THE WALL OF FACES

On May 16, 1971, a New York Times article described heroin use by American troops in Vietnam had reached epidemic proportions. The piece reported that 10 to 15 percent of lower-ranking enlisted men were heroin users, and military officials working in drug‐suppression estimated that as much as a quarter of all enlisted personnel, more than 60,000 men, were hooked. They added that some field surveys reported units with more than 50 percent of the men on heroin. In Vietnam, the drug was plentiful, cheap, and 95 percent pure. Its effects could casually be achieved through smoking or snorting, as compared to the U.S., where the drug was impure, only about five percent heroin, and had to be main-lined or injected into the bloodstream to achieve a comparable high. The habit, which cost $100 a day to maintain in the U.S., cost less than $5 a day in Vietnam. PFC John W. Blount was an infantryman serving with B Company, 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry, 199th Infantry Brigade, U.S. Army Republic of Vietnam. On the early morning of July 13, 1970, Blount was found unconscious at the 6th Convention Center compound in Khanh Hoa Province, RVN. He was transported to a medical dispensary, then transferred to the 483rd U.S. Air Force Hospital where he was admitted in seriously ill condition at 7:30 AM. He expired the following morning at 2:00 AM. Postmortem studies determined Blount died from a drug overdose. He was 20 years old. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org and “G.I. Heroin Addiction Epidemic in Vietnam.” New York Times (New York, NY), May 16, 1971]

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Never forgotten.

HOOAH

You will forever remain in our hearts and prayers

You will forever remain in our hearts and prayers