Echevarria, Raymond Louis
Army Major

Raymond Louis Echevarria from New York City, New York,

Service era: Vietnam

Date of death: October 3, 1966
Death details:  On October 3, 1966, a seven-man reconnaissance team comprising three U.S. Army soldiers and four South Vietnamese, ethnic Nung, soldiers was inserted by helicopter into a landing zone in the Savannakhet Province of Laos approximately 800 meters south of Ban Taha, and two kilometers west of the Laos-Vietnam border. Very shortly after landing, they found themselves surrounded by enemy forces. They requested immediate helicopter extraction, but quickly became involved in a firefight, and the helicopter was driven off by small arms fire. The three U.S. soldiers were all wounded, two severely. One U.S. soldier, who was hit in the leg, was able to leave the immediate area with one of the South Vietnamese soldiers, but the two soon encountered another group of enemy troops. The South Vietnamese soldier, who was extracted from the area the next day and was the sole surviving member of the patrol, reported he last saw his fellow team member exchanging fire with pursuing enemy troops. An immediate search for the team members could not be conducted because enemy forces controlled the area, and later searches were unsuccessful.

Master Sergeant Raymond Echevarria, who joined the U.S. Army from North Carolina, served with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 5th Special Forces Group. He was severely wounded by enemy fire when his patrol was attacked on October 3, 1966, and the presence of enemy troops prevented his extraction from the area. Later searches for his remains were unsuccessful. While carried in the status of missing in action, the U.S. Army promoted MSG Echevarria to the rank of Sergeant Major (SGM). Today, Sergeant Major Echevarria is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency