THE WALL OF FACES

Do not stand at my grave and weep
I am not there. I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning's hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry;
I am not there. I did not die.

Private Sheldon Don Bowler, Served with the 90th Replacement Battalion, United States Army Vietnam.

On November 22, 1967, a U.S. Army DeHavilland U-1A Otter (#57-6119) fixed-wing aircraft from the 54th Aviation Company crashed and burned on takeoff from runway east at Long Binh Army Airfield in Bien Hoa Province, RVN. The accident occurred as the Otter was leaving the airstrip when it hit a cable that was strung on a crane next to the runway. The pilot lost control of the plane and crashed. Personnel nearby heard the crash and came running, but the would-be rescuers had trouble approaching the wreck as it was totally engulfed. A total of nine U.S. personnel would die as a result of this accident. SP4 Thomas B. Allen, the crew chief on the flight, died in the crash along with passengers PVT Sheldon D. Bowler, PFC Marshall F. Freng, PFC Steven P. Morse, and PVT Allyson Y. Sasaki. Two other passengers, SP4 Woodrow D. Adler, a courier for Headquarters & Headquarters Company (HHC), 222nd Aviation Battalion, and PFC David L. Tasker, died four days later from burns they suffered in the accident. Military records regarding this incident listed two persons as the pilot of the aircraft. One of them, CW2 David A. Kreitzer, is the probable pilot as he served with the 54th Aviation Company and reportedly flew U-1 Otters during his first tour of Vietnam. Kreitzer succumbed on December 2, 1967, to burn injuries he suffered in the crash. The second pilot listed, MAJ Larry G. Powell, was a rotary wing (helicopter) pilot from the 45th Medical Company. Powell reportedly died after being evacuated to the U.S. Military burn unit at the 106th General Hospital in Yokohama, Japan. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org, vvmf.org, and thewall-usa.com, and information provided by Don Yaxley (May 2018)]

DEAR PRIVATE BOWLER,
I AM SO SORRY, YOU WERE AN INFANTRYMAN, AND YOUR SACRIFICE IS APPRECIATED AND HONORED.

DEAR CAPTAIN BOWLER,
THANKS FOR YOUR SERVICE AS A FIELD ARTILLERY UNIT COMMANDER. MONDAY WAS THE 42ND ANNIVERSARY OF THE MAYAQUEZ INCIDENT - THE LAST BIG BATTLE OF THE WAR BIG SIGH. IT HAS BEEN FAR TOO LONG FOR ALL OF YOU TO HAVE BEEN GONE. WE APPRECIATE ALL YOU HAVE DONE, AND YOUR SACRIFICE. WATCH OVER THE U.S.A., IT STILL NEEDS YOUR COURAGE. GOD BLESS YOU. MAY THE ANGELS BE AT YOUR SIDE. REST IN PEACE. YOU ARE ALL IN OUR PRAYERS.