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.

Dear Cap William Van Antwerp, Thank you for your service as a Basic Officer. Tomorrow is your 55th anniversary, sad. Saying thank you isn't enough, but it is from the heart. It is the end of summer. Time passes quickly. Please watch over America, it still needs your strength, courage, guidance and faithfulness, especially now. Rest in peace with the angels.

I was with Capt. Vanantwerp, the day he and Harlan Rilk gave their lives for freedom. I was badly wounded just before they died, he was my CO. Semper Fi. Brothers.

Operation Ballistic Charge was a 1st Battalion, 3rd Marines operation conducted in Quang Nam and Quang Tin Provinces, RVN, during September 16-28, 1967. The mission was supported by the 3rd Amphibian Tractor Battalion, 1st Marine Division (Reinforced). Early in the morning of the first day of the operation, amphibious armored fighting vehicles from 3rd Amphibian Tractor Battalion were moving from their base camp to a rendezvous point when the lead tractor, an LVTP-5 (3-B-41) detonated a mine and became engulfed in flames near the hamlet of Ngan Cau (1), four miles north of Dien Ban. Personnel from LVTP-5 (3-B-44) accompanying the disabled tractor dismounted and assisted three wounded Marines and set up security. While redirecting the convoy of the remaining twenty-two tractors around the disabled tractor, one of the dismounted Marines, CPL Harlan C. Rilk, detonated a second mine. He was killed instantly by the blast. The explosion spread metal fragments throughout the area, mortally wounding the Commanding Officer of Company B, Third Amphibian Tractor Battalion, CAPT William M. Van Antwerp Jr., in the right chest, both arms, and left leg. A third Marine was also wounded. Both Rilk and Van Antwerp were posthumously awarded the Silver Star medal. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org and Command Chronology, 3rd Amphibian Tractor Battalion, September 1967 at ttu.edu]

Thank you dad for your courage and dedication. We think about you every day.