THE WALL OF FACES

Thank you for your service to our country so long ago sir. The remembrance from your sister Joy is moving and reflects her enduring love for you. As long as you are remembered you will always be with us….

Dear PFC Earl Smith, Thank you for your service as a Food Service Specialist. The 56th anniversary of the start of your tour was 6 days ago. Saying thank you isn't enough, but it is from the heart. Winter will end soon, and it is Lent. Time moves quickly. Please watch over America, it stills needs your strength, courage, guidance and faithfulness, especially now. Rest in peace with the angels.

Earl... Thinking of you today; your service, heroism, and how this all led to the maternal family I never knew for 50-plus years. Today I'm contributing lineage to my Family Tree including you and our mother's roots, The Shust and Brezina Family. While my heart pains having never met you as a child or before you went to war, I'm truly grateful for your sacrifice in leading the way in finding my missing family. Thank you, and thanks to the U.S. Army for having sound records leading me to you. I truly wish you were alongside me today enjoying the wonderful information discovered. And too, along this journey you would have been proud having found four first cousins I believe even you never had the opportunity to meet. I've even visited the lovely resting place of our maternal grandparents Mary and Michael Shust (Hammond, Indiana). I'll continue to build my tree as I'm proud to pass it on to my son, your nephew. Please know how proud I am of you having to be my only brother. And, I'll continue to visit your memorial each summer in Washington, DC.; my son and I are always there to honor you. For now, continue to Rest in Peace. Always, your baby sister.

On June 30, 1966, two units of the U.S. Army’s 1st Infantry Division were conducting an operation to secure the “Big Red One’s” (1st Infantry Division) forward base at Quan Loi and the Hon Quan airfield. It was part of an operation dubbed El Paso II. The mission was more or less a reconnaissance-in-force along portions of National Highway 13 north of the bridge at Cam Le above An Loc. Because the bridge was largely destroyed, it was necessary to escort engineers to make repairs to the structure. B Troop of the 1st Squadron, 4th Cavalry—nicknamed the “Quarter horse”—was assigned escort duty. Attached was the 1st Platoon of C Company. Ultimately, the troopers would be supported by three full companies (A, B and C) of the 2nd Battalion, 18th Infantry, known as the “Spartans.” The terrain along Highway 13 was a mix of dense jungle, tree lines, chest-high grass and rice paddies. Near the hamlet of Srok Dong, due north of An Loc, the Viet Cong (VC) had constructed a bulwark of piled logs. It was close to the intersection of Highway 13 and Route 17, an ideal location for an L-shaped ambush. The VC had been ordered to “lay a mobile ambush” of convoys passing by there. That task was taken up by the 271st VC (Main Force) Regiment of the 9th VC Division. At 9:40 AM, B Troop was hit by recoilless-rifle and machine-gun fire while crossing a rice paddy. Within the first 30 minutes, all of its four M48 Patton tanks were disabled. Accompanying armored personnel carriers (APCs) responded with .50-caliber fire. APCs of C Troop carrying infantrymen atop them arrived quickly, only to be greeted by a rain of mortar shells. Its 1st Platoon countered with a mechanical flamethrower. The armored cavalrymen put up a protective shield around the besieged B Troop. Heavy fire support was quick on the scene. B and D batteries of the 8th Battalion, 6th Artillery, based at Hon Quan, fired 825 rounds over the course of combat. Airplanes, UH-1B Huey helicopters and CH-47 Chinooks (“Guns-A-Go-Go”) from the 11th Aviation Battalion provided an aerial arsenal. All told, the aircraft launched 88 close tactical air strikes. By noon, the remainder of A Company was flown in by helicopter. C Company also joined the fray. B Company arrived about the time the VC were leaving the battlefield. By 3:30 p.m., the VC had mostly broken off contact. C Troop moved to Checkpoint One and assisted B Troop in evacuating the wounded and suppressing enemy fire. One armor recon soldier of C Troop, SGT Donald R. Long, carried wounded to the helicopters and provided much-needed supplies under intense fire. Repelling the VC as they attempted to mount his APC, Long helped a severely wounded crew member to safety. When a grenade landed on the carrier deck, “he threw himself over the grenade to absorb the blast and thereby saved the lives of eight of his comrades at the expense of his own life,” according to his Medal of Honor citation. But eight other C troopers were killed along with three from B Troop. C Company lost five men killed and Headquarters Company counted one dead, a cook, PFC Earl Smith. The total tally for June 30 was seventeen GIs KIA and 66 WIA. The lost Americans included SGT Roy D. Baily, SP4 David E. Baun, SSG William R. Buckley, 1LT David K. Hight, SGT Richard P. Holien, SGT Donald R. Long, SSG Charles H. Mills, PFC Bobby L. Morden, SGT John D. Morgan, 1LT Peter E. Odenweller, SP4 Ronald O. Patterson, SP4 Franz G. Prediger, PVT Danny L. Smith, PFC Earl Smith, PFC Eddie K. Williams, and SP4 Harry J. Yost. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org and “Ambushed At Srok Dong” by Richard Fournier, VFW Magazine, June/July 2016]

We stand in honor of your life that was given for our freedom.

Even though we have never met I think of you each time I see my mom(you sister) your twin that was not able to grow up and learn from you.