THE WALL OF FACES

Thank you for your service to our country so long ago sir. As long as you are remembered you will remain in our hearts forever….

Dear PFC Dennis Rutowski, Thank you for your service as an Airborne Qualified Infantryman. Your 56th anniversary is soon, sad.Saying thank you isn't enough, but it is from the heart. Veterans’ Day is soon.. Time passes quickly. Please watch over America, it stills needs your strength, courage, guidance, and faithfulness, especially now. Rest in peace with the angels.

Dennis served with my uncle D. Simons in Operation Hump. We visit Dennis' final resting place every May in Waterford, WI to honor him and my beloved uncle.

Operation Hump was a search and destroy operation initiated by the U.S. Army on November 5, 1965, with the objective of driving out Viet Cong (VC) fighters who had taken up positions on several key hills north of Bien Hoa in Bien Hoa Province, RVN. Little contact was made through November 7th, when Sky Soldiers from B and C Companies,1st Battalion, 503rd Infantry, 173rd Airborne Brigade, settled into a night defensive position southeast of Hill 65, a triple-canopied covered jungle hill. Early on November 8th, C Company began a move northwest toward Hill 65, while B Company moved northeast toward nearby Hill 78. C Company became engaged by a sizeable enemy force, well dug in to the southern face of Hill 65, armed with machine guns and shotguns. B Company was directed to wheel in place and proceed toward Hill 65 with the intention of relieving C Company, often relying on fixed bayonets to repel daring close-range attacks by small bands of masked VC fighters. As B Company reached the foot of Hill 65, it became obvious that there was a large enemy force in place on the hill. C Company was suffering heavy casualties. The enemy force—most of a VC regiment—shifted their position to the northwest, whereupon the B Company commander called in air and incendiary artillery fire on the retreating rebels. The shells scorched the foliage and caught many VC fighters ablaze, exploding the ammunition and grenades they carried. The VC commander realized that his best chance was to close in with the U.S. forces so that the 173rd's air and artillery fire could not be effectively employed. The result was shoulder-to-shoulder attacks up the hillside, with hand-to-hand fighting. The Americans held against two such attacks, and by late afternoon it seemed that contact had been broken, allowing the two companies to prepare a night defensive position and collect their dead and wounded. American paratroopers inflicted 403 killed (by body count) on the enemy but lost 49 dead in the process. The lost Sky Soldiers included PFC Rudolph R. Aguilar, SP4 James Belton, SFC Bryant Brayboy Jr., PFC Herman Brown, SSG Magno Campos, SFC Henry T. Cannon, PFC Lavalle E. Carlton, SSG Samuel A. Eidson, PFC Gary L. Elmore, PFC Byron J. Foster, SP4 Everett W. Goias, PFC Harold Goldman, PFC Kenneth E. Graham, SGT Lloyd V. Greene, PFC Joseph T. Hamilton, PFC John E. Hannigan III, SP4 Robert W. Harden Jr., SSG Clifton W. Harrington, PSG Leroy Hill, SGT Rebel L. Holcomb, SGT Lawrence P. Howard Jr., SGT John A. Hughlett, SP4 Wayne W. Humphries, SGT Theodore R. Jones Jr., SGT David L. Keel, CPL Cleo Lockett, PFC Valentine Marquez, PFC Michael K. Mathison, PFC Michael M. Medley, PVT Charles L. Mitchell Jr., SP4 John A. Nathan, PFC Steve Orris III, PFC Jerry L. Potter, PFC Michael P. Russo, PFC Dennis D. Rutowski, SSG Theodore M. Shamblin, PFC Harold M. Smith, PFC Daniel J. Sobota, SP4 Cordell Spencer, SP4 Scip Tate, 2LT Clair H. Thurston Jr., PFC Samuel S. Tolliver, SP4 Thomas A. Turnage, 2LT David L. Ugland, PFC Davis Uptain, SP4 Vincent George, PFC Danny R. Ward, PFC Kelly E. Whitaker, and SGT Troy B. Williams. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org and wikipedia.org]

The war may be forgotten but the warrior will always be remembered. All gave Some-Some gave All. rest in peace Sky Soldier.