20 Oct 2005 SP4 Ralph H. Black was my friend and classmate at Forest Park High School in Crystal Falls MI. We played football and basketball together. We drank a few beers and chased girls together. We worked construction together the summer before our Sophmore year in College. Ralph decided to skip fall semester to earn more money before returning to Northern Michigan University. He was drafted in September of 1966 and went to Viet Nam in May of 1967 trained as a radio operator. His tour of duty in Viet Nam had ended and he was waiting for transport back to the States when he talked a chopper pilot he knew into taking him out to the radio station to say one last good-bye to his buddies. He died that night with his friends. You would have to know the man to understand why he would go back out to that fortified position for one last good-bye. His classmates and I understand but wish he were here today to share his life with us. We miss you, Ralph! From a friend. E-mail address is not available.

 

A Note from The Virtual Wall Nui Ba Den (Black Virgin Mountain), a dormant volcano, rises some 3000 feet above the surrounding plain in Tay Ninh Province. During the war, the Army had a signal relay station atop the mountain, and Allied troops controlled the plain below - but the slopes of the jungle-covered Black Virgin were no-man's-land. On 13 May 1968 the VC attacked the relay station, killing at least 21 American servicemen in bitter hand-to-hand fighting: CPT George Coleman, Birmingham, AL, Prov Sig Co, 125th Sig Bn CPT Arthur L. Davis, Beaufort, NC, 587th Sig Co, 86th Sig Bn 2LT Thomas N. Teague, Mountlake Terrace, WA, Prov Sig Co, 125th Sig Bn SSG Ray W. Owen, Columbia, SC, Prov Sig Co, 125th Sig Bn SSG Harold A. Stone, Champaign, IL, Prov Sig Co, 125th Sig Bn SSG Bobby C. Wood, Monroe, LA SGT Joseph Adams, New Orleans, LA, Prov Sig Co, 125th Sig Bn SGT Fernando Calle-Zuluaga, Los Angeles, CA, 587th Sig Co, 86th Sig Bn SGT Timothy J. Noden, Linwood, PA, A Co, 2nd Bn, 18th Infantry SP4 John A. Anderson, Williamsville, NY,HHC, 4th Bn, 9th Infantry SP4 Ralph R. Black, Crystal Falls, MI, C Co, 121st Sig Bn PFC Samuel G. Connelly, Hammond, IN, A Co, 2nd Bn, 18th Infantry SP4 Moses J. Cousin, Detroit, MI, Prov Sig Co, 125th Sig Bn SP4 Albert E. Dahl, Aurora, IL, B Co, 125th Sig Bn SP4 James A. Davis, Orlando, FL, B Co, 125th Sig Bn SP4 Gary J. Gilin, Detroit, MI, A Co, 4th Bn, 9th Infantry SP4 Jeffrey W. Haerle, Minneapolis, MN, HQ, 3rd ASA Fld Station SP4 Paul R. Hoag, Poughkeepsie, NY, Prov Sig Co, 125th Sig Bn SP4 Michael J. Juneau, Hessmer, LA, B Co, 125th Sig Bn SP4 Paul R. Lozano, Bay City, TX, 587th Sig Co, 86th Sig Bn SP4 Frank J. Makuh, Placentia, CA, C Co, 121st Sig Bn

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