Mohawk crash 3 October 1969

Cunningham, Kenneth Leroy
Army Staff sergeant

Kenneth Leroy Cunningham, age 21, from Ellery, Illinois, Edwards county.

Service era: Vietnam

Parents: Arthur N. (1916-1988) and Margaret R. (1918-2015)

Date of death: October 3, 1969
Death details:  The Department of Defense announced in 2006 that the remains of a Cunningham were identified.

Army Staff Sgt. Kenneth L. Cunningham, 21, of Ellery, Illinois, was buried in 2006 in Albion, Illinois. On Oct. 3, 1969, Cunningham was assigned to the 225th Aviation Company, 223rd Aviation Battalion, 17th Aviation Group, 1st Aviation Brigade, as a crewmember of an OV-1C aircraft. Cunningham and his pilot were conducting a night surveillance mission when they failed to return at their scheduled time. On Oct. 5, a search and rescue aircraft crew located OV-1 wreckage atop a 7,000-foot mountain peak north of Kon Tum Town, South Vietnam. Due to inclement weather, a ground party was unable to land, and hostile activity in the area further rendered recovery efforts unsuccessful. Cunningham was declared missing in action.

In March 1993, a joint U.S./Socialist Republic of Vietnam (S.R.V.) team interviewed witnesses in Kon Tum Province about the crash of the aircraft. The team surveyed the crash site and recovered various aircraft parts, aircrew related items, and personal effects.

In April 1996, January 1997, and in November 2010, additional joint U.S./S.R.V. teams excavated the crash site and a possible burial site, finding possible human remains, aircraft wreckage, personal effects, and military gear.

To identify Cunningham’s remains, scientists from DPAA and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory used anthropological analysis and mitochondrial DNA analysis, which matched his mother and brother, as well as circumstantial and material evidence.

Cemetery: Little Prarie in Albion, Illinois

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

Graffe, Paul Leroy
Army Captain

Paul Leroy Graffe from Shelton, Washington, Mason county.

Service era: Vietnam

Date of death: Friday, October 3, 1969
Death details: On October 3, 1969, an OV-1C Mohawk (tail number 61-02679, call sign “Phantom Hawk 01”) with two crew members on board departed Phu Hiep Airfield on an infrared surveillance mission of enemy targets in South Vietnam. During the mission, the Mohawk’s pilot informed another aircraft that he was continuing the mission for thirty minutes and would then return to Phu Hiep. The pilot made no further radio contact. When the Mohawk failed to return to base, attempts at electronic contact were made but were unsuccessful. On October 5, a search and rescue aircraft located the missing Mohawk’s wreckage on a mountain north of Kontum at grid coordinates ZB 109 553. Inclement weather precluded ground searches at the time. Further recovery efforts were prevented by the threat of enemy forces in the area.

First Lieutenant Paul Leroy Graffe entered the U.S. Army from Washington and was a member of the 225th Aviation Company, 223rd Aviation Battalion, 17th Aviation Group, 1st Aviation Brigade. He was the pilot of the OV-1C when it crashed, and his remains were not recovered. After the incident, the Army promoted First Lieutenant Graffe to the rank of captain. Today, Captain Graffe is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

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