Cochrane, Deverton C. Army sergeant 1st class
Deverton C. Cochrane, age 21, from Brookline, Massachusetts, Norfolk county.
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: June 16, 1970
Death details: On June 16, 1970, a five-man U.S. Army Ranger reconnaissance team deployed from Fire Support Base (FSB) David in Cambodia on an area search mission (vicinity of 48P YU 381 611; Indian 1960 datum). A helicopter inserted the team into the area and they spent the night in a defensive position. The next morning, the team began their search, discovered an enemy bunker and engaged in a firefight with enemy soldiers. The team leader was killed during the action, and the assistant team leader was killed while attempting to reach him. Two other team members were also wounded, and the remaining team member dragged his wounded companions into cover in deep grass and returned to FSB David for help. The following day, a search and rescue (SAR) team managed to extract the two wounded team members, but were unable to locate the team leader and assistant team leader. SAR teams searched for their bodies for the next five days but could not locate them.
Staff Sergeant Deverton Carpenter Cochrane, who joined the U.S. Army from Massachusetts, served with Company H, 75th Infantry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division. He was the leader of the Ranger team who was mortally wounded by enemy fire during this firefight, further attempts to recover his remains were unsuccessful. Subsequent to the incident, and while carried in the status of missing in action (MIA), the U.S. Army promoted Staff Sergeant Cochrane to the rank of Sergeant First Class (SFC). Today, Sergeant First Class Cochrane is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
