Omelia, Dennis William
Army Chief warrant officer 3

Dennis William Omelia, age 19, from Smithfield, North Carolina, Johnston county.

Service era: Vietnam

Date of death: Sunday, January 3, 1971
Death details: On January 3, 1971, a U-6A Beaver (tail number 52-2584) took off carrying a pilot and six passengers on an administrative support flight from Qui Nhon to Ban Me Thuot, South Vietnam. The flight was over mountainous terrain and flown in inclement weather. Radar contact was lost with the aircraft fourteen miles southeast of Phu Cat, South Vietnam, in the vicinity of (GC) BR 960 250, and the U-6A never reached Ban Me Thuot. Attempts to locate the aircraft, pilot, or any of the passengers following the disappearance were unsuccessful. Warrant Officer 1 Dennis William O’Melia entered the U.S. Army from North Carolina and was a member of the 61st Aviation Company, 223rd Aviation Battalion, 17th Aviation Group, 1st Aviation Brigade. He was a passenger aboard this U-6A when it was lost on January 3, 1971, and he remains unaccounted-for. After the incident, the U.S. Army promoted WO1 O’Melia to the rank of Chief Warrant Officer 3 (CWO3). Today, Chief Warrant Officer 3 O’Melia is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency