Helmich, Gerald Robert
Air Force Colonel

Gerald Robert Helmich from Manchester, New Hampshire, Hillsborough county.

Service era: Vietnam

Date of death: November 12, 1968
Death details: Major Gerald R. Helmich, who joined the U.S. Air Force from New Hampshire, served with the 6th Special Operation Squadron. On November 12, 1969, piloting an A-1H Skyraider (tail number 52-139821, call sign “Spad 2”) Major Helmich participated in a search and rescue (SAR) mission over Laos. He was ordered to lay a smoke screen in preparation for the extraction attempt. Another pilot on the SAR mission saw Maj Helmich’s Skyraider crash in the vicinity of (GC) WE 747 328. No parachute was seen, and no rescue beeper signal was detected. Several SAR efforts were conducted without success. Subsequent to the incident, and while carried in the status of missing in action (MIA), the U.S. Air Force promoted Major Helmich to the rank of Colonel (Col). Today, Colonel Helmich is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency