Andy Shimp and I served as combat engineer instructors in the Department of Topography (DTopo) at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, where I was stationed from 1963 until 1966.

Andy and I shared an office and critiqued one another's work. He was a genuinely sweet and gentle guy and a good instructor. My wife and I both were about as fond of this fine young man as we could be.

Toward the end of my tour at Belvoir, we were just beginning to get letters back from former students - some of whom also would never return - from some place we knew little about - a place called Vietnam. The day Andy got his orders to head there we had no idea we would never see him again...

Upon my discharge, my wife and I got on with the business of raising our family. Vietnam was always there in the background with those awful TV images coming at us each night. We thought of Andy and the others as we watched from the safety of our home.

One day in July of 1967 the phone rang. It was Bob Velthuis, one of our fellow former Belvoir buddies, who told me that Andy had died in a plane crash. I sat in stunned silence for over an hour. Then I wept for my dead friend.

I STILL weep for - and am haunted by - all those who have given their last full measure of devotion for what too many of us take for granted.

And I weep especially deeply for the dead of Vietnam who were so horribly mistreated by those here who failed to recognize their sacrifice.

So, to Andy and the others, I say God bless and keep you all until we meet again on a gentler, more peaceful shore.

And I would add these beautiful words from the Nick Glenny-Smith/Randall Wallace hymn from the haunting film "We Were Soldiers":

To fallen soldiers let us sing
Where no rockets fly nor bullets wing
Our broken brothers let us bring
To the Mansions of the Lord.
No more bleeding, no more fight
No prayers pleading through the night
Just divine embrace, eternal light
In the Mansions of the Lord.

Where no mothers cry and no children weep
We will stand and guard though the angels sleep
Through the ages safely keep
The Mansions of the Lord.



From an old friend and fellow instructor,
Richard A. Bachert
richard.bachert@comcast.net

Well done Richard. I attended from 58-60 and so my first year there was Andy's senior year. I always remember going to town during the week on an "A" Class pass and going to the local cafe where we would get cokes and play the juke box. I was by myself and Andy, who was Battalion Executive, and Frank Withey, who was my Company Commander, both of them officers and I was a Private - in any event they asked me to join them - it was like WOW! - me sitting with 2 of the top ranking officers in the school - Yikes! That was one of my memorable experiences. I didn't find out about Andy's death until 1999 when I started getting involved with RMA again. Yes, he will be missed and was quite a guy. Mike(60)

Dear Mike,
Thank you for sharing that memory.
I had hoped to locate some of Andy's remaining people so I could share some of my photos of that period of his life with them. It would help me to "let go."
Thanks again and stay safe.
Dick Bachert
Atlanta, GA