THE WALL OF FACES

Thank you for your service and I honor your bravery in the war.

Operation Shenandoah II was a security operation from September 29 to November 19, 1967, conducted by the U.S. Army’s 1st and 3rd Brigades, 1st Infantry Division, to secure and repair Highway QL-13 and cut enemy infiltration routes into III Corps from Cambodia. On the eighth day of the operation, the 3rd Brigade's 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment moved to a firebase northeast of Loc Ninh in Binh Long Province, RVN, and began probing east towards where the Viet Cong 272nd Regiment was believed in the area. The following morning, November 7th, with Company A remaining to guard the firebase, the rest of 1/26 Infantry left to patrol a dirt road bordered by a rubber plantation near Srok Rung, five miles northeast of Loc Ninh. At 1:05 PM, the column entered the rubber trees and chased some enemy combatants into a U-shaped ambush. Camouflaged North Vietnamese Army (NVA) soldiers were hidden high in trees and in ground-level brush. Their initial barrage of rocket-propelled grenades killed the entire 1/26 command element, including Battalion Commander LTC Arthur D. Stigall, and disabled most of their radios. On the road, small arms and machine gun fire raked the rest of the column. Eighteen Americans were killed and twenty-two were wounded; a Vietnamese interpreter was also killed. Company D, at the rear of the column, maneuvered to prevent the NVA from outflanking them. Its commander assumed temporary command of the battalion, calling in air and artillery strikes to cover the unit as it withdrew to a more defensible position. After an hour of fighting, the NVA broke contact. The lost Americans included Stigall (posthumously awarded Distinguished Service Cross and promoted to Colonel), PFC Larry C. Banks, SP4 Lawrence W. Barkley, SP4 Billie J. Barnett Jr., SP4 James R. Brown, PFC Walter C. Bunyea Jr., PSG George D. Clayton (posthumously awarded Silver Star medal), CPT Michael D. Cochran, SP4 John R. Ensell, 1LT Terry A. Hendricks (posthumously awarded Bronze Star medal), SGT Charles E. Long, SGT Ronald H. Payne (posthumously awarded Bronze Star medal), 1SG Pascal C. Poolaw Sr. (posthumously awarded Silver Star medal), PFC Ronald G. Stoltenow, SP4 Robert F. Stryker (posthumously awarded Medal of Honor), SP4 Clarence L. Shaw, (posthumously awarded Distinguished Service Cross), SP4 Larry E. Turner, and SP4 John E. Young. Enemy dead was reported at sixty-six (by body count). [Taken from virtualwall.org and “ARMY 1967 1st Brigade 1st Infantry Div AAR” at ttu.edu]

Thank you for your service to our country so long ago sir. The remembrance from Dave Gilmer is especially poignant. As long as you are remembered you will always be with us....

Dear PFC Walter Bunyea,
Thank you for your service as an Infantryman. It is important for us all to acknowledge the sacrifices of those like you who answered our nation's call. Please watch over America, it stills needs your courage and faithfulness. Rest in peace with the angels.

Cliff, I have been thinking this Independence Day weekend of the sacrifices made by very good people like you. Looking back on what would have been your 50th Reunion at LCHS last October, it again strikes me that I knew it was missing something - your courteous, grinning presence. Rest in peace.