THE WALL OF FACES

Dear 1LT John Thomas Coll Jr, 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

If you have any additional information about this hero or are a relative, please contact the Foundation at [email protected] or 1-800-648-8387.

The day before John's death we talked about our family's and home.

John was my best friend in the Army. We went through Ordnance Officers' Basic Course, Aberdeen Proving Grounds, Md., and Army Supply Officers' Course, Ft. Lee, Va. together. He went to Viet Nam and I to South Korea, hundreds of miles south of the DMZ, where I served it total safety. He was a great guy, a good friend, and a damn good officer. I did not learn of his death until until about nine months after it, and I was a civilian back in the United States. Not more than several days have passed in the ensuing 40+ years without my thinking of him, and wishing he could have been my friend over these decades and had the opportunities for family and career and success and failure that I have had.

John T. Coll Jr. is remembered at the New Jersey Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial and Vietnam Era Educational Center. To learn more search on www.njvvmf.org.