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Casualty Info
Home Town Ridgefield, CT
Last Address Ridgefield, CT
Casualty Date Nov 02, 1970
Cause Non Hostile- Died Other Causes
Reason Air Loss, Crash - Land
Location Kien Giang (Vietnam)
Conflict Vietnam War
Location of Interment Saint Mary?s Cemetery - Ridgefield, Connecticut
191ST AHC, 13TH AVN BN, 164TH AVN GROUP, 1ST AVIATION BDE, USARV
UH-1C 66-15219 ROTOR FAILURE 3 KM NW OF KIEN GIANG AFLD
Robert Sidonio sidoniobv@juno.com
high school buddy/ fellow aviator/
John I still remember you
I see John's name on the memorial wall at Fort Rcuker regularly. I will never forget John and his humor and heroism.
Wednesday, August 25, 2004
POSTED ON 3.8.2020
POSTED BY: GALEN NELSON
GOOD GUY GONE TO SOON
John I never did try the fish at the King Neptune Restaurant, thanks for being My friend and WOC Roommate every time I drink Scotch I toast You.
Army Chief Warrant Officer John T. Orrico was the third and final Ridgefielder to die in the Vietnam War. He was killed Nov. 2, 1970, when the helicopter he was piloting had a mechanical failure and crashed. Just a few months earlier, he had received the Distinguished Flying Cross for heroism in action while engaged in aerial flight in connection with military operations against a hostile force. Before that, he had been awarded the Bronze Star, the Army Commendation Medal, and the Air Medal. The 1966 Ridgefield High School graduate had attended The Citadel before entering the Army in 1968.
Vietnam War/Counteroffensive Phase VII Campaign (1970-71)
From Month/Year
July / 1970
To Month/Year
June / 1971
Description This campaign was from 1 Jul 1970 to 30 June 1971. Fighting continued in Cambodia during early February before and after South Vietnam began its U.S.-aided drive in Laos, Lam Son 719, the most significant operation during this campaign.
Lam Son 719 was conducted out of I Corps by Vietnamese troops with US fire and air support. Their object was to cut the Ho Chi Minh Trail and to destroy enemy bases at Techepone, Laos. The operation consisted of four phases. In Phases I, called Operation DEWEY CANYON II, the 1st Brigade, US 5th Infantry Division (Mechanized) occupied the Khe Sanh area and cleared Route No. 9 up to the Laotian border. In the meantime, the US 101st Airborne Division conducted diversionary operations in the A Shau Valley. The US 45th Engineer Group had the mission of repairing Route No. 9 up to the Laotian border. This lasted from 30 January to 7 February 1971. During Phase II US forces continued to provide fire support, helilift, and tactical and strategic air support for ARVN units. This phase was 8 February to March 1971. Phase III ran from March to 16 March 1971; Phase IV was the withdrawal phase.
Faced with mounting losses, Lt. Gen. Hoang Xuan Lam, the commander of the invasion forces, decided to cut short the operation and ordered a withdrawal.
Lam Son 719, though it was less than a signal success, forestalled a Communist offensive in the spring of 1971. Enemy units and replacements enroute south were diverted to the scene of the action.
