Schell, Richard John
Army Major

Richard John Schell from Minneiska, Minnesota, Winoa county.

Service era: Vietnam

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.

First Lieutenant Richard John Schell, who entered the U.S. Army from Minnesota, served with the Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 4th Infantry Division, and was a passenger aboard this Iroquois at the time of its loss. He was not recovered by search and rescue teams, and remains unaccounted for. Following this incident, the Army posthumously promoted 1LT Schell to the rank of Major (MAJ). Today, Major Schell is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency