That depends on the quality and quantity of the covering fire.
Bless you 60. I'm basically a coward that has never worked up the courage to go to a moving wall or the one at Arlington. Just thinking bout it brings tears to my eyes. I've had friends drop by with rubbings of my friends.
There are markers at intersections where the city names the intersection for vets that were KIA. Most of my little league team are listed there.
I understand. One of the kids I played little league with, is named on the wall. His name is William Morrison. He joined the Corps right after high school graduation. Bill was a jock, like the rest of us, who joined the Corps from home, but Billy had the pretty, blue eyed, blonde, cheerleader, girlfriend. My friend Dick, that I joined the Corps with, on the buddy system, was with Billy, the night before Billy was killed. His girlfriend Carol, was in college then and had sent Billy a Dear John. Dick and Billy were having some beers. Billy was going back to the bush the next day. Billy told Dick he wouldn't be coming back this time. Dick said, don't talk like that Billy. Of course you'll be back. Dick said Billy just smiled and said, no, I won't be back this time Dick. Billy went back to the bush, at O dark thirty, the next morning and was killed in action that day. One of the guys, that had been with Billy, when the shit hit the fan, told Dick, that for no reason that he could understand, Billy stood up, with a M16 and twenty rounds and did his own walking assault on Mr. Charles. Dick understood why Billy died that day.
Dick is another whole story. He got to Nam before I did. I flew into Danang, rode a convoy to LZ Stud , later named Vandergriff Combat Base and was choppered out to hill 881 North. When I got off of the chopper, the first guy I ran into, was Sgt. Bob Laphan. Bob and I had grown up together, we lived 3 houses apart. Shortly after, I got a letter from Dick's mother saying that Dick had been hit and was on the hospital ship, U.S.S. Hope. I wrote him saying I was jealous that he would be going home. He wrote back, "NO WAY". Said he wasn't done getting revenge for Billy's death and had requested to be returned to his company. Another short time later I get another letter from Dick's mom saying that Dick had been hit again and was back on the U.S.S. Hope. Again I wrote Dick, but this time I advised, that I hoped he would be going home this time, since he didn't seem to be very god at this combat thing. I said you get hit every time you go out Dick. Please go home. Again the dip stick wrote back and said, no way. I'm not done get getting back atem for Billy. Even the Corps told him that he already had 2 purple hearts and could be sent home for discharge. He requested to be sent back to his company for duty, so back he went, to his company. Some time later Dick was hit again. I guess, since he was beginning to look like he was permanently stationed on the hospital ship, The Corps sent him home, with no option of returning to his company. Dick has spent the rest of his life in and out of surgery and licked agent orange cancer as well, only to have the cancer come back again after 25 years. He's no longer strong enough for radiation, so they use chemo to shrink his cancer, but that only works for so long. He also has dementia and was getting a bit aggressive in his sleep, to where his wife could no longer handle him, so he's now in a nursing home. He can't visit Billy's grave any longer, but I assured him that I have his 6. I visit Billy and leave flowers, or a cold one, for both of us now. Shit happens! Adapt, improvise and overcome.