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to remember
Drazba, Carol Ann Elizabeth, 2LT.
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Casualty Info
Home Town Scranton, PA
Last Address Dunmore, PA
Casualty Date Feb 18, 1966
Cause Non Hostile- Died Other Causes
Reason Air Loss, Crash - Land
Location Vietnam, South (Vietnam)
Conflict Vietnam War
Location of Interment Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary Cemetery - Lackawanna, Pennsylvania
Casualty Occurrence: 2nd Lt. Carol Drazba served as a nurse, was killed while flying as a passenger with several other medical personnel aboard a UH-1B (#64-14188). She was a graduate of the State Hospital School of Nursing Scranton, Pennsylvania in 1964. 2Lt Drazba was a graduate of the Medical College of South Carolina. She was buried in Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary Cemetery, Scranton, Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania.
POSTED ON 12.3.2010, CRASH INFORMATION ON U.S. ARMY HELICOPTER UH-1C TAIL NUMBER 64-14188: On 18 February 1966, passengers Lt. Carol A. E. Drazba and Lt. Elizabeth A. Jones were the first military women killed in the Vietnam War. They were assigned to the 51st Field Hospital in Saigon. They died along with the third passenger CPT Thomas W. Stasko, from HHC 145 CAB when their helicopter had a wire strike over a river. The crew members who perished in this accident were LTC Charles M. Honour Jr., CPT Albert M. Smith, SP4 Gary R. Artman, and SP4 Christopher J. Lantz. [Taken from vhpa.org].
POSTED ON 7.13.2021, POSTED BY: CURT CARTER, MEMORIAL DAY 2021. This year, as every year for many, my wife finishes the wreaths she makes for every Memorial Day and our American flag is raised in remembrance, as we observe this somber national holiday. You and our loved ones whose names also are inscribed on the Vietnam Memorial are in our hearts. My family and I will never forget the cost of our freedoms, and the men and women who have and continue to step forward to keep America safe. With respect, always. Curt Carter.
POSTED ON 2.18.2019, POSTED BY: RONALD P TROTTA, HOMECOMING. Dear Carol , I remember when you left though and I was very young, and I remember the day you came home . I was six. I remember where i was standing, and the crowded train station platform. A lot of people were there. It was quiet, many people were crying. It was cold and I could hear the roar of the door on the train car as the door slid open. But I couldn't see you. There was a cart with large iron wheels . Our flag covered the cart. I looked up to my mom and she said, "it's Carol", in a quiet whisper. Please know I am not 59 and i have remembered you often. I look up your picture because sometimes all I can see is the flag, and the cart and the wheels. You would have been happy that I have had a good life. God Bless You.
POSTED ON 5.27.2018, POSTED BY: JP NICOLAIS. BEAUTIFUL. We spent 6 years together at Lincoln School and 2 in junior high school, where I remember her as a kind and joyful person. Our lives took different paths after that and the next I heard was her death. Each year I remember her at this time. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.
POSTED ON 1.9.2016, POSTED BY: EDWARD RUSSELL (REUNION HISTORIAN). 3RD/51ST FIELD HOSPITAL REUNION, REMEMBERANCE. 2nd Lieutenant Carol Ann Drazba, ANC (Dunmore, PA) was born in 1943 and raised in Dunmore. Carol was a 1964 graduate of Scranton State General Hospital, Scranton, PA. She served on the nursing staff of the U.S. Army Hospital, Fort Huachuca, Arizona, before entering service in Vietnam. She was survived by her mother, a sister and many family members and friends. Remembered as "always full of life", a bronze sculpture in Carol's honor was created in Scranton, PA in 2012.. Carol is buried at Sacred Cemetery, Scranton, PA. The memorial also honors Tom Stasko, Elizabeth Jones and the four helicopter crewmembers who died on February 18, 1966. The statue of Drazba stands near the Gino Merli Veterans Center and the site of the former Scranton State Hospital, where she trained as a nurse. At the Combined Hospitals Unit Reunion in Chicago in 2011 we remembered Carol's service and honored her sacrifice.
