THE WALL OF FACES

Thank you for your service to our country so long ago sir. The remembrance from your brother Ernie is especially poignant. As long as you are remembered you will always be with us...

On the remembrance of your 71st birthday, your sacrifice is not forgotten.

Forever 18.

Semper Fi, Marine.

Private First Class Thomas Joseph Blanchard, Served with Company K, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, Third Marine Amphibious Force.

DEAR PFC BLANCHARD,
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE AS A MORTARMAN. SEMPER FI. 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. AND YOU ARE ALL IN OUR PRAYERS.

I write this from one Marine to another. Tom, my name is Russ Thomas Trudel, and my mother Debby was paired up to be your graduation line partner at Lewis Mills. Years later my parents bought your family home on Stone Road in Burlington, CT off of your parents, and we moved in when I was eight years old. My bedroom was your old room. I grew up drawing monsters and military guys and tanks etc., and when we began remodeling the house we found drawings in the attic that you drew of the exact same things. I grew up playing in the same woods and sleeping out in the old Ham radio shed that was your dad's, and always felt like somehow you were there. After highschool, I decided to join the Marine Corps myself, and while stationed at Camp Lejeune, I made a couple trips to Washington DC to visit another Marine Buddy of mine. While there, I visited the Vietnam Memorial Wall and made a rubbing of your name. Even though I did not know you personally, I always felt like I knew you from growing up in the same place, and have honored and will continue to honor your memory for years to come as a Marine brother. Semper Fidelis Tommy!!! OOrah Marine!!! You will never be forgotten!!!