THE WALL OF FACES

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 sunlight 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.

Dear SSgt Donald Cassidy,
Thank you for your service as an Infantryman. Your 79th birthday is soon, happy birthday. You passed on my birthday, sigh. 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 strength, courage and faithfulness. Rest in peace with the angels.

Memory of Donald sneaking downstairs one Christmas Eve to find his new bicycle. He rode it all through the living room until he finally crashed into the Christmas Tree, knocking it down and awakening the whole household.

We also remember how much he loved children. Whenever there was a family gathering no one could find Donald - he was always on the floor playing with the children. They loved their Uncle Don.

Operation Attleboro was a search and destroy operation conducted northwest of Dau Tieng, Tay Ninh Province, RVN, during September 14 – November 24, 1966. While the initial fighting was light, in late October U.S. forces, consisting of the 196th Light Infantry Brigade and the 1st Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment (25th Infantry Division), encountered the 9th Viet Cong Division, resulting in a major three-day battle. It was a slugfest of small units set amid treacherous terrain of tangled forest, overgrown jungle, and booby-trapped elephant grass. On November 3, 1966, members of B Company, 2nd Battalion, 1st Infantry, 196th Infantry Brigade, were dropped off by trucks near the combat area and began a march to probe for trails. The moved mainly through elephant grass and across a few bone-dry rice paddies. Right after the noon hour when the temperature was around 104 degrees, the trail they followed sprouted many directions. The company split and one squad, led by 2LT Dale A. Perkins, continued along a trail that passed a tall mahogany tree. Its 18-inch base was heavily laced with vines and was circled with small shrubs, the trunk partly rotted away. The point man was 15 paces ahead of the squad when he passed the tree. Suddenly, a large blast was heard as a Viet Cong command-detonated claymore mine exploded from its well-camouflaged position among the roots of the tree. The lead man, PFC Ronald E. Hesson was killed outright, his body badly mangled. The second man, SP4 James M. Klink, was also killed, his shattered M-16 still clutched in his hands. 2LT Perkins went down also, his chest crushed in, and his RTO (radio telephone operator) lay next to him, badly wounded. Behind the RTO, on the left side of the trail, was SSGT Donald T. Cassidy, with wounds around the head and shoulders, from which he later died. Four others would die, including SP4 Robert L. Fowble Jr., PFC Joel Fuller, PFC John R. Johnson, and SP4 Thomas A. Lawless. Several more men, all wounded, though less grievously, were strung out over 20 meters of trail to the rear of SSGT Cassidy. Eighteen total were struck down by the blast. An LZ (landing zone) had to be cut away within the elephant grass just off the edge of the forest, and the dead and non-walking wounded had to be toted out in ponchos. The backbreaking labor caused even more casualties as several men passed out from the heat. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org, wikipedia.org, and the book “Ambush” by S.L.A. Marshall]

Dear SSGT Donald Thomas Cassidy, sir

As an American, I would like to thank you for your service and for your sacrifice made on behalf of our wonderful country. The youth of today could gain much by learning of heroes such as yourself, men and women whose courage and heart can never be questioned.

May God allow you to read this, and may He allow me to someday shake your hand when I get to Heaven to personally thank you. May he also allow my father to find you and shake your hand now to say thank you; for America, and for those who love you.

With respect, and the best salute a civilian can muster for you, Sir

Curt Carter