Hilton, Robert Larie
Air Force Airman 1st class

Robert Larie Hilton, age 30, from Baltimore County Baltimore, Maryland .

Spouse: Shirley A. Rogers Hilton
Children: Cheryl Hilton, Robert Hilton, Mark A. Hilton

Service era: Vietnam
Schools: Southern High graduate

Date of death: Monday, March 14, 1966
Death details: On March 14, 1966, an HU-16B Albatross (tail number 51-0071, call sign “Bravo”) carrying eight crew members took off on a rescue mission in the Gulf of Tonkin. When the aircraft made its water landing to begin rescue operations, it was hit by enemy gunfire and caught fire. The crew abandoned the aircraft and the plane sank shortly thereafter. U.S. Navy helicopters rescued six survivors of the incident, but two crew members were not recovered. Airman First Class Robert Larie Hilton entered the U.S. Air Force from Maryland and served in the 33rd Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron. He was the radio operator aboard the Albatross when it was lost and his remains could not be recovered following the incident. Today, Airman First Class Hilton is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. His name is also inscribed along with all his fallen comrades on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, DC.

Source: National Archives, Baltimore Sun (1966), Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency