THE WALL OF FACES

Tom and I met at Ft. Collins before the 5th shipped out. Tom was an alternate RTO and always traveled with my machine gun squad. We were pretty close and I have some pictures of him "in country." I remember that Tom was a gentle person and had a great deal of trouble with all the killing he saw. I was one of the few people he was comfortable sharing that with. It was Tom and I that discovered that on one op we had entered Laos. He carried an extra map and I had taught map reading. When we asked the Captain about it he denied it. Tom didn't buy it. When we flew back to A4 and crossed the river he asked the Capt about the lack of bomb craters on the west side. The Capt told him to face the front of the hook and shut up. Another of my closest friends, Mark Fusile, died the day after Tom. We were wounded by the same round, along with Col Little. When I went to the actual Wall, I found out that my assistant gunner, Joe Russo, was killed a few months later.

Tom was a good friend of mine and all in our platoon. It was a bad day for many of us as we lost many on that hill side. Iwill never forget him.
Always your friend Bernie "Buck" Kean 5th Div. Mech. D/1/11