July 4, 2006 - This site is dedicated to the memory of WO1 Lewis A. Walton (Darkhorse 18).

"Uncle Lew" was an OH-6A pilot in Scout Platoon (Outcasts), C Troop (AIR) 16th Cavalry, Can Tho Vietnam from August 1971 until he was killed as a result of enemy action on 9 December of that same year, along with his crew chief/gunner SP4 Richard "Puke" Pawelke. Within this site, we are attempting to preserve a small part of the record of this extraordinary unit through photographs, documents and accounts of Mr. Walton's time with the Outcasts, the 4 Horsemen, and the Mustangs of C Troop. Thank you and welcome home to all who have served. We are glad you are here to view this site and hope that you are able to find something here that is important and meaningful to you. For you and for all who were unable to return home, we are grateful for your sacrifices and would hope to honor each of you with this tribute. Perry Bean and Tekoa Walton Bean

I know it's been a long time since any new content was added to the site. It has been a busy last few years and time just seems to fly. I'm pleased to announce that several new sections have been added to the site, and some of the original areas have been cleaned up a bit. There is a new section that provides pictures and descriptions of the awards and decorations received by Alan/Lew from both the U.S. and Republic of Vietnam governments. The Document Library is now available and includes eyewitness accounts of the events of 9 December 1971 from several perspectives.

An unfortunate harddrive failure in late '06 destroyed many 10s of hours of work that had been put into high resolution scanning of Alan/Lew's photographs from Vietnam. This work will begin anew. There has been some controversy concerning who may appear in some of the photographs. Hopefully we can solve some these mysteries by publishing them all (including scans of Alan/Lew's handwritten notes), laying out the timelines, and examining the comments from various members of C Troop who have studied the photos. All of this material will be available here, including the hi-res scans.

As always, the site and its various sections remain far from complete, and will likely always be a work in progress. Please check back frequently and let others know about the site so that the flow of information will continue. Thanks for visiting and feel free to contact us any time at epbean3@aol.com. We look forward to hearing from you.