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….

On May 16, 1971, a New York Times article described heroin use by American troops in Vietnam had reached epidemic proportions. The piece reported that 10 to 15 percent of lower-ranking enlisted men were heroin users, and military officials working in drug‐suppression estimated that as much as a quarter of all enlisted personnel, more than 60,000 men, were hooked. They added that some field surveys reported units with more than 50 percent of the men on heroin. In Vietnam, the drug was plentiful, cheap, and 95 percent pure. Its effects could casually be achieved through smoking or snorting, as compared to the U.S., where the drug was impure, only about five percent heroin, and had to be main-lined or injected into the bloodstream to achieve a comparable high. The habit, which cost $100 a day to maintain in the U.S., cost less than $5 a day in Vietnam. SP5 William J. Perryman was a UH-1 helicopter mechanic serving with 117th Assault Helicopter Company, 222nd Aviation Battalion, 12th Aviation Group, 1st Aviation Brigade, U.S. Army Republic of Vietnam. On November 19, 1970, Perryman was found without life signs in bed in his company’s area at Plantation Air Field, seven kilometers east of Bien Hoa city in Bien Hoa Province, RVN. A preliminary postmortem examination indicated aspiration (asphyxiation due to inhaled stomach contents) as the cause of death; however, a casualty report dated January 28, 1971, revealed Perryman died of “acute narcotism.” He was 26 years old. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org and “G.I. Heroin Addiction Epidemic in Vietnam.” New York Times (New York, NY), May 16, 1971]

Image courtesy of Redbird Research LLC, Saint Charles, MO.

Dear Sp5 William Perryman, Thank you for your service as a Huey, Uh-1 Helicopter Repairer. Saying thank you isn't enough, but it is from the heart. It is spring, and flowers are blooming. Time passes quickly. Please watch over America, it stills needs your strength, courage and faithfulness, especially now. Rest in peace with the angels.

BILLY JOE WAS A YEAR OR SO BEHIND ME AT FESTUS HIGH SCHOOL. HE WAS A LOT OF FUN AND ALWAYS HAD A SMILE ON HIS FACE. HIS BROTHER, ELMER AND I WERE IN THE SAME CLASS OF 1961. I WENT INTO THE U.S. MARINE CORPS AND A FEW YEARS LATER SERVED IN VIETNAM.
I WAS SAD TO LEARN OF BILLY JOE'S DEATH. HE, AND OTHERS WHO SERVED IN VIETNAM ARE AMERICAN HEROES....GOD BLESS AND BE NOT FORGOTTEN.