Nolan, Joseph Paul Jr.
Army Captain

Joseph Paul Nolan Jr,, age 20, from Oak Park, Illinois, Cook county.

Service era: Vietnam

Date of death: Wednesday, May 16, 1971
Death details:  On May 16, 1971, a UH-1H Iroquois (tail number 68-15491, call sign “Chalk 7”) with four crew members participated in a combat assault mission inserting Army of Vietnam soldiers into an area in Thua Thien Province, South Vietnam. The helicopter was the seventh helicopter to land during the mission, and the pilots of the fifth and sixth helicopters reported receiving hostile fire as they lifted off from the landing zone. After this UH-1 touched down, the pilot radioed that he was taking enemy fire, and that his crew chief was wounded. As he took off, the helicopter lost rotor power, crashed into the trees, and caught fire. Witnesses saw no survivors exit the helicopter. Enemy activity prevented an immediate search and rescue effort, and a later ground search failed to locate the remains of all but one of the U.S. crew aboard the helicopter.

First Lieutenant Joseph Paul Nolan Jr., who joined the U.S. Army from Illinois, served with Company A, 101st Aviation Battalion, 101st Airborne Division. He was the pilot of the UH-1 when it crashed, and his remains were not recovered. After the incident, the Army promoted First Lieutenant Nolan to the rank of Captain. Today, Captain Nolan is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency