THE WALL OF FACES

Thank you for your service to our country so long ago sir. The remembrance from Ann Stuart Carraher is poignant and reflects her admiration and respect for you. As long as you are remembered you will remain in our hearts forever….

Dear Ssgt John Payne, Thank you for your service as an Aircraft Structural Repairer. Glad you were identified in 1973, welcome home. Saying thank you isn't enough, but it is from the heart. It is Easter Thursday. Time passes quickly. Please watch over America, it stills needs your strength, courage and faithfulness, especially now. Rest in peace with the angels.

John I remember the good times ee had working together at Bohacks. I have never forgotten the day I heard

On November 4, 1969, a U.S. Army helicopter UH-1H (tail number 68-16057) departed the 48th Aviation Company pad at Ninh Hoa at 11:25 AM enroute to the 155th Aviation Company located at Ban Me Thout. This was the last known contact with the aircraft. At approximately 6:00 PM that same evening, and after an extensive ramp check was made at Ninh Hoa, Ban Me Thout, and Phu Hiep, the helicopter was reported to 10th Aviation Battalion (Combat) as missing. More than 3 ½ years later, on July 9, 1973, Montagnard tribesmen traveling through the Zuc Me Pass happened upon a charred helicopter in the jungle with the skeletal remains of seven servicemen. After examination by forensic experts, the military announced on September 5, 1973, that the recovered remains were those of the missing helicopter crew which was thought to have gone down in bad weather. The lost personnel were identified as pilots CPT Alfonso R. Castro and CW2 John S. Anderson, crew chief SSG Marion L. Roach, and gunner SP6 Allan G. Kennedy; also identified were passengers SSG Rick E. Medaris, SSG John A. Payne, and SP5 Richard G. Bauer. The mother of Medaris refused to believe they had found her son and joined four other families filing suit in federal court in New York to block the military from declaring the missing crew and passengers as "presumed dead" without furnishing further proof. After the intercession of then Vice-President Gerald Ford, the remains were transported in June 1974 from California to University Hospital in Ann Arbor, MI, for further tests. Tests revealed that 12 dental fillings in a jawbone matched Medaris’ dental records and a burned piece of boot with the numbers 463912 matched the last six numbers of his Social Security number. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org, vhpa.org, virtualwall.org, and “Florida woman sends Vietnam War bracelet to parent of Grand Rapids-area soldier killed in 1969.” The Grand Rapids Press, June 28, 2009]

Thank you for your service and your sacrifice. Thank you for stepping up and answering your country's call. Rest easy knowing you will never be forgotten.