THE WALL OF FACES

Steven was my uncle. I never knew him as I was born 19 years after his death. My mother, Patrica, spoke of him often while I was growing up. She died in 2005, and in the years since she passed, I have reflected often on the trauma experienced by her family and so many American families over this terrible and unnecessary war.

Thank you for your service to our country so long ago sir. The remembrance from Tomi Calloway Fratto is touching. As long as you are remembered you will always be with us...

Some 52 years ago, upon discharge from service at ft Lewis, Washington, you Steven were one that I remember well. As a co-office worker, you were easy to remember for your friendly disposition and work efficiency. Then, two months later I pick up a copy of “look” magazine. . . Rest In Peace good man. You have earned it.

Specialist Five James Stephen Colombero, Served with the 15th Engineer Company, 299th Engineer Battalion, 937th Engineer Group, 18th Engineer Brigade, United States Army Vietnam Engineer Command, United States Army Vietnam.

In the first half of 1969, three companies of the 299th Combat Engineer Battalion and the 15th Light Equipment Company defended the big American base and air strip at Dak To, RVN, against the North Vietnamese Army’s 66th Infantry Regiment and 40th Artillery Regiment. From January through July of 1969, some six hundred bulldozer drivers, crane and front-end loader operators, mechanics, medics, cooks, clerks, truck drivers, and other non-infantry men defended the rugged, jungle-covered mountain in the Central Highlands northwest of Kontum near the Laos and Cambodian borders. From May 9 until the second week of July, the NVA shelled the mountain virtually every day with 122mm rockets, 81mm mortar rounds, recoilless rifles, and B-40 rockets. The deadliest single attack took place on May 28, 1969, when a 122mm NVA rocket came screaming directly into the 15th Light Equipment’s headquarters bunker. The heavily sandbagged bunker, sunk some twenty feet in the ground, was crowded with engineers, including a thirty-man reaction force. Nine men, including Company Commander 1LT Franklin L. Koch, were killed. The other lost Americans comprised FSGT Dudley J. Benefiel Jr., SP4 Floyd E. Barber, SP5 James S. Colombero, SP4 Valentine M. Dwornik, SP4 Edward T. Kiezkowski, SP4 David R. Mann, SP4 Dennis R. Meetze, and SFC Luther R. Perkins (who died of his wounds on June 9, 1969). Another nineteen were wounded. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org and digitaledition.qwinc.com]