THE WALL OF FACES

There is a place
Not far from here
Where spirits walk
And heroes live
And honor still resides.

It is a wall
With names inscribed
Of those who served
When they were asked...
The brothers of my youth.

I go there still
To walk and think
About my life,
And what I've done since
And things that might have been.

There is a debt
I can't repay
Too many lives were spent.
And one man's life cannot suffice
To make their deaths worthwhile.

But there is hope
In the memory
Of those we leave behind
Who know the price that freedom brings
Who can carry on in kind.

I send you now
To touch a name
So the vision can be passed
Remember there is honor still
It is for you to see it lasts.

They are not dead
And have a wish
As all old soldiers do
The reflection you see before you now
Is their wish to live in you.

Dear Cap Robert Walden, Thank you for your service as an Infantry Unit Commander. I researched you days before your 80th birthday, happy birthday. Saying thank you isn't enough, but it is from the heart . Halloween is soon. 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 knew Bob in Germany on both of our first permanent assignments/deployments as young lieutenants in early 1965. We served in a Field Artillery battalion. Our wives were very close friends. Bob was one of the most enthusiastic and dedicated officers I served with in my 21 years in the Army. He wanted so much to be in the Infantry - but the Army, for reasons I never understood, assigned him to Ordnance. BUT - all Regular Army officers at that time were required to spend their first two years in one of the combat arms. You would think they would have assigned him to an Infantry unit. Nope - they assigned him to a Field Artillery unit. Go figure. After serving his required time in the FA, he was reassigned to a maintenance unit in Germany. Then Vietnam began and changed everything. Finally he was able to transfer to the Infantry. At the time of his death, I was teaching ROTC at Purdue. We got a call from his wife in the middle of the night telling us the dreadful news. I had worked with the wives of several KIAs and knew how the "system" worked, and I explained as best I could what she should expect. It is never easy, but it was harder on her than most for reasons I won't go into. I know a little about how and why he was died, and those circumstances haunt me to this day - but knowing Bob, he did what I would have expected him to do. A life truly lost for no reason. As I read the remembrances from his soldiers, they are exactly what I expected. They respected and trusted him as a combat leader - and I think loved him too! I "visit" him every time I am in DC, most recently on an Honor Flight in May of this year. May he rest in peace.

You were one of the brave that answered the call. You honored us by your service and sacrifice. We now honor you each time we stand and sing the words “THE LAND OF THE FREE AND THE HOME OF THE BRAVE”. Rest in Peace and Honor Robert.

The day he was wounded is burned into my memory. My best friend and track driver Joseph Pilotte was also wounded in the same explosion. "Sweet P", died in the helicopter shortly after being evacuated. I had assisted the medic with a tracheotomy on "P". Captain Walden died two days later. I never served under a better officer. He new how to take care of his men. I miss you sir and think of you often. Respectfully, Ray.