THE WALL OF FACES

Thank you for your service to our country so long ago sir. You died at 18 years of age. I am 74 and have lived a long and fulfilling life. It is tragic you never had that same opportunity. May you rest in eternal peace.

Dear Lcpl Thomas Richards, Thank you for your service as a Rifleman. Saying thank you isn't enough, but it is from the heart. The fall of Afghanistan reminds me of Saigon. It is very sad. 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 72nd birthday, your sacrifice is not forgotten.

Forever 18.

Semper Fi, Marine

Lance Corporal Thomas Stephen Richards, Served with the 1st Platoon, Company D, 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion, 3rd Marine Division, Third Marine Amphibious Force.

WOUNDED IN VIETNAM,
CITY MARINE, 18, DIES

Lance Corporal Thomas S. Richards, USMC, aged 18, died yesterday at the Chelsea, Mass., Naval Hospital. He was the son of Lawrence and Katherine (McCann) Richards of 48 Putnam St. According to information received by his parents, their son received gunshot wounds to the neck and chest from hostile rifle fire while he was on patrol duty in the vicinity of Thua Thien, Vietnam. His parents said the lower part of his body and both legs had been paralyzed from the wounds.

Enlisting last year when he was 17, he trained at Parris Island and from there received an appointment to the President's Honor Guard in Washington, D.C. He then volunteered for service in Vietnam with the 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion and was stationed at Dong Ha Phu Bai.

Corporal Richards was born in Fort Bragg, N.C., and had lived in New Britain 13 years. A member of St. Mary Church, he attended local schools. He was an outstanding bugler and won several citations for his skill in this field and was a member of the Grenadiers Drum and Bugle Corps and the Royal Lancers Drum and Bugle Corps of Ansonia and Derby. He was also a member of the New Britain Boys Club and a former member of Troop 21, Boy Scouts of America.

Besides his parents he is survived by two brothers, Lawrence A. Richards Jr., with the U.S. Navy and now stationed at Reme Airfield, Imperial Beach, Calif.: William J. Richards, a student at Smalley school; a sister, Miss Lynn Marie Richards, a student at New Britain Senior High School; his paternal grandfather, William H. Richards of Rockland, Mass.; and his maternal grandfather, Wallace H. McCann of Brocton, Mass.

Arrangements for a military funeral under the direction of the Donald D. Sagarino Funeral Home are incomplete awaiting arrival of details from the War Department.

Thanks to Pat Watson, Head of Adult Services, New Britain Public Library, New Britain, CT 06051 for her help in recovering the above information.

Semper Fidelis, Marine!