SO NOBLE that it arouses in all of us a sense of pride, and yet, of humility! I strongly and honestly believe that Avonmore's own Jill Corey, whom I greatly and immensely admire as one of my three top favorite songbirds of all time, the other two being Walton-on-Thames's own Julie Andrews, England's musical queen, and London's own Dusty Springfield, another thrush from England, would be very proud of your service to America, and of the sacrifices you made to keep us and our country free! Well done, Corporal! Be thou at peace. SEMPER FI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!