THE WALL OF FACES

Wayne is buried at Tioga Cemetery in Owego,NY.

Not a day goes by I don't think about you and your sacrifice. Gone but not forgotten. Have missed you...

Gert and Lou miss you and so do I.

The Wall, Panel 19 West, Lines 116-123

August 26, 1999
30th Anniversary

To Kathleen
Midshipman, USN

The average age of those who served in Vietnam was 19. There will always be a place reserved in my memory for those 38 of my brothers who gave their lives in the line of duty on August 26th, 1969, my own nineteenth birthday. And it is not without regret that I hold special remembrance of my five younger brothers, Don Brown, USA, Jimmie Morris, USMC, Joseph Pinto, USMC, James Shipman, USMC, and Glenn Truex, USMC, who I will always believe went in my place.

There is a place
Not far from here
Where spirits walk
And heroes live
And honor still resides.

It is a wall
With names inscribed
Of those who served
When they were asked...
The brothers of my youth.

I go there still
To walk and think
About my life,
And what I've done since
And things that might have been.

There is a debt
I can't repay
Too many lives were spent.
And one man's life cannot suffice
To make their deaths worthwhile.

But there is hope
In the memory
Of those we leave behind
Who know the price that freedom brings
Who can carry on in kind.

I send you now
To touch a name
So the vision can be passed
Remember there is honor still
It is for you to see it lasts.

They are not dead
And have a wish
As all old soldiers do
The reflection you see before you now
Is their wish to live in you.

Dad

We use to call Wayne "Herbie". He was so tall and good looking with his red hair. He was great on the basketball court and fun to be with. Thirty years have passed since we learned of his death...when I saw his name on the moving wall, I realized how fast my life has gone by and how much Wayne never got to experience. He will never be forgotten in my heart and I thank God for all the brave men and women who fought to preserve our freedom.