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SGT Rick Dunn
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Holditch, Robert Wilson, CW2.
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Casualty Info
Home Town Port Robinson
Last Address Fayetteville, NC
Casualty Date Jul 02, 1969
Cause Non Hostile- Died Other Causes
Reason Air Loss, Crash - Sea
Location Vietnam, South (Vietnam)
Conflict Vietnam War
Location of Interment Lafayette Memorial Park - Fayetteville, North Carolina
Rank CWO Chief Warrant Officer
Grade and posthumous promotion W2
Tour Date: 03/15/1969
Posthumous decoration
Body Recovered
Home of Record: Port Robinson, ON
Religion:
BAPTIST
Marital Status:
Married
_______________________________________________________________________
Status: Killed In Action from an incident while performing the duty of Pilot.
Age at death: 36.4
Flight class: 67-503/67-25 Short Summary: Night maintenance test flight 1/2 mile off coast.
Aircraft: UH-1H tail number 67-17694
Primary cause: A/C Accident
Compliment cause: drowning
Length of service: 14
This record was last updated on 07/29/1995
Date posted on this site: 01/22/2013
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Information on U.S. Army helicopter UH-1H tail number 67-17694
Incident number: 690702011ACD Accident case number: 690702011
Total loss or fatality Accident The station for this helicopter was Chu Lai in South Vietnam
Number killed in accident = 3 . . Injured = 0 . . Passengers = 2
Original source(s) and document(s) from which the incident was created or updated:
Defense Intelligence Agency Helicopter Loss database. Army Aviation Safety Center database. Also: OPERA (Operations Report. )
Crew Members:
P CW2 HOLDITCH ROBERT WILSON KIA
ME SP4 SCHNEIDER THOMAS JAMES KIA
GM SFC TOVEY DONALD LEE KIA
Accident Summary:
THE AIRCRAFT HAD BEEN FLOWN A TOTAL OF 387 HOURS. THE FIFTH PERIODIC INSPECTION WAS COMPLETED ON 2 JULY, AND THE AIRCRAFT WAS ON A TEST FLIGHT WHEN THE ACCIDENT OCCURRED. THE PILOT WAS CW2 HOLDITCH. ASSISTING ON THE TEST FLIGHT WAS THE SENIOR MAINTENANCE SUPERVISOR, SFC TOVEY, AND A UH-1 HELICOPTER MECHANIC, SP4 SCHNEIDER. AIRCRAFT DEPARTED FROM CHU LAI TO THE SOUTH ON THE TEST FLIGHT. ABOUT 2015 HOURS CW4 THOMPSON, THE 333D TC DET MAINTENANCE OFFICER DISCOVERED THE AIRCRAFT WAS MISSING. A SEARCH WAS INTIATED. THE WRECKAGE OF THE AIRCRAFT WAS FOUND AT 0610 HOURS, 3 JULY, AT COORDINATES, BT 460166, ABOUT 6 NAUTICAL MILES NORTH NORTH-WEST OF CHU LAI, RVN. THE WRECKAGE WAS 200 FEET OFF SHORE IN 15-20 FEET OF WATER. ALL THREE CREWMEMBERS WERE KILLED. THE BODIES WERE RECOVERED ABOUT 1830 HOURS. THE AIRCRAFT WAS RECOVERED BY A NAVY LCT ABOUT 1500 HOURS. THE AIRCRAFT WAS UNLOADED FROM THE LCT ONTO THE DOCK AT 1630 HOURS. THE ACCIDENT IVESTIGATION BOARD EXAMINED THE AIRCRAFT AT DOCKSIDE.\\
Description This campaign period was from 15 March 1962 to 7 March 1965. During this period, direct U.S. involvement in the Vietnam conflict increased steadily as U.S. trained Vietnamese pilots moved Vietnamese helicopter units into and out of combat. Ultimately the United States hoped that a strong Vietnamese government would result in improved internal security and national defense. The number of U.S. advisors in the field rose from 746 in January 1962 to over 3,400 by June; the entire U.S. commitment by the end of the year was 11,000, which included 29 U.S. Army Special Forces detachments. These advisory and support elements operated under the Commander, U.S. Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, a position established 8 February 1962. The object of American military assistance was to counter the threat to the government of the Republic of Vietnam posed by the insurgency of an estimated 30,000 regular communist Viet Cong and civilian sympathizers among the population. Despite what appeared to be considerable successes in consolidating the population in a series of defended strategic hamlets, and in establishing local defense forces, the U.S. equipped Army of the Republic of Vietnam repeatedly demonstrated an unwillingness to close with the enemy. A corrupt government and bitterly contending Vietnamese political factions further hampered a coherent prosecution of the war with American advisors, who nevertheless continued their efforts well into the period of large scale commitments of U.S. Army forces to the conflict.