POSTED ON 10.17.2014. THANK YOU FROM AN OLDER CLASSMATE. August 15th, 2014 was our 60th year Dunmore High School reunion. I made it "home" that week and found out about our hometown heroes. I visited your monument and rendered a 9 second honor guard salute. I visited the Merli Veterans Center and introduced myself to your sister Joann. I mentioned to her that I was born at the hospital you trained in and was "in-country" during your tour of duty. I will add your panel to my list. I hope to make one last duty call, to reach and touch the wall and heal the demons inside me. I again salute you LT. Charles S. lapsansky, ATCS US Navy Ret.
POSTED ON 4.14.2011, POSTED BY: MAGGIE SHOUP, WE WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER. 2nd Lt. Carol Ann Elizabet Drazba was born on December 11 of 1943, and she was born and raised in Dunmore, Pennsylvania. Carol joined the army during her second year of nursing school. After her basic training, she was assigned to Fort Huachucha, where she built her reputation as an excellent OR nurse. In 1965, Carol volunteered for service in Vietnam and she arrived in Vietnam in November of that year. She was attached to Third Field Hospital near Saigon. After three weeks of working and surgery, Carol was finally able to take a weekend off. Unfortunately, the helicopter carrying her and another female nurse on February 18, 1966 crashed, killing all seven people on board. Carol and 2nd Lt. Elizabeth Ann Jones were the first two women to be killed in Vietnam. In her hometown of Dunmore, Pennsylvania, a monument was dedicated in her honor.
Comments/Citation:
Dedication ceremony October 8, 2011: A bronze sculpture to honor 2nd LT Carol Ann Drazba RN will be erected in her home town of Dunmore, Pennsylvania. The dedication ceremony will be held at noon on October 8, 2011. All are invited. Kim Atkinson RN, kgatkinson527@gmail.com, Friends of the Forgotten NE Wing Pennsylvania, The groundbreaking ceremony, April 27, 2011. Photo by Nick Fata. See an article about the ceremony in the Times Leader web site.
Kimberly Kimmel-Ober. Admirer. Encinitas, California, United States, of America. For this soldier and all those who knew him and loved him, I just want to say, thank you, for your dedication and sacrifice! Please know that you have not been forgotten and always will hold a special place in my heart! It would have been nice to have known you, as a person and I greatly appreciate your service! I just wish you did not have to pay so high a price! You will always be a hero, in my eyes! Monday, January 28, 2012.
Roy Spencer, Vietnam Veteran-Air Force Pilot, Angels of Mercy, Carol Ann Drazba was one of the first two women to die in Vietnam. Described by family and friends as always adventurous, Carol joined the Army while in her second year of nursing school. After basic training, she was assigned to Fort Huachucha in Arizona, where she built her reputation as an excellent OR nurse. As the Vietnam conflict escalated, the need for nurses and physicians also grew. In 1965, Carol volunteered for service in Vietnam. She arrived in November 1965 and was attached to the Third Field Hospital near Saigon. After weeks of endless hours in surgery, Carol was finally able to take off for a weekend of rest. She never made it. The helicopter that was taking her to her weekend R&R crashed, killing Carol, 2nd Lt. Elizabeth Ann Jones, another Army nurse, and five others. Feb 18, 2014
Manuel Pino 2/8 B Co 1st Cav-68-69, Fellow Nam Brother, B co 1/5th 1st Cav. I remember our dead brothers still live for us and bid us think of life, not death-of life to which in their youth they lent the passion and joy of the spring. As I listen, the great chorus of life and joy begins again and amid the awful orchestra of seen and unseen powers and destinies of good and evil our trumpets sound once more a note of daring, hope and will. I see them now as once I saw them on this earth. They are the same bright figures that also come before your eyes and when I speak of those who were my brothers, the same words describe yours. Oliver Wendell Holmes. Sunday, July 09, 2006.
On 18 Feb 1966, a UH-1B Huey (tail number 64-14188) of the 197th Assault Helicopter Company, 145th Combat Aviation Battalion, was on an administrative flight to Da Lat when the aircraft struck a high-tension transmission line over a river in the vicinity of Bien Hoa. All seven persons aboard died in the crash:
