THE WALL OF FACES

SEMPER FI

Never forgotten.

HOOAH

Operation Washington Green was a security and pacification mission conducted by the 173rd Airborne Brigade in Binh Dinh Province, RVN. The mission included extensive cordon and search operations and active night patrolling to degrade the Viet Cong (VC) infrastructure. The task force included B/1-503rd Infantry in performing tactical operations. Near midnight on May 31, 1969, a five-man patrol from Third Platoon, B/1-503rd departed a patrol base on Hill 81 near LZ Uplift to conduct a prisoner snatch in a nearby VC-controlled hamlet. Covering the three-mile distance required traversing a deep stream in a 12-foot-long sampan. In the hamlet, the Platoon Leader (PL) and the Squad Leader entered a hooch believed to be the village chief’s where they found a VC suspect asleep. They attempted to detain the man, but he became combative, and after a brief struggle, escaped into the darkness. The commotion aroused the village, and several VC were seen fleeing the area. The patrol opened fire and eventually four suspects were detained. Before exiting, an adjacent village chief brought two women to the patrol who had been wounded by the gunfire. The Americans called a medivac, and the two patients were extracted by helicopter. With the sun now up, they returned to the river crossing with their four prisoners and began recrossing the waterway. They had almost reached the far bank when they began receiving automatic weapons fire. Rounds struck all around the sampan, striking two squad members and killing all four detainees. The Americans dove into the water where several soldiers lost their M16 rifle except the PL who returned fire and drove the attacker off. One squad member was hit in the ankle, and the other, PFC William L. Alexander, sustained a sucking chest wound, his last words, “I’m, hit! I’m hit!” The squad had difficulty requesting help as the radio went in the river with other equipment; eventually, they got it functioning, and a medivac arrived as did a small reaction force patrolling nearby. Despite efforts to help him, Alexander was dead on arrival at LZ Uplift. Some men reentered the water, and after a brief search, all four missing rifles were recovered. The patrol and reaction force then returned together to Hill 81. A few weeks later, a memorial service was held at LZ Uplift in Alexander’s honor. He was posthumously promoted to Corporal. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org and information provided by Fred Carlson (September 2022)]

In the motion picture "The Trial of the Chicago 7," at 45:09 into the film, your name is displayed in honor of the fallen soldiers that served in Vietnam. I am a soldier. I am from your home town of Flint, Michigan. You are remembered.

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 sun 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.

As long as you are remembered you will never truly die....