THE WALL OF FACES

There is a place
Not far from here
Where spirits walk
And heroes live
And honor still resides.

It is a wall
With names inscribed
Of those who served
When they were asked...
The brothers of my youth.

I go there still
To walk and think
About my life,
And what I've done since
And things that might have been.

There is a debt
I can't repay
Too many lives were spent.
And one man's life cannot suffice
To make their deaths worthwhile.

But there is hope
In the memory
Of those we leave behind
Who know the price that freedom brings
Who can carry on in kind.

I send you now
To touch a name
So the vision can be passed
Remember there is honor still
It is for you to see it lasts.

They are not dead
And have a wish
As all old soldiers do
The reflection you see before you now
Is their wish to live in you.

SP4 John E. Poeschl was an Ammunition Supervisor serving with Headquarters & Headquarters Company (HHC), 8th Radio Research Field Station, 509th Army Security Agency Group. The Army Security Agency, operating under cover of the 3rd Radio Research Unit, established a radio facility at Phu Bai Combat Base in 1963, seven miles southeast of Hue on National Highway QL-1 in Thua Thien Province, RVN. The operational unit was later redesignated as the 8th Radio Research Field Station. The Army Security Agency Group conducted classified flight missions providing combat information to division commanders in pursuit of their tactical war-fighting operations. On May 7, 1971, Poeschl was reportedly involved in a motorcycle accident five miles northwest of the Hue Citadel. He sustained fatal injuries in the incident. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org; obituary from the Moberly Monitor-Index (Moberly, MO), May 14, 1971, courtesy of Zachary Palitzsch, Archivist, Research Center–St. Louis, The State Historical Society of Missouri, St. Louis, MO]

Dear Sp4 John Poeschl, Thank you for your service as an Ammunition Supervisor. Your 50th anniversary was this month, sad. Saying thank you isn't enough, but it is from the heart. Memorial Day weekend when our nation those of you who paid the ultimate price. 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 70th birthday, your sacrifice is not forgotten.

HOOAH

I was missing my dad, John Poeschl, who passed away several years ago, so I happened to google his name and found this site in remembrance of John Edwin Poeschl. I was so sad to learn about such a young man who was not able to live his life beyond 20 years! It is so unfair. I just want to let his family know that his sacrifice is so unfortunate and unforgettable and that he is in my thoughts. My dad would have been sad so see this information too. BTW, my dad fought in World War II but he was lucky enough to survive. So much in life is simply luck...