This poem was written by Neils 11year old neice.
Neil died during operation Aancanda in Afganistan
This Picture Was Taken At Con Thien.
Our Friend CON,
Is The Man Faceing The Camera.
7 Purple Hearts, Between These 3 Men
Operation Buffalo, Con Thien: 2 – 14 July 1967
By the end of June 1967, four divisions of NVA regular troops were massed just north of the DMZ in preparation for a major offensive into Quang Tri Province. Operation Buffalo was conceived to prevent that incursion by shoring up the new line of Marine strong points, particularly at a small fortified hill called Con Thien considered by both sides as crucial to the defense network along the DMZ. The Marines had to hold that critical piece of ground and at the same time seek out and engage their enemy in the surrounding area. The NVA were not about to back away from a fight that might win them a significant victory in the propaganda war. Indeed they had the rare advantage of using the northern DMZ, off-limits to American attacks for political reasons, to organize and set up heavy artillery, rocket and missile support for their advancing divisions. The stage was set for a major encounter.
Operation Buffalo kicked off on 2 July when elements of the 1st Battalion, 9th Marines moved in to sweep the area east of Con Thien in an effort to seek out threats to the base from that sector. This force was almost immediately taken under small arms fire from prepared positions nearby. Marine reinforcements were called in as the area began to take additional fire from the NVA heavy artillery batteries in the northern part of the DMZ. With desperate determination and tenacity, the embattled Marines succeeded in breaking up an NVA counterattack as the battle raged on. Eventually over the next few days the Marines, using intense support from air strikes, artillery and offshore guns, pushed the NVA back across the Ben Hai River where the Americans could not legally operate. Marine casualties were very high. However, though the total NVA dead and wounded could not be accurately counted, they suffered casualties between five and ten times more than the Marines. The defense of Con Thien was a costly but well-earned victory for the Marines holding the line at the DMZ.
The Following Name Is A Friend Of Kays
WALLACE W HOPKINS JR
SP4 - E4 - Army - Regular
101st Airborne Division
19 year old Single, Caucasian, Male
Born on Feb 13, 1948
From HENDERSON, NEVADA
Length of service 1 year.
His tour of duty began on Feb 20, 1967
Casualty was on Oct 03, 1967
SOUTH VIETNAM
HOSTILE, GROUND CASUALTY
GUN, SMALL ARMS FIRE
Body was recovered
Religion
LUTHERAN & MISSOURI SYNOD
Panel 27E - - Line 43
