Medaris, Rick Eggburtus
Army Staff sergeant

Rick Eggburtus Medaris from Jenison, Michigan, Ottawa county.

Service era: Vietnam

Date of death: Tuesday, November 4, 1969
Death details: On September 5, 1973, the Central Identification Laboratory–Thailand (CILT, now DPAA) identified the remains of Staff Sergeant Rick Eggburtus Medaris, missing from the Vietnam War.

Staff Sergeant Medaris entered the U.S. Army from Michigan and was a member of the 155th Assault Helicopter Company. On November 4, 1969, he was a passenger aboard a UH-1H Iroquois (tail number 68-16057) on a routine administrative flight over central Vietnam. The flight encountered inclement weather while over Lam Dong Province and crashed, killing SSG Medaris. A ground search team was unable to locate the crash site and SSG Medaris’ remains could not be recovered at the time. In 1973, U.S. investigators located the crash site and recovered personal artifacts, aircraft wreckage, and human remains, and were able to identify SSG Medaris from these remains.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency