THE WALL OF FACES

Thank you Clarence for caring enough!! You’re definitely my hero!

I’ll never forget you as long as I live..
Judy Robinson Smith

Thank you for your service to or country so long ago sir. As long as you are remembered you will remain in our hearts forever....

Thanks to Clarence's friend and fellow soldier, Robert Locklin, I learned about and will never forget his story. Rest in peace and please know that the story of your sacrifice will continue to be told.

Thank you for your service and your sacrifice. Thank you for stepping up and answering your country's call. Rest easy knowing you will never be forgotten.

SP4 Clarence L. Chase was an infantryman serving with C Company, 2nd Battalion, 12th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division. On August 21, 1967, SP4 Chase was with his unit when he was killed in an engagement with the Viet Cong. The following is a personal account of the incident by Willie Danos: “I think we were on perimeter duty at LZ Uplift. The company radios started going crazy. We all knew that we were about to get sent out. We air assaulted onto a hilltop in an area some guys called the Tiger Mountains in Binh Dinh Province, RVN. The 2nd platoon walked point that day. When they got down to the valley floor, reports were coming over the radio that there were men in khaki uniforms. The point man for the 2nd platoon reported on the radio that there were men in uniforms like ours and requested to open fire on them. He was told to hold his fire. Then all heck broke loose. They started yelling for 3rd platoon to drop their packs and come forward. We were sent around to this finger in hopes that we would come down behind the Viet Cong. We ran across a small trail that we took to make better time. That was a mistake and we all knew it, but our friends were in peril. At one point it got real quiet, so we stopped. George Sylvester told me to look on the ground (where there was a) commo wire. I began to get everyone spread out and to watch our flanks. There were two machine guns, one on each side of us. As we moved to our flanks, they opened up on us. They had been waiting on us. SP4 Chase was to my right, Hubert Royster to my left, the RTO was next to me and the M79 man McDowell was right in front of the RTO (radioman) and myself. Then things really got crazy behind us. LT Taylor and SGT Warf began loading magazines as fast as they could. At some point, the Platoon Sergeant came down where we were and was hit immediately. Eventually, we managed to get out of the kill zone. I carried the RTO up the hill. He had been shot in the leg. When I went back down, someone handed me Chase. I carried him to the top of the hill. He died shortly after I got him to the medic. I was told he had 21 wounds, not counting the grenade they threw on him. We spent the rest of that night on that hilltop scared to death because we didn't know if they were going to attack us. I think about that day all the time and wonder if I would have cut that commo wire, would things have turned out different. Maybe it would have confused the NVA.” [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org and information provided by Willie Danos at 12thcav.us]