THE WALL OF FACES

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning,
We will remember them.

On Memorial Day 1966 (May 29, 1966), 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines, were conducting squad- and platoon-sized patrols, sweeping villages just south of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) in Thua Thien Province, RVN. A platoon from Golf Company had just finished a couple days of patrolling in a village east of the Battalion temporary Command Post Headquarters located along Highway 1 just north of Hue. They radioed another Golf Company platoon relieving them of North Vietnamese Army activity in the area, referring to a fire mission they had called in that morning which resulted in several enemy killed. The other platoon rogered the intel and the relieved Marines moved on to Battalion CP. About the time they arrived, the Battalion net erupted with radio calls of contact. They could hear mortar and machine gun fire coming from the village. Evidently, a large group of NVA set up a giant, horseshoe-shaped ambush in and around the village. When the Marine platoon got in the middle of the kill zone, the NVA opened fire from three sides. The results were devastating. Twenty Marines and a Navy corpsman were killed. A reaction force sent to the scene found numerous NVA machine gun cartridges and different firing positions around the village, indicating a sizeable and strong force. After the ambush, the enemy slipped away during the mass confusion. The lost Marines included PFC David B. Brandon Jr., PFC Gordon M. Briggs, PFC James W. Briles, PFC Thomas W. Britton Jr., LCPL Robert A. Corkill, LCPL Richard E. Crowe, LCPL James R. Heath, LCPL Billy J. Holt, PFC David W. Johnston, SSGT James J. MacKenna, PFC R.B. Marchbanks Jr., LCPL Jerry L. Noland, PFC Ernest G. Paul, PFC Ronald Ralich, PVT Roy J. Richard, PFC Edward C. Sexton, SSGT Walter B. Stevens, PFC James H. Stewart Jr., LCPL Charles E. Walker, and CPL Kenneth W. Wickel; the lost Navyman was HM Aldon M. Asherman Jr. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org and information provided by Danny M. Francis (May 2019) at two1marines.blogspot.com]

Dear PFC Gordon Briggs,
Thank you for your service as a Rifleman. Semper Fi. This is Independence Day weekend, and it is important for us all to acknowledge the sacrifices of those like you who answered our nation's call. Please watch over America, it stills needs your courage and faithfulness. Rest in peace with the angels.

Semper Fidelis, Marine.

Mike I was at your house when you told me you were going into the Corps, I told you to CYA! we met when attending SJA. The last time I saw you you were in your Dress blues at Auburn! Next I heard you were KIA and having a Service at Green Lake Church!
Semper Fi, you are not forgotten! your friend Ken, USN medically Retired