Allard, Richard Michael
Army Sergeant 1st class

Richard Michael Allard from Chesaning, Michigan, Saginaw county.

Service era: Vietnam
Military history: 119th Aviation Company, 52nd Aviation Battalion

Date of death: August 24, 1967
Death details: On August 24, 1967, a UH-1C Iroquois (tail number 66-12526) with four crew members and carrying five passengers took off from Polei Kleng, in Kontum Province, South Vietnam, on a combat support liaison mission to Plei Krong, South Vietnam. The pilot elected to fly at low level along the Krong Bo Lah River. While conducting a 180-degree turn, the aircraft failed to recover and crashed into approximately 10 feet of water in the river. The rainy season caused the river to swell to 100 to 200 meters wide with an approximate current of 20 knots. The river was muddy and debris-filled. Search and rescue helicopters arrived on the scene soon afterward and were able to rescue two of the crew members and two passengers. The other five people aboard the helicopter could not be found by rescuers at the time, although a follow-on search the next month recovered the remains of another passenger. Survivors stated that at least four of the men were swept away by the swift moving current. The remaining two crew members and two passengers were never recovered.
Cemetery: Fort Custer National

Source: National Archives, findagrave.com, Department of Defense