from Freehold

Walter Francis Wrobleski from Freehold, New Jersey.

Service era: Vietnam

Date of death: May 21, 1967
Death details: On May 21, 1967, a UH-1C Iroquois (tail number 65-9480, call sign “Wolf Pack 480”) with a crew of four participated in an extraction mission in the Ashau Valley, South Vietnam. The flight of seven helicopters sighted the patrol in the vicinity of grid coordinates YC 458 874, Thua Thien Province; however, as this UH-1C began laying down covering fire for the extraction, it was hit by a burst of heavy machine gun fire. The engine immediately failed, and the helicopter was then hit by another burst of fire that sent it out of control. It crashed, rolled down a small ravine and caught fire. The crew flashed a red signal indicating they had survived the crash, and despite heavy enemy fire, another helicopter managed to rescue one of the crewmen. The following day a second signal alerted rescuers to the position of a second crew man, whom they extracted. U.S. Army Rangers found the third crew man alive the next day and he was able to walk out of the area with them. Despite intensive aerial and ground searches, the fourth crew member from this helicopter was never found.

Warrant Officer 1 Walter Francis Wrobleski, who joined the U.S. Army from New Jersey, served with the 281th Aviation Company, 10th Aviation Battalion, 17th Aviation Group. He was the pilot of the downed helicopter, and he was not recovered by search forces. He remains unaccounted for. After the incident, the Army promoted Warrant Office 1 Wrobleski to the rank of Chief Warrant Officer 3. Today, Chief Warrant Officer 3 Wrobleski is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency