THE WALL OF FACES

Cleveland was a dude at 8 years old. We had quite a neighborhood of young boys and Cleve stands out in my mind as one special person. I still miss him.

Met Cleave at Ft. Riley after commissioned a 2nd Lt. at Ft. Benning. My wife and I became friends with Cleave and his wife for 5 months before getting orders to go to Viet Nam. Ran into Cleave in Ben Wa army base just after Xmas 1969. Cleave and I and Tom Postema, a friend of mine from OCS, went to a chineese restaurant for dinner on New Years Eve. I have a picture of the 3 of us I would like to add, if I can find it. My wife ent to his funeral in MA. I was still in Viet Nam until July 1970. I found his name on the Viet Nam Wall in Washington DC.

Thank you for your service to our country so long ago sir. The remembrance from Ron Sines is especially poignant. May you rest in eternal peace.

Fire Support Base Illingworth was a U.S. Army firebase located twenty-one miles northwest of Tay Ninh, approximately three miles from the Cambodian border. On April 1, 1970, the base was occupied by Companies C and E, 2nd Battalion, 8th Cavalry; B Battery, 5th Battalion, 2nd Artillery; A Battery, 1st Battalion, 30th Artillery; A Battery, 2nd Battalion, 32nd Artillery; and B Battery, 1st Battalion, 77th Artillery, comprising roughly 220 men. Ground surveillance radar detected strong movement outside the perimeter right before midnight, and at approximately 2:17 AM the North Vietnamese Army began pounding the base with over 300 rounds of mixed 122mm and 107mm rockets, 120mm, 82mm, and 60mm mortars, and 75mm recoilless rifle and B-40 rocket-propelled grenade rounds. Illingworth was then assaulted by a force of over 400 troops from the southwest. The enemy was engaged with unit weapons, artillery, aerial rocket artillery, night-illuminated “Nighthawk” attack helicopter sorties, and other air support. Fighting was fierce, particularly on the southwest portion of the firebase where friendly forces engaged the enemy in hand-to-hand combat in order to repel the assault. During the attack, an ammunition dump containing over 190 rounds of 8” ammunition exploded in a tremendous blast, destroying an 8” artillery gun and damaging radio antennas, rendering a temporary loss of communication. At 3:30 AM, the base was still receiving mortar and rocket fire although the ground attack had been broken. All incoming fire ceased at 4:30 AM, and search operations began. The attack resulted in twenty-five U.S. killed and fifty-eight wounded. The lost Americans included CPL Bobby L. Barker, PFC Thomas R. Bowen, CPT Cleaveland F. Bridgman, CPL Billy P. Carlisle, SSG Benjamin V. Childress Jr., SGT David G. Dragosavac, CPL Leroy J. Fasching, SGT Syriac Hebert Jr., SGT Robert A. Hill, SGT Kenneth R. Hodge, SGT Robert H. Lane Jr., SP4 David H. Lassen, CPL Nathan J. Mann, PFC Roger J. McInerny Jr., SP4 Thomas J. Murphy, CPL Michael R. Patterson, SGT Sidney E. Plattenburger, SGT Gerald W. Purdon, SP4 Terry L. Schell, CPL Klaus D. Schlieben, CPL John L. Smith, SGT Brent A. Street, SSG Lawrence E. Sutton, SGT Casey O. Waller, and SSG Steven J. Williams. Sixty-five NVA were killed and numerous weapons and equipment were captured. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org and “Operational Report, Lessons Learned 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) for the Period Ending 30 April 1970” at ttu.edu]

Cleve, I remember you so well
Waiting every spring for your summer return.Baseball with your brothers in your yard. I will always remember you. I will never forget you