THE WALL OF FACES

The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotions and spends himself in a great worthy cause; who at the best, knows in the end triumph of high achievement and, at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while caring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold, timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat. Theodore Roosevelt

The “Friends of Rocky Versace” remember one of Rocky’s fellow alumni from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point - a Firstie in Cadet Company L-2, USCC when Rocky was a Yearling in Co. K-2 - Captain Robert Edward Rawls, USMA Class of 1957, on what would’ve been his 86th birthday – 4 August 2021.

Dear Cap. Robert Rawls, Thank you for your service as an Airborne Qualified Infantry Unit Commander, and for graduating from West Point. I researched you on the 56th anniversary of the start of your tour. Saying thank you isn't enough, but it is from the heart. The57th anniversary of Gulf of Tonkin Incident is soon. Time passes quickly. Please watch over America, it stills needs your strength, courage and faithfulness, especially now. Rest in peace with the angels.

The Battle of An Ninh took place September 18–19, 1965, between the North Vietnamese Army and the U.S. Army’s 2nd Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment and Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) Rangers. It occurred during an operation code named Operation Gibraltar, developed to clear the area around the U.S. Army’s 1st Cavalry Division base at An Khe, RVN. Around 7:00 AM on the 18th, after preliminary airstrikes, the first wave of helicopters dropped 224 men of the 2/502nd Infantry and a company of ARVN Rangers in a landing zone near the village of An Ninh, 18 miles east of An Khe. Unknown to the U.S./ARVN forces, they had landed in the middle of an NVA training base. When the second wave of helicopters arrived at the landing zone, the NVA unleashed intense fire, forcing back the second wave without dropping the soldiers. The lack of artillery support posed dire difficulties for the Americans on the ground. Air support was initially unavailable due to a contaminated fuel supply at Bien Hoa Air Base, and it was only shortly after 9:00 AM that the first F-100 fighter-bombers arrived. Fifty close-air support missions were flown by dusk, hitting targets as close as 100 yards from the U.S. lines, causing two casualties from friendly fire. The continuous effort to reinforce the besieged troops and evacuate the wounded under enemy fire involved 26 helicopters. In the afternoon, a U.S./ARVN relief force was transported to a landing zone not far from the battle, but before they could regroup and advance, night fell, and they had to stop. By the time the relief force arrived, the NVA had already retreated. U.S. casualties were seventeen dead and twenty-four wounded. The lost Americans included SP4 Frank Boynton, SSG George E. Burchett, 1LT Patrick A. Deck Jr., MAJ Herbert J. Dexter, SSG Johnnie W. Faircloth, 2LT Edward H. Fox, PFC Ernest K. Gerhardt, PFC Leroy Hicks, SP4 Joe L. Meek, SP4 Ernest L. Miller, CPT Robert E. Rawls, PFC Paul E. Rytter, SSG Duane C. Schell, SSG Roynald E. Taylor, SSG Larry L. Truesdale, PFC Jerry D. Underwood, and PFC Johnnie P. Winfrey. A body count conducted after the battle claimed between 226 and 257 NVA dead, most of them killed by air bombardment. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org and wikipedia.org]

Bob was my roommate for year at West Point. It is my intention to write something about him.