THE WALL OF FACES

"The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again, who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause; who at best, knows the triumph of high achievement; and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat."
-Theodore Roosevelt, "Citizen in a Republic", April 23, 1910

Private Gary Charles Allen was the son of Mary R. Tyler of Pleasant Hill, CA and William I. Allen Jr. With his Twin brother Larry and older brother William, he left school to enlist in the Marine Corps in 1963. Gary had been active in Concord Boy Scouts and was a Varsity Guard on the Pleasant Hill High School Football team. Pvt Allen was a Marine Rifleman, age 20, born December 22, 1945, from Pleasant Hill, CA. Pvt Allen arrived in Vietnam and with Golf Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division (Rein), III MAF, FMF Pac. On March 4, Operation UTAH was launched under the command of Task Force Delta in the Son Thinh District of Quang Ngai Province where the Marines would encounter elements of the 21st NVA Regiment. On D-day 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines conducted a helicopter assault near the Chau Ngai complex of villages and was heavily engaged with a regiment of NVA regulars near Hill 50 and Hill 35. Elements of F Company and H Company were overrun but were able to recover and consolidate to a night position near Chau Ngai 4. By the end of D-Day, 2/7 counted 94 enemy KIA and estimated 63 WIA. Friendly losses were 44 KIA and 84 WIA. An additional 20+ persons received minor wounds and were not evacuated. The next day, 5 March, the battle moved to the North and 2/7 cleaned up the battlefields from the day before, recovering the dead, and clearing out caves and bunkers. On March 4, 1966, Pvt Allen was killed in action from multiple fragmentation wounds from an enemy explosive device. Pvt Allen is interred at Queen of Heaven Cemetery, Lafayette, Contra Costa County, California and is honored on the Vietnam Memorial on Panel 05E, Line 097.

Semper Fidelis PVT. Allen, rest in peace.

Private Gary Charles Allen, Served with Company G, 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, Third Marine Amphibious Force.

Thank you for your service and your sacrifice. Thank you for stepping up and answering your country's call. Rest easy knowing you will never be forgotten.