THE WALL OF FACES

Dear Lt Kenneth Shoemaker, Thank you for your service as a Nurse Anesthetist. Thank you for the lives you saved. Saying thank you isn't enough, but it is from the heart. Happy Valentine’s Day. Please watch over America, it stills needs your strength, courage, guidance and faithfulness, especially now. Rest in peace with the angels.

On behalf of the members of the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists, we remember you and thank you for serving. We are proud of your service and the work you did in Vietnam.

On November 30, 1967, a U.S. Air Force C-7B (#62-4175) from the 458th Tactical Airlift Squadron (TAS), 483rd Tactical Airlift Wing (TAW) at Cam Ranh Air Base, hit a mountain about 5 miles south of Qui Nhon after a bad weather missed approach. On the initial approach to Qui Nhon, the pilot was advised that the weather at the airfield had fallen below safety minimal. He replied that he would to proceed to Nha Trang where the weather conditions were better. Enroute to Nha Trang the aircraft hit a mountain at 1,850 feet. The presence of low clouds and rain had reduced visibility to about two miles. It took search and rescue teams five days to locate the crash site in the dense jungle. Twenty-six people were killed in the crash. The four lost crewmen included MAJ Thomas D. Moore Jr., MAJ William J. Clark III, SSGT Arturo Delgado-Marin, and SSGT Stanley J. Yurewicz. Two Air Force passengers and 18 U.S. Army personnel, including two U.S. civilians, were also killed in the accident. Five of passengers were medical personnel. They had been temporarily assigned to a Pleiku hospital and were returning to Qui Nhon. They included CAPT Eleanor G. Alexander, 1LT Jerome E. Olmsted, 1LT Hedwig D. Orlowski, 1LT Kenneth R. Shoemaker, and SP5 Phillip A. Ogas. Other lost personnel included SSGT Edward O. Bilsie, SP4 Bobby G. Brown, A1C Daryl L. Davis, PFC William R. Godwin, SGT William E. Groves, SGT Whyley E. Josh, SFC Bobby D. Likens, 1LT Norman F. Loeffler Jr., SSGT Jose L. Miranda-Ortiz, SSGT Clarence L. Palmer, CPL Jack Rogers, SP4 Lawrence D. Snyder, SGT Teddy Waxman, PFC Libert J. Weldon Jr., and PFC Edward J. Williamson. [Taken from forest-lawn.com, coffeltdatabase.org, and findagrave.com]

Dear 1LT Kenneth R Shoemaker Jr, sir

As an American, I would like to thank you for your service and for your sacrifice made on behalf of our wonderful country. The youth of today could gain much by learning of heroes such as yourself, men and women whose courage and heart can never be questioned.

May God allow you to read this, and may He allow me to someday shake your hand when I get to Heaven to personally thank you. May he also allow my father to find you and shake your hand now to say thank you; for America, and for those who love you.

With respect, and the best salute a civilian can muster for you, Sir

Curt Carter

Ken is buried at Owensboro Memorial Gardens in Owensboro, KY.