THE WALL OF FACES

The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotions and spends himself in a great worthy cause; who at the best, knows in the end triumph of high achievement and, at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while caring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold, timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat. Theodore Roosevelt

Dear Msgt Ben Snowden, Thank you for your service as a Special Forces Qualified Infantry Operations & Intelligence Specialist. Saying thank you isn't enough, but it is from the heart. It is Spring , and 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.

In April 1967 MACSOG was ordered to commence Operation Daniel Boone, a cross-border recon effort in Cambodia. On June 15, 1967, MSGT Ben D. Snowden was part of a SOG Team being extracted from a comprised Daniel Boone mission. When the extraction craft, an H-34 Kingbee of the South Vietnamese 219th Helicopter Squadron, lifted off with the SOG team, an NVA machine gun opened fire. The helicopter rocked groggily back and forth but somehow lifted away. The Kingbee made it back to SOG’s Dak To launch site, where riddled with sixty-eight bullet holes, its engine failed and it crashed into a ditch. MSGT Snowden was fatally wounded by nine of the 68 bullets that struck the helicopter. In memory of the first man lost in Daniel Boone, SOG named their new recon company office at Kontum Snowden Hall. [Taken from the book Secret Green Beret Commandos in Cambodia by Fred S. Lindsey]

Dear MSGT Ben David Snowden, 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, Sir

Curt Carter

Rest in peace with the warriors.