THE WALL OF FACES

EN3 Daniel L. Westlie was an Engineman serving on Armored Troop Carrier 91-1 (ATC-91-1), River Assault Squadron 9, Task Force 117 (TF-117), U.S. Naval Forces Vietnam. On the early morning of January 10, 1969, Westlie was with shipmates on a flightdeck of a vessel moored alongside his own ship at the Dong Tam port on the My Tho River, eight kilometers (4.8 miles) west of My Tho in Dinh Tuong Province, RVN. At approximately 2:00 AM, he was observed climbing over the forward end of the flightdeck, presumably to step over to the bow of his own boat. He was not seen again. It was assumed that in moving between the boats, he lost his balance and fell into the My Tho. His absence was noted at 2:30 AM when the boats got underway to clear the side for loading troops from the barracks ship USS Benewah (APB-35). An extensive search was conducted in the vicinity of the boats and along the river with negative results. Searching continued until the morning of January 12th when Westlie’s body was recovered. A memorial service was performed the same day attended by his shipmates. He was 21 years old. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org]

Image courtesy of Redbird Research LLC, Saint Charles, MO.

A butterfly lights beside us like a sunbeam
And for a brief moment its glory
and beauty belong to our world
But then it flies again
And though we wish it could have stayed...
We feel lucky to have seen it.

Taken from the Augusta Times (Augusta, WI), January 30, 1969, courtesy of Samma at the Augusta Memorial Public Library, Augusta WI.

Petty Officer Third Class Daniel Lee Westlie, Served aboard Armored Troop Carrier 91-1 (ATC-91-1), River Assault Squadron 9 (RIVRON-9), Task Force 117 (TF-117), United States Naval Forces Vietnam (USNAVFORV).