THE WALL OF FACES

I met Butler, that's what we called him, in viet nam. We used to hooch together from time to time. In the jungles of viet nam you are close both physically and mentally, after awhile you begin to function as a unit completely intuned with one another. When we would pull guard duty at night with 3 soldiers to a fox hole pulling one hour shifts, when you left the hole to wake up your relief you wouldn't even have to touch him, just stand outside his hooch and he would come out. We were connected.
It was hot in viet nam and Butler was from Dallas where it gets hot but evidently not has hot as it got there because when he would describe how hot it was he would have you laughing hard enough to pee on yourself. Nobody could say it's hot the way he could. He created nick names for individuals, my name is tronshaw and from time to time he would call me tromashit, tonashit, or just troma. He was a riot, he made time in the jungle tolerable. If he was in a bad mood, which was seldom, the squad just wasn't the same. I loved him. I was in cam ranh bay being treated for malaria when my company got hit the way it did. I am sure that if I had not been in the hospital that I would have been right there with Butler because the day was better around him and we soldiered together. I was stunned to hear he and Doc Phillips of my company had been casulties in the same battle on my return to the company. I missed him then when I was 19, I am now 77 and I miss him still. Rest In Heaven my man.

Private First Class Henry Butler, Served with Company B, 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, United States Army Vietnam.

Never forgotten.

HOOAH

You will forever remain in our hearts and prayers

Thank you for your service to our country so long ago sir. May you rest in eternal peace.