Schmittou, Eureka Lavern
Navy Petty officer 1st class

Eureka Lavern Schmittou, age 38, from Ringgold, Texas, Montague county.

Service era: Vietnam

Date of death: Tuesday, May 23, 1967
Death details: On May 23, 1967, an SH-3A Sea King (bureau 148985, call sign “Chink”) with a crew of four took off from the aircraft carrier USS Hornet (CVS 12) in the Gulf of Tonkin on a search and rescue mission. On their approach, the crew radioed that they expected to be at the destination within half an hour, but made no further contact and was not seen again. A radio check was conducted on all frequencies, but contact with the crew could not be re-established. The helicopter never returned to the Hornet. Aerial and surface searches continued but none of the crew members were ever recovered. Aircrew Survival Equipmentman Second Class Eureka Lavern Schmittou, who joined the U.S. Navy from Texas, was a member of Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron 2, embarked aboard the Hornet. He was a crew member aboard the Sea King when it went missing, and was lost with the aircraft. His remains were not recovered. After the incident, the Navy promoted PR2 Schmittou to the rank of Aircrew Survival Equipmentman First Class (PR1). Today, Aircrew Survival Equipmentman First Class Schmittou is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. Based on all information available, DPAA assessed the individual’s case to be in the analytical category of Non-recoverable.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency