THE WALL OF FACES

I’m too young to have known you, but for five years I lived near the street named for you in Quincy, MA. I would see your sign everyday and think about you often. Just wanted to say that you are not forgotten. Thank you.

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.

On March 21, 1966, during Operation Texas, thirty U.S Marine Corps UH-34D helicopters from HMM-261, HMM-363, and HMM-364, escorted by four armed UH-1E helicopters of Marine Observation Squadron 6 (VMO-6), lifted two companies plus a command group (405 troops total) of 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines, from Ky Ha Air Facility to an unsecure landing zone (LZ) in Quang Ngai Province, RVN. M Company, 3/1, was inserted first to make safe the LZ, a large dry rice paddy, for the following waves of aircraft. Approximately 1000 meters west of the LZ, a VC/NVA 12.7mm machine gun was firing into the LZ from a draw located on a small hill. Several A-4 attack jet air strikes failed to silence the weapon. In the next wave of aircraft, a UH-34D (#145802) approached the LZ carrying K Company, 3/1. The enemy machine gun would target this helicopter. The aircraft was 50 feet or so off the deck when the 12.7mm rounds began impacting. The helicopter jerked slightly each time a round hit it. The aircraft then nosed over sharply. The pilot apparently pulled back hard on his controls to avoid a nose-first crash because the helicopter reared up like a stallion with its forelegs pawing the air. The aircraft’s rear rotor blade and tail boom then hit a high paddy dike. The helicopter crumpled backward into the paddy as the fuel tank exploded and engulfed the aircraft for a split second. M Company was only 100 meters away from the crash site and immediately sent a corpsman and rifle squad over to provide aid. When they arrived at the still burning helicopter, it was apparent that everyone in the passenger and crew compartments were dead. The UH-34's cockpit was elevated and forward of the passenger and crew area. The two pilots, 1LT Noah M. Kraft and 1LT Thomas A. Bird Jr., could be seen struggling to free themselves. They were badly burned. The corpsman and another rifleman ran through the still burning debris to free the pilots. As they did so, the magnesium rotor hub exploded. The blast went up and over their heads, only causing them some minor burns. The other riflemen avoided being caught in the explosion since they were a few feet beyond the blast radius setting up security. The Marine rifle platoon leader threw a smoke grenade into the LZ and a helicopter immediately landed. 1LT Bird died before being put into the medevac. The other pilot, 1LT Kraft, though suffering terribly, was still alive. The corpsman rode with him in the medevac back to Chu Lai. Kraft died as they arrived at B Med in Chu Lai. The two other lost UH-34 crewmen were crew chief GSGT Calvin K. Chow and gunner GSGT Benito Igarta Jr. The lost members of K Company included PFC Louis A. Ambrose, LCPL Dennis R. Andrew, LCPL James H. Cavicchi Jr., SGT John A. Mitchell, PFC Bruce L. Watkins, and PFC Billie J. Williams. [Taken from popasmoke.com]

Dear LCPL James Cavicchi,
Thank you for your service as a Machine Gunner. It is so 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.

Lance Corporal James Henry Cavicchi Jr., Served with the Weapons Platoon, Company K, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, Third Marine Amphibious Force.