THE WALL OF FACES

A butterfly lights beside us like a sunbeam
And for a brief moment its glory
and beauty belong to our world
But then it flies again
And though we wish it could have stayed...
We feel lucky to have seen it.

Your sacrifice is not forgotten.

HOOAH

Dear PFC Harold Shuler, Thank you for your service as an Infantryman. Today is your 52nd anniversary, sad. 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.

Harold was two years ahead of me in high school. He was a quiet soul that did not bother anyone and my friend. I remember getting the news in March 1970 that Harold had been killed and would not be coming home to his bride that he had married shortly before going to Vietnam. I wrote a newspaper article about my friend for the local paper telling what kind of man he was and to honor him. It took years to get something done in our hometown publicly honoring him but Harold is remembered in a memorial in Freedom Park in our hometown of Cleveland Georgia. When I went to visit Harold’s gravesite I found that he was buried across from my uncle. It’s been 50 years since Harold gave all and he comes to my memories often. Rest In Peace until we meet again my friend!

Fire Support Base Rifle was located 10 miles south of Phu Bai Airfield in Thua Thien Province, RVN. It was manned by elements of the 101st Airborne Division along with the 4th Battalion, 54th ARVN Infantry Regiment. During the early morning hours of February 11, 1970, FSB Rifle was overrun by units of the North Vietnamese Army. The NVA were supported with mortars, RPG teams, and multiple sapper squads. When the attack started, the NVA fired 60mm mortar rounds into the base interior, dropping 50–60 rounds inside the perimeter. Next, they fired RPG-2 rockets at the defenders’ bunkers. As the rockets came in, at least two squads of sappers breached the perimeter, some of whom immediately headed for the tactical operations center (TOC). In a well-planned advance operation, the sappers began throwing satchel charges, and NVA ground troops opened up with AK-47 fire. A pitched battle took place inside the perimeter of the fire base as the two sides fired at each other in extremely close quarters; much of the fighting was hand-to-hand combat. By 0145 hours, gunships from the 101st arrived and began firing 2.75-inch rockets at enemy positions. At 0300 hours, the NVA broke off the attack and disappeared back into the heavily forested hills, leaving their dead behind. The devastation and carnage to the base was considerable. Most bunker lines along the perimeter, as well as the TOC, were blown to pieces. Bodies were everywhere: inside the compound, in the wire and outside of the perimeter, both American and NVA soldiers. Many of the NVA had been blown to pieces; some were also burned to cinder. Most dead Americans lay where they fell. The U.S. reaction force that arrived feared they might have been booby-trapped during the firefight, and all had unexploded ordnance still attached to their web gear. During the following day, firefights with the NVA continued as American patrols entered the woods in pursuit of the enemy. It took 14 hours to clear the American and NVA bodies and destroy most of the dud and unexploded ordnance. Over 200 satchel charges loaded with Russian TNT were disarmed and 15 unfired RPG-2 rockets and one dud RPG-7 rocket were collected by American ordinance disposal personnel. Eleven Americans were killed in the battle at FSB Rifle. They included SP4 John J. Burns Jr., PFC Morgan L. Cahoon, SGT Robert R. Davis, PFC Timothy C. Farrell, SSGT Ronald L. Haug, SGT Kenneth L. Keller, SP4 Paul H. Knecht, SP4 Vincent M. La Rocca, SP4 Raymond R. Moon, PFC Marlin T. Peterson, and PFC Harold W. Shuler. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org and “Fire Support Base Rifle: The Day It Was Raining Dead” by Stuart Steinberg, Soldier of Fortune magazine, August 2015]