THE WALL OF FACES

Thank you for your service to our country so long ago sir. May you rest in eternal peace.

SP4 Michael A. Bird was a flight-qualified infantryman serving with the 71st Assault Helicopter Company “Rattlers.” SP4 Bird was assigned as a gunner on a UH-1 “slick” transport helicopter with Second Platoon. On the late afternoon of October 14, 1967, Bird and his crew chief were preparing their aircraft for a mission. In one of the many unspeakable tragedies of the Vietnam War, Bird, in an act of horseplay, squared up with the crew chief like a western gunslinger, and yelled “Draw!” The crew chief instantly unsheathed his S&W .38 revolver when it accidently discharged, striking Bird in the forehead. He collapsed into the crew chief who caught him under the arms and rotated him down into the cargo compartment of the aircraft. Bird died shortly thereafter. The crew chief was court-martialed, stripped of his rank, and discharged from the Army. Due to the unintentional nature of the casualty, the Army coded Bird’s death an accidental homicide. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org and information provided by Anonymous (December 2017); obituary courtesy of Sara McKinley, Local History & Genealogy Supervisor, Muncie Public Library, Muncie, IN]

Picture posted by Tom Clark, Teacher and Students, Lake Central High School, St. John, Indiana.
Please watch our video about what we have been doing in the classroom for the past 32 years.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ohw6D-bcfPU
Picture from the Plain Dealer Library

DEAR SPEC 4 MICHAEL BIRD,
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE AS A FLIGHT QUALIFIED INFANTRYMAN. 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. TODAY IS SAINT JOSEPH. HE IS REMEMBERED AS BEING THE PATRON OF A HAPPY DEATH BECAUSE YOU ARE GREETED THE THE HOLY ONES. MAY THEY GREET YOU TOO.

“Wherever a beautiful soul has been there is a trail of beautiful memories…”