Beckwith, Harry Medfor III
Army Sergeant

Harry Medfor III Beckwith from Flint, Michigan, Genesee county.

Service era: Vietnam

Date of death: Wednesday, March 24, 1971
Death details: Sergeant Harry Medford Beckwith III entered the U.S. Army from Michigan and served in Troop D, 3rd Squadron, 5th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade, 5th Infantry Division. On March 24, 1971, he was a crew member on an OH-58A Kiowa that crashed at (GC) XD 668 534 after being hit by enemy anti-aircraft fire shortly after departing its forward command post at Ham Nhi, South Vietnam. Sergeant Beckwith died in the crash, and a rescue helicopter was immediately dispatched to the crash site and recovered his remains. Shortly after taking off, however, SGT Beckwith’s remains were seen falling out of the rescue helicopter. Other aircraft in the area moved in to attempt to observe where his body fell, but it could not be located. Further attempts to reach his remains were unsuccessful, and he is still unaccounted for. Today, Sergeant Beckwith is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency