THE WALL OF FACES

Mike,
I remember the days in the neighborhood, at the playground, playing ball, hide an seek or just fooling around with all the other guys. Kids playing and having fun growing up.

Thank you for your service to our country so long ago sir. The remembrance from Bob Jones is touching. As long as you are remembered you will remain in our hearts forever...

I discovered this site today, and felt the need to share this. Mike and I were the two linguists at Dong Tam, attached to the 2nd brigade of the 9th division. The company decided that one of us should move to Tan An. Mike and I talked about who should go. He offered to move. It could have been me in that jeep that afternoon, something I’ve frequently pondered during the last 53 years.

A group of Viet Nam Vets meet at the wall during the spring thru the Fall and honor someone on the Wall. Micheal is the last person we know of from my home town of Hazleton. We hope to have a short dedication and leave a plaque at the wall in April or May. If anyone would like to have pictures, cards, etc place at the wall please let me know. Michael is not forgotten by those of us who made it home. God Bless his family and give them comfort.

SP5 Michael P. Brown, SGT Diego Ramirez Jr., and SFC Robert D. Taylor served with the 335th Radio Research Company. The Company was attached to the U.S. Army’s 9th Infantry Division and located at Bearcat Base near the village of Long Thanh in Dong Nai Province, RVN. However, Brown, Ramirez, and Taylor formed part of a 335th detachment at Dong Tam Base Camp, home of the 9th Infantry Division’s 2nd Brigade. On November 26, 1967, the three communications specialists were at Bearcat, probably to visit the PX to buy needed incidentals. They remained at the base playing cards with other 335th personnel until late in the day at which point they piled into a jeep for the return to Dong Tam. To attempt the long journey in a single vehicle outside of the Division perimeter in waning daylight was extremely risky. Normally, travel between the bases was performed by convoys with armed escorts and air cover. The gamble the three men took was reckless, and it cost them their lives. While traveling on Highway 4 in the vicinity of Xom Dua, a Viet Cong roadblock stopped or slowed their vehicle. The enemy then sent a rocket-propelled grenade smashing into their jeep. The VC next moved in and opened fire on the doomed Americans. A supply sergeant who was tasked with identifying them afterwards reported that the three Americans were killed by shotgun blasts. There was, however, numerous spent cartridge shells around their vehicle, indicating that the commo soldiers had fought back. The enemy made off with all their equipment and weapons. Their deaths sent shock waves through the 335th, as only one other 335th personnel would suffer a combat-related death in Vietnam. Taylor was posthumously promoted to Master Sergeant. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org, rinaldol.tripod.com, and information provided by Waylon Copeland, Jimmy Sasser, and Herbert Strange (January 2019)]