THE WALL OF FACES

I was given a p o w bracelet with your name on it in the 70s. Every time I go to the wall I find your name I make a rubbing and I bring it home. I keep searching to see if you've ever been found and brought home. Even though I don't know you I believe in my heart you watch over me and my family and you're not forgot buy me. When I passed from this life to the next I will be wearing your bracelet. My heartfelt sympathies go out to your friends and family who knew you and who loved you.

Dear Ssgt Michael Burke,
Thank you for your service as a Rifleman. You are still MIA.
PLEASE COME HOME - YOU ARE NEEDED HERE.
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. Be at peace with the angels.

LCPL Michael J. Burke, PFC Leonard J. Lewandowski Jr. and PFC Richard E. Mishuk were assigned to Company D, 1st Battalion, 4th Marines in Vietnam. On October 19, 1966, their Marine Corps unit was operating in northern Quang Nam Province about 15 miles northwest of Da Nang when the three men went missing. Oddly, USMC notations indicate that the three were swimming near the Cua Viet River when they were last seen, yet the incident is considered battle-related. No one saw them drown or die; if they were captured, no one witnessed it. The men were classified Missing in Action, and their families waited for word. The Burke family spoke with a member of the 1st Marines who was part of a search party for the three. They were told that the unit tracked their son for three months as the Viet Cong moved him from village to village. The Mishuk family was told by Marine officials that it was "unusual to find no bodies at all if all three drowned." When American prisoners were released 6 1/2 years later, the Burke, Lewandowski and Mishuk families were heartbroken that their sons were among them. Military authorities at the time were shocked that hundreds known or suspected prisoners of war were not released. No information ever surfaced on the fates of Burke, Lewandowski and Mishuk. [Taken from pownetwork.org]

God bless your family, and although I don't wear it daily, I have your bracelet and get it out from time to time. Thank you for your service, and bless you on this day of reflection.

Semper Fi, Staff Sergeant.