Hill, Rayford Jerome
Navy Petty officer 3rd class

Rayford Jerome Hill from Houston, Texas, Harris county.

Service era: Vietnam

Date of death: Thursday, October 2, 1969.

On October 2, 1969, a C-2A Greyhound (bureau number 152796) carrying five crew members and twenty passengers took off on a routine logistics support flight from Cubi Point Naval Station, Republic of the Philippines, to the USS Constellation (CVA 64) in the Gulf of Tonkin. En route, the aircraft was in radio and radar contact with the carrier when it suddenly disappeared from the radar. There were no distress calls or beepers heard. An extensive air and surface search was begun immediately and recovered some personal effects and aircraft debris, but no survivors. Eventually, a crash site was discovered off the coast of North Vietnam, however, no remains were recovered.

Aviation Structural Mechanic Third Class Rayford Jerome Hill, who joined the U.S. Navy from Texas, served with Fleet Tactical Support Squadron 50. He was a loadmaster trainee aboard the Greyhound when it crashed, and his remains have not been recovered. Today, Aviation Structural Mechanic Third Class Hill 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