THE WALL OF FACES

PFC John Burns is buried at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery in San Diego, California.

Private First Class John Patrick Burns, Served with Company B, 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, Third Marine Amphibious Force.

Do not stand at my grave and weep
I am not there; I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow,
I am the diamond glints on snow,
I am the sun on ripened grain,
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning's hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry,
I am not there; I did not die.

As long as you are remembered you will always be with us....

May this remembrance find you in the eternal Holy Kingdom of our Lord.

On July 7, 1965, an element Company B, 1st Battalion, 3rd Marines, 3rd Marine Division, was conducting a combat patrol in an area three miles southwest of the Tuy Loan Bridge in Quang Nam Province, RVN. The patrol groups departed their previous night’s ambush sites at 6:25 AM and proceeded to the hamlet of Khuong My (2). There they conducted search and clear operations through the village and surrounding area. After clearing the area with negative results, they moved on. Later, while the point fire team was securing a stream for the remainder of the patrol to fill their canteens, a command-detonated explosive charge erupted. One Marine, rifleman PFC John P. Burns, was killed and three others were wounded. A wire found at the point of detonation was followed approximately 60 yards through brush on the south edge of the stream and terminated at a hiding place under overhanging vegetation which gave evidence of being occupied. A later assessment of the ambush site determined that the stream had often been used by friendly forces which was noticed by the Viet Cong and made the crossing point vulnerable to mining. After the helicopter evacuation of the four Marines, the patrol continued and settled at a distant location. After nightfall, they established four overnight ambush sites. Two days after the incident, one of the critically wounded Marines, rifleman PFC Marshall D. Holman, died at the U.S. Naval Hospital in the Philippines where he had been medically evacuated. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org and 1st Battalion, 3rd Marines Command Diary, July 1965]