THE WALL OF FACES

Photo donated by John 'Doc' Boyle 19th Engineer Battalion (C)(A) RVN Nov '66 - Feb '68

I was Alton Sebastian's company medic. I was processing out to return home at the end of my tour when I was told of his death by cowardly enemy ambush. His rifle was stolen and his radio. A year or so later, an enemy soldier was killed nearby, and he still had Alton's rifle. It was returned to his company.

Alton is buried at Maplewood Cemetery in Norwich, CT. PH

I remember Sgt Sebastian, he was my squad Leader, I arrived in country November 1967. He was a great guy, funny, tall and a great Sgt. He taught me the things I needed to know to survive and I love him for it. I am truly sorry to say that I was there when he was killed. SPC Cox and I were on the APC, when we passed Sgt Sebastian on the mountain top he was on a (LP) a listening post. Once we left him that was when he was killed, we returned to the immediately, continued with the firefight and after it is when we saw Sgt Sebastian. I cried for days, because I just lost the best friend that I ever had. There is not a day in my life that I do not think of him. To the children of Sgt Sebastian, he was a great man and would have been a great, caring and loving father. My heart goes out to you and his family.

I knew Alton personally, we trained in the same platoon at Fort Leonard Wood Missouri, starting in October of 1966. The one thing that I remember him for best is that he was always funny and tried hard to lift the spirits of us all. He used to mimick "crazy guggenheim from the Jackie Gleason show. When we began to refer to him as "Crazy Guggenheim" he would correct us and tell us his name was "Harry Schwarts", but he would pronounce it as "Hawee Schwats" as if he had a speech impediment. Alton was a tall lean and good looking young man. When I think back to all of the young men that were lost, thoughts of him and his wonderful personality ALWAYS come above the thoughts of all of the rest, and all of the rest were damn good men also. Alton was without a doubt a credit to the U.S.Army and no doubt a Credit to his family also. If it is possible to let his family know how much he was liked by all of the men in his unit, I am sure it would put a smile on their face, memories of him are always fond, it is to bad that only the good die young. I felt a kindred to him because he had the first name of my father. My dead brother was also named Alton, after my father, these are the only 3 that I knew at the time by that name. When I went overseas he had already shipped out about 2 weeks earlier, and so I never saw him again, It wasn't till the building of the Viet Nam Vet's Memorial Wall that I knew that he had been killed in action. He will never be forgotten, especially be me. "Barney"