THE WALL OF FACES

Dear PFC Terry Smith, Thank you for your service as a Rifleman. Your 74th birthday just passed, and so did your 54th anniversary, sad. Saying thank you isn't enough, but it is from the heart. Spring has begun, and it's 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.

Terry, you are not forgotten. We always pay our respects to you the the North Carolina Vietnam Veterans Memorial. I was from the same area in NC. I have been to The Wall in DC. We paid our respects and etched your name there too. During Desert Storm, I was out of work. One day I was able to volunteer service during the construction of the NC Memorial. Glad I was able to serve you.

Private First Class Terry Cleveland Smith, Served with Company M, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, Third Marine Amphibious Force.

There is a personal account for this incident by Jerry Lomax, 3rd Bn/5th Marines, M Co.: “On March 29, 1968, Mike Company crossed a small river in Thua Thien Province while on patrol. Normally, the first thing I do is go to the nearest water hole if I know one is around. I remember I was so tired that I just plopped down. A couple of minutes later, I heard a loud explosion just a few yards from where I was. A command detonated claymore aimed near the water spring had been activated. It came from a gook on the hill overlooking the water. One of the closest friends I had at that time was PFC Terry C. Smith from North Carolina. He had just taken two pictures a couple of minutes before and then went to the water hole with some other guys. The claymore killed three (PFC Smith, PFC Nathaniel Willingham, and LCPL Thomas C. Henry) and wounded three others. It took me a bunch of days to get over what I saw at that water hole. I will never forget. It's the first memory that I have when I look at the two pictures that Terry took just before it happened.” [Taken from togetherweserved.com]