THE WALL OF FACES

Earnest is buried at Golden Gate Cemetery, Houston,TX. PH

Thank you, the words cannot even convey the admiration and appreciation I feel toward you and all who have served our country. You have impacted this world for the better and the impression you have left will be forever remembered.
I am a student at Gridley High School in Gridley, IL and am posting this as part of the Gridley High School Posting Project.

The Wall, Panel 19 West, Lines 116-123

August 26, 1999
30th Anniversary

To Kathleen
Midshipman, USN

The average age of those who served in Vietnam was 19. There will always be a place reserved in my memory for those 38 of my brothers who gave their lives in the line of duty on August 26th, 1969, my own nineteenth birthday. And it is not without regret that I hold special remembrance of my five younger brothers, Don Brown, USA, Jimmie Morris, USMC, Joseph Pinto, USMC, James Shipman, USMC, and Glenn Truex, USMC, who I will always believe went in my place.

There is a place
Not far from here
Where spirits walk
And heroes live
And honor still resides.

It is a wall
With names inscribed
Of those who served
When they were asked...
The brothers of my youth.

I go there still
To walk and think
About my life,
And what I've done since
And things that might have been.

There is a debt
I can't repay
Too many lives were spent.
And one man's life cannot suffice
To make their deaths worthwhile.

But there is hope
In the memory
Of those we leave behind
Who know the price that freedom brings
Who can carry on in kind.

I send you now
To touch a name
So the vision can be passed
Remember there is honor still
It is for you to see it lasts.

They are not dead
And have a wish
As all old soldiers do
The reflection you see before you now
Is their wish to live in you.

Dad