THE WALL OF FACES

Thank you Bill & Frank!!
It's heartbreaking yet wonderful to have gaps filled in regarding my fathers life. I of course have very few actual memories but they are vivid. My loving family told me so many stories of my father that I have such a great understanding & feeling about him. I know I'm the female version of him physically. I also have the treasure of having his voice on tape which I listen to a few times of year. With the magic of technology I now have the recordings in my iTunes!

I found a vintage copy of Boy's Life that has a cartoon depiction of when he saved the boys from drowning that I framed on that page as well as a video of him at that time. I've also have his metals framed. I'm very proud of who he was & what he accomplished in such a short amount of time. I have such respect for you all & only wish you well.

Joseph is buried at Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Hanover, NJ. PH

Joseph T. Tangarie is remembered at the New Jersey Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial and Vietnam Era Educational Center. To learn more search on www.njvvmf.org.

I remember your dad (Joe) so well. We met in Basic Training at Fort Dix, NJ on 11 July 1967 -- Co. A, 4th Battalion. 3rd Training Brigade. We spent a lot of time together during basic and he mentioned you, his daughter, often. I remember running around with him singing "Viet Cong, Viet Cong, Breakfast of Champions Alpha Alpha We Will." It all seems so very silly now.

Because we roomed by the first letter of our last names, he was just across the hall and he, together with my room mate Gerry Timmerman, both volunteered for airborne. They tried to get me to go with them, but I was not about to jump out of a "perfectly good working airplane," so I said I'd take my chances and say my prayers for a stateside or European assignment. I heard that Gerry lost both of his legs some time after your dad was killed, but I could never get up the courage to look him up and confirm it.

On the night following graduation from basic training, we all got our orders. Your Dad and Gerry were going to Ft. Bragg to jump school and I to Advanced Infantry training at Fort Polk, LA which was the one assignment everyone dreaded, because there was only one place to go from there..Vietnam. As I was packing to leave your dad and Gerry both helped me. The told me how much they were worried about me and both asked me to take care of myself. The next morning I was the first to leave so they helped me carry my gear to the pickup point and waited with me. That was the last time I saw either of them.

Somewhere I have an 8mm movie of your Dad showing him marching in the graduation parade. For some reason his picture is not in the "year book" but he appears in several photo's. I remember that he had taken an emergency leave so he may not have been there when "class" pictures were taken.

I served with Co. A 2/35th, 4th Inf. Division in Vietnam and was wounded in action on 6 January 1968. I'll never forget, I was in Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington, DC when my Mom sent me the front page of the paper with your Dad's picture. It hit me very hard.

After I was discharged I went back to work at the Prudential Insurance Company in Newark, NJ, knowing that his father, your grandfather, worked in the Food Service Division at the same company, but I just could not bring myself to go and see him. Seven years later I learned I was being transferred out of Newark, so the week before I left I bought a bottle of something or other to hide behind and I got up the nerve to go and find your grandfather. When I arrived at the cafeteria facility I asked for him and someone pointed him out. As I walked up to him the lump in my throat began to grow. All I remember of our meeting was my saying, "Mr. Tangarie? Hi! My name is Bill Vosseler and I was in the army with your son J...." After that, with tears in both our eyes, I don't remember being able to utter another word. At least I can't recall anything else we were able to say to one another. I do remember that, even though there were many people busy cooking and banging pots and pans when I arrived, it suddenly became so quiet that you could hear a heartbeat. I never saw your grandfather again.

Anyway, I just wanted you to know that your dad was a great guy, I miss him and I think of him often. I hope you've grown up knowing about him and I hope you know just how much he loved you.

Bill Vosseler, Horsham PA (from Elizabeth, NJ)

We last talked on Feb.27, 1968 when your son/daughter was born,the same day as my daughter. That was at Beth Israel Hospital in Newark NJ. You will always be remembered Joe,I've been to the NJ Vietnam Memorial many times. Rest In Peace