Wallace, Michael John
Army Sergeant 1st class

Michael John Wallace from Ann Arbor, Michigan, Washtenaw county.

Service era: Vietnam

Date of death: April 19, 1968
Death details: On April 19, 1968, a CH-47 Chinook (tail number 66-19063) on a resupply mission in the A Shau Valley area, South Vietnam, was approaching its landing zone when it was struck by enemy machine gun and anti-aircraft artillery fire. The helicopter caught fire, lost control, and crashed to the ground. However, before it crashed, while it was still slightly above the jungle canopy, two crew members jumped out of the burning aircraft. Three other crew men, who survived the crash and were subsequently rescued, said they did not see these two men again after the crash, and search personnel could not locate them.

Specialist 5 Michael John Wallace, who entered the U.S. Army from Michigan, served with Company B of the 228th Aviation Battalion, 1st Cavalry Division, and was one of the two crew men who jumped out of this helicopter before it crashed. He remains unaccounted for. Following the incident, the Army promoted Specialist 5 Wallace to the rank of Sergeant First Class. Today, Sergeant First Class Wallace is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency