THE WALL OF FACES

Remember to save for them a place inside of you, and save one backward glance when you are leaving, for the places they can no longer go...

Dear Sp4 Timothy Saunders, Thank you for your service as an Infantryman. The 55th anniversary of the start of your tour just passed. Saying thank you isn't enough, but it is from the heart. It is the 2nd week of Advent. Time moves quickly. Please watch over America, it stills needs your strength, courage, guidance and faithfulness, especially now. Rest in peace with the angels.

Specialist Four Timothy Judd Saunders, Served with Company E, 3rd Battalion, 60th Infantry Regiment, 9th Infantry Division.

If your anyone knows more about this awful day, I and some of Tim's unit would like to know. It seems that nobody knows exactly what happened and we would like to find out for your sake and for Tim's. We all remember our fallen heroes. Here is what we have:

A Note from The Virtual Wall

The casualty files show four men from E Company, 3/60th Infantry, as killed in action in Dinh Tuong Province on 05 July 1967:

• SP4 Timothy J. Saunders, Jackson, WY;
• PFC Edward M. Cornell, North Hollywood, CA;
• PFC Pedro Ferra-Flores, Miami, FL; and
• PFC Jerry D. Hudson, Bridgeport, TX.

In each instance, the Army's TAGCEN file gives the complementary cause of death as drowning. 3/60 Infantry was part of the combined US Navy/9th Infantry Division Mobile Riverine Force which conducted operations along the rivers and canals of the Mekong Delta region. That fact and the cause of death for the four men led to a fruitless search of the USNAVFORV History for July 1967 In hopes of finding documentation for an action on 05 July. The MRFA web site was no more productive, nor was a general internet search.

None the less, it is suspected the four men were involved in Operation CONCORDIA II, which began in Go Cong/Dinh Tuong Provinces on 04 July and probably were killed when a troop carrier was struck by enemy fire.

The Ninth Infantry Division (Old Reliables). On December 19, 1966 the 15th Engineers entered the Mekong Delta to build the first division sized base camp just 20 miles northeast of Saigon. The remainder of the division officially entered Vietnam at Vung Tau on December 19, 1966. After again distinguishing itself in battle the division was inactivated on September 25th, 1969 at Scofield Barracks, Hawaii and was finally inactivated at Ft Lewis, Washington by Order #201-29 on June 16th, 1991.

Timmy was a good friend to me around the earlie 60' in Las Vegas. He was BF w/ my brother's BF Kent Lang. I remember him as a very sweet & caring guy of 16yr. He would come over to visit & bring hid guitar & play songs like "Moon River". Love you Timmy and I've never forgotten you.