THE WALL OF FACES

Your sacrifice is not forgotten.

HOOAH

Do not stand at my grave and weep
I am not there. I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning's hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry;
I am not there. I did not die.

Dear Cpl Johnnie Sewell, Thank you for your service as an Infantryman. I researched you on the 54th anniversary of the start of your tour. Saying thank you isn't enough, but it is from the heart. It is another new year. Time moves quickly. Please watch over America, it stills needs your strength, courage, guidance and faithfulness, especially now. Rest in peace with the angels.

A couple of weeks before Johnnie shipped out, he was at the old Jacks truck stop in Hartselle, AL. He and I swapped cars (his Vette & my Mustang) for a couple of hours one night. Chief Kyker wanted me to tell him who was driving my car to fast. I refused but told Johnnie. He went to Chief Kyker and told the chief that it was him driving the car. I went to his home when he was brought home to Hartselle in his dress uniform. Still to this day, I remember him & his Family. He was a TRUE HERO & Dear Friend.

I was only a twelve year old kid in the summer of 1968. My dad was a Korean War Vet and worked full time with the Alabama National Guard in Hartselle, Alabama. I grew up around soldiers and they were all heroes to me. I can still remember the day my dad came home from work and told me someone from Hartselle had been killed in Vietnam. I remember reading the story in the Hartselle Enquirer. I remember my dad going to the funeral.


It was in the summer of 1968 that I lost my naive belief that war did not have consequences, and that my freedom was free. I began to understand what the word ultimate sacrifice means.

For the last 49 years I have always though of Johnnie Sewell when I thought about Vietnam. Today I was at the Wall in Washington. I went to Panel 50W and saw Johnnie's name on Row 10. And I touched it.

The people back home still remember you, Johnnie. And always will.