THE WALL OF FACES

You will forever remain in our hearts and prayers

Wilbet & his family took me as one of the children. THANKS SO MUCH..

Uncle Wilbert,You are my Hero and we miss you.I am also a Vietnam Vet,I understand

Thank you Private Walton for your courage in dangerous times, in a far and dangerous place. A belated welcome home.

In late 1969, PVT Wilbert Walton was court martialed for falling asleep on guard and failure to appear at his post. On January 3, 1970, Walton disappeared from his artillery unit in Quang Tin Province, South Vietnam. Others in the unit speculated that Walton might have disappeared because of a minor incident that had occurred about a month before at the battalion's motor pool. Walton had already been reprimanded once, and may have been apprehensive about future punishment because of this minor incident. No punishment was planned, according to his superiors. For the next month the Army, Walton's parents, and Congressmen tried to locate Wilbert Walton without success. The Army removed him from the rolls in February 1970, and the last notation in his record was that he deserted. The Army can find no record indicating where or by whom Walton was last seen. The Army does not know if Walton was involved in combat, or simply on leave at the time he was lost. One veteran said, "People don't understand what was going on over there. [Walton] could have been snatched off the streets by the Viet Cong. He could have wandered into the wrong village. Categorizing this guy as a deserter was like convicting him without a trial." In 1981, an administrative review was conducted of Walton's case, and it was determined that there was not enough evidence that Walton deserted, and his status was changed to Missing in Action, Presumed Dead. AWOL is not an easily changed status, and Walton's record, after over ten years, is cleared. Wilbert Walton's name was added to the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial in Washington, D.C. on Veteran's Day, 1989. He is listed among roughly 58,000 Americans who lost their lives in Southeast Asia. [Taken from pownetwork.org]