THE WALL OF FACES

We were best friends in high school. With Mark Shepard, the three of us were inseparable. Neither of us planned to serve, yet Steve joined the Army the day I joined the Navy. Had we planned, we would have entered as "Buddies." I sailed around the world and came home to raise my family. Rest in peace, Steve. Thanks for good times and many laughs.

Say not in grief he is no more, but live in thankfulness that he was.

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. SP5 Stephen P. Schriver was a Heavy Construction Equipment Operator serving with the 544th Transportation Company, 80th General Services Group, Army Support Command, 1st Logistical Command, U.S. Army Republic of Vietnam. On the evening of September 24, 1970, Schriver reportedly ingested drugs identified as “cocaine” at Chu Lai Base Area in Quang Tin Province, RVN. As cocaine was unavailable to U.S. troops serving in Southeast Asia, it is probable that the illicit drug was heroin. The following morning, Schriver was hospitalized at the 93rd Evacuation Hospital at Chu Lai for aspiration (inhaling the contents of his stomach). Aspiration occurs when foreign material is inhaled into the airway. In healthy young men, it may occur during sleep when the sedating effects of heroin impair cough and gag reflexes. Cocaine, conversely, is a stimulant drug. Schriver developed aspiration pneumonitis and was medically evacuated to the U.S. Army 249th General Hospital at Camp Drake in Asaka, Japan, where he expired at 7:50 Am on October 22, 1970. On January 20, 1971, a (corrected) final casualty report was issued listing the cause of death as “aspiration and pneumonitis secondary to overdose of drugs.” Schriver 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]

Dear Sp5 Stephen Schriver, Thank you for your service as a Heavy Construction Equipment Operator. Saying thank you isn't enough, but it is from the heart. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Please watch over America, it stills needs your strength, courage, guidance and faithfulness, especially now. Rest in peace with the angels.

SP5 Stephen Paul Schriver is buried in A15XB, L07N, 1/2 G1 of the Litchfield Plains Cemetery in Litchfield, ME.

He served with 544th Transportation Company, 80th GS Group, Army Support Command DaNang, 1st Logistical Command, US Army Vietnam (Coffelt Database).

Your sacrifice is not forgotten.

HOOAH