THE WALL OF FACES

Thank you for your service to our country so long ago sir. You died at 18 years of age. I am 74 and have lived a long and fulfilling life. It is tragic you never had that same opportunity. May you rest in eternal peace.

On the remembrance of your 70th birthday, your sacrifice is not forgotten.

Forever 18.

Semper Fi, Marine

Dear PFC Dennis Pfeifer, Thank you for your service as a Rifleman. Your 70th birthday is soon, happy birthday. Saying thank you isn't enough, but it is from the heart. The 46th anniversary of the fall of Saigon just passed, and it is still sad. Time passes quickly. Please watch over America, it stills needs your strength, courage and faithfulness, especially now. Rest in peace with the angels.

On the remembrance of your 69th Birthday, your sacrifice is not forgotten.

Semper Fi, Marine.

At 8:25 AM on February 9, 1970, 3rd Platoon from Fox Company, 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines, 1st Marine Division, was moving to a PPB [platoon patrol base] after having conducted night activities four miles west of Marble Mountain Airfield in Quang Nam Province, RVN. While running a sweep of the area to clear booby-traps, one Marine tripped an M26 grenade booby-trap. The blast killed PFC Dennis W. Pfeifer and wounded two others. The Marines were moving through thick terrain that constrained their movement when the device detonated. The booby-trap was rigged with a pressure-release firing mechanism and was concealed in about one inch of sand. Pfeifer received fragmentation wounds to his lower torso, arms, and head when a fragment passed beneath his helmet. The other two wounded Marines were about 20 feet away on each side of Pfeifer when the blast occurred. A medivac was called, and while the helicopter was in the process of landing, rotor wash detonated a second booby-trap located outside of the designated landing zone. The second explosion resulted in no injuries to Marine personnel or equipment. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org and 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines, 1st Marine Division Command Chronology for February 1970]