THE WALL OF FACES

On the remembrance of your birthday, your sacrifice is not forgotten.

HOOAH

Bob was a Very Strong yet Very Kind Person, very smart and very well liked by everyone who knew him. I always looked up to him and was also friends with two of his younger brothers Glenn and Ronnie, who were also terrific young men. All of the Stebner brothers stuck together and were strong, muscular, and well respected in the small farming community we lived in. Everyone knew that you better not mess with one of them or they would all be coming after you! He was a member of the Beta Club, and always willing to help out and give you a hand. He graduated in 1966, two years ahead of me. He drove his brothers to school in the family's black 1958? Edsel. In high school, whenever my old car was broken down, he would go out of his way to pick me and bring me home after school(often with a frequent stop for a Cherry Coke or strawberry milkshake at the soda fountain inside Thompson's Drug Store at The Plaza. I have been to the Vietnam Memorial in Washington twice, after have traced his name while shedding many tears. Thank You! Bob for being an AMAZING Person and making the Ultimate Sacrifice for your country and us! Larry Bartow, Tampa, Florida

On September 2, 1967, an eastbound convoy of 90 trucks of the 523rd Transportation Company was returning to An Khe from Pleiku under the protection of only two gun jeeps with M- 60 machine guns. Convoy drivers were lightly armed with rifles and only four or five 20 round-magazines of ammunition. At 1855 hours that evening, as the convoy snaked around a series of curves along highway QL-19, an NVA company struck the convoy. They disabled the lead gun jeep with a 57mm recoilless rifle round and detonated a claymore mine mounted on sticks level with the driver’s head. Simultaneously, the enemy immobilized a tanker truck in the convoy and trapped the lead convoy. Mines on boards placed across the road were detonated in front of the next three trucks behind disabled lead jeep. They also sprung a secondary ambush on the other half of the convoy, setting a tanker on fire. An estimated 60 to 80 enemy soldiers dug in about 30 yards up a hill began firing down on the trucks. Reinforcements, helicopter gunships, and the late arrival of a C-47 “Spooky” gunship would relieve pressure on the besieged convoy. A total of eight Americans were killed in the ambush, including SP5 James M. Bagshaw, SSGT Claude L. Collins, PFC Roy L. Greensage, PFC William A. Gunter Jr., PFC Lloyd R. Hughey, PFC Arthur W. Reinhardt, SP4 Ronald W. Simmons, and PFC Robert L. Stebner Jr. Seventeen other Americans were wounded. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org and vietnam-guntrucks.com]

The war may be forgotten but the warrior will always be remembered !!!! All gave Some-Some gave All. Rest in peace Robert. :-(

MY DAD, JAMES ANTHONY CELESTINO, CREDITS AND HONORS YOU FOR SAVING HIS LIFE. YOU AND MY DAD WERE PARTNERS IN THE TRANSPORT TRUCK WHEN YOU WERE AMBUSHED. I WILL QUOTE A PLAQUE MY DAD HAD MADE IN YOUR HONOR...

"DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF A FRIEND P.F.C. JAMES ROBERT STEBNER. AS HE LAY MORTALLY WOUNDED, I COULD HEAR HIS LIFE SLIPPING AWAY. HIS BODY PARTIALLY SHIELDING MINE FROM CERTAIN DEATH OF AN ADVANCING ENEMY AND A ROUND FIRED AT POINT BLANK RANGE FROM AN AK47 RIFLE. FOR THIS FINAL ACT OF HIS LIFE I OBSERVE HIS MEMORY."

MY DAD WAS THE PROUD FATHER OF 5 CHILDREN MARK, BARBARA, JAMES, DEANNA, & MICHAEL. HE WAS HAPPILY MARRIED TO MY MOM, JEAN SINCE 1968. MY DAD RECENTLY PASSED AWAY ON JULY 18, 2013 AND WAS BURIED AT ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY.

ON BEHALF OF MY DAD AND THE ENTIRE CELESTINO FAMILY, THANK YOU FOR YOUR FINAL ACT OF BRAVERY AND AS A RESULT, MY DAD'S LIFE WAS SPARED ON THAT FATEFUL DAY SEPTEMBER 2, 1967.

IM SURE BY NOW, MY DAD HAS FOUND YOU IN HEAVEN TO THANK YOU PERSONALLY MY FRIEND.

REST IN PEACE FOREVER SOLDIER

ETERNALLY GRATEFUL,

MIKE CELESTINO