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.

Your sacrifice is not forgotten.

HOOAH

Dear Sp4 Larry Wolpert, Thank you for your service as a Combat Engineer. Saying thank you isn't enough, but it is from the heart. Tomorrow is Valentine's Day, Happy Valentine's. Time passes quickly. Please watch over America, it stills needs your strength, courage, guidance, and faithfulness, especially now. Rest in peace with the angels.

Never forgotten.

HOOAH

During the spring of 1968, the 19th Engineer Battalion was on a mission to upgrade the section of National Highway QL-1 between Bong Son and Duc Pho, RVN. This work was conducted despite harassment by North Vietnamese Army and Viet Cong forces active in the area which frequently mined the road and ambushed engineers. The highway required daily sweeping beginning at daybreak before it could be opened for traffic or road construction. On April 6, 1968, a mine sweep team from C Company, 19th Engineer Battalion, was ambushed on QL-1 seven miles north of Tam Quan in Quang Ngai Province. The 9:15 AM attack began when a command-detonated Claymore mine was discharged on the east side of the highway while an engineer was checking the road shoulder. The blast triggered a fusillade as an estimated fourteen Viet Cong, seven on each side of the roadway, opened fire with small arms, machine gun, and M79 fire. Two armored personnel carriers and ten combat engineers providing security on the sweep returned fire. Gunships were scrambled to the scene to provide support. Three engineers were killed during the attack. They included PFC Robert L. Barker Jr., PFC Michael P. McLaughlin, and SP4 Larry M. Wolpert. Two others were wounded. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org and “19th Engineer Battalion United States Army” at 19engrvn.org]