THE WALL OF FACES

Thank you for your service to our country so long ago sir. I am heartened you returned home after the passage of so many years though I wish it had been under very different circumstances. May you rest in eternal peace.

CMSGT Charlie Poole is buried at Hill Crest Memorial Park in Red Chute, Louisiana. He was one of two that did not survive the crash of their B-52 in 1972 in Vietnam and a memorial to Charlie and Richard W. Cooper, Jr. is in Arlington National Cemetery. In 1996, the crash site was located and their remains were returned to the U.S., later identified through DNA and artifacts. In 2003, Charlie had a full military funeral and his remains were interred next to his wife at Hill Crest Memorial Park.

To the family of CMsgt Poole- My father Hank was on the same flight that took the life of your husband, father, uncle, grandfather, and loved one. Hank and I used to go down to the Vietnam Memorial in DC on December 19- him to remember that day and pay respects to him and Maj Cooper, and me to just be with him. Tonight my son and I did the same. We found your name and paid our respects. Rest in peace.

Dear CMsgt Charlie Poole, Thank you for your service as an Aerial Gunner. Glad you were identified in 2003, WELCOME HOME. Saying thank you isn't enough, but it is from the heart. Memorial Day just passed when our nation remembers your sacrifice. Time passes quickly. Please watch over America, it stills needs your strength, courage and faithfulness, especially now. Rest in peace with the angels.

Operation Linebacker II was a U.S. 7th Air Force and U.S. Navy Task Force 77 aerial bombing campaign, conducted against targets in North Vietnam during the final period of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. The operation took place December 18-29, 1972, leading to several informal names such as "The December Raids" and "The Christmas Bombings." Linebacker II was a "maximum effort" bombing campaign to destroy major target complexes in the Hanoi and Haiphong areas, which could only be accomplished by B-52s. It saw the largest heavy bomber strikes launched by the U.S. Air Force since the end of World War II. During Operation Linebacker II, a total of 741 B-52 sorties were dispatched to bomb North Vietnam; 729 completed their missions. B-52s dropped a total of 15,237 tons of ordnance on eighteen industrial and fourteen military targets, including eight surface-to-air missile (SAM) sites, while fighter-bombers added another 5,000 tons of bombs to the tally. Another 212 B-52 missions were flown within South Vietnam in support of ground operations during the campaign. North Vietnamese forces fired about 1,240 SAMs. The Air Force lost 15 B-52 bombers, which amounted to a loss rate of less than two percent. Ten B-52s were shot down over the North and five others were damaged and crashed in Laos or Thailand. Thirty-three B-52 crew members were killed or missing in action, another thirty-three became prisoners of war, and twenty-six more were rescued. The lost B-52 crewmen included SMSGT Walter L. Ferguson, LTC Donald L. Rissi, CAPT Robert J. Thomas, MAJ Richard W. Cooper Jr., CMSGT Charlie S. Poole, MAJ Irwin S. Lerner, CMSGT Arthur V. McLaughlin Jr., LTC Randolph A. Perry Jr., LTC John F. Stuart, CAPT Craig A. Paul, MAJ Warren R. Spencer, MSGT Charles J. Bebus, COL Keith R. Heggen, COL Edward H. Johnson, MAJ Robert R. Lynn, CAPT Donavan K. Walters, CAPT Randall J. Craddock, MAJ Charles E. Darr, COL Bobby A. Kirby, CAPT George B. Lockhart, CAPT Ronald D. Perry, COL Frank A. Gould, COL Gerald W. Alley, MAJ Thomas W. Bennett Jr., CAPT Joseph B. Copack Jr., CAPT Robert J. Morris Jr., MAJ Nutter J. Wimbrow III, LTC Donald A. Joyner, MAJ Lawrence J. Marshall, CAPT Roy T. Tabler, CAPT James M. Turner, 1LT Bennie L. Fryer, and LTC Allen L. Johnson. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org, wikipedia.org, and airforcemag.com]