O’Hara, Robert Charles
Army Sergeant 1st class

Robert Charles O’Hara, age 19, from Lost Nation, Iowa, Clinton county.

Service era: Vietnam

Parents: John R. (1916-78) and Ruth C. (1919-93)

Date of death: February 6, 1969

Death details: On February 6, 1969, he was the crew chief aboard a UH-1H Iroquois (tail number 67-17499, call sign “Black Cat 28”) on a resupply mission to Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam. Bad weather caused the aircraft to turn back and at some point it crashed, killing SFC O’Hara. Search and rescue efforts failed to locate the crash site, and SFC O’Hara’s remains could not be recovered at the time. Between 1990 and 1995, U.S. investigators interviewed witnesses and reviewed artifacts that eventually led to the crash site in Quang Tri Province. In 1995 and 1996, investigators revisited the crash site and recovered human remains and personal artifacts, and were eventually able to identify SFC O’Hara from these remains.

Cemetery: Lost Nation

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, grave markers