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.

Sp4 Amos Watson served with me in the 92nd Engineer Bn (Construction) at Fort Bragg until 1964. His loss in 1965 struck hard at all of us. His photo here is how I remember his sense of humor. In one IG inspection, the Deputy IG, Major Cordova, noted Watson's Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal, and then pointed to his own. That became a very favorable inspection!

Dear Sp4 Amos Watson, Thank you for your service as a Radio Operator. Saying thank you isn't enough, but it is from the heart. Happy Veterans’ Day. Time passes quickly. Please watch over America, it stills needs your strength, courage, guidance, and faithfulness, especially now. Rest in peace with the angels.

On May 11, 1965, a large Viet Cong main-force unit of approximately 2500 combatants attacked Song Be, the provincial capital of Phuoc Long Province, RVN. After two days of heavy fighting in and around the town, the Viet Cong withdraw back across the border into Cambodia. A Special Forces’ camp established on a nearby hill a month earlier was assaulted, resulting in the deaths of five Americans. Two of the soldiers were from the Special Forces and three were from MACV's Special Detachment 5891. The two Special Forces personnel were SSGT Horace E. Young and SP4 Johnie K. Culbreath, both from Detachment B-34 (Song Be), 5th Special Forces Group. The MACV advisors were CPT Henry A. Deutsch, SSGT William D. Benning, and SP4 Amos C. Watson. Thirteen other advisors were wounded in the battle. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org and various web sources]

Not really a rememberance but a clarification on the comment about Carlton,s Marine Corp medal. Carlton, who happened to be my first cousin, was in the Marine for one tour and returned home after discharge. He could not find any thing that satisfied him he joined the U S Army