Tag: UH-1H Iroquois (serial number unknown) that carried eight in total and flying to Fire Support Base Katum

Robert Milton Young from New Alexandria, Pennsylvania, Westmoreland county.

Service era: Vietnam

Date of death: May 2, 1970
Death details: On November 5, 1997, Joint Task Force-Full Accounting (JTF-FA, now DPAA) identified the remains of Captain Robert Milton Young, missing from the Vietnam War.

Captain Young joined the U.S. Army from Pennsylvania and was a member of the 34th Armored Battalion, 25th Infantry Division. On May 2, 1970, he was a passenger aboard a UH-1H Iroquois (tail number 68-16512) on a logistical support mission to Katum fire support base in Vietnam. The Iroquois was damaged by ground fire during its flight, forcing it to make an emergency landing. The crew left the aircraft and took cover from approaching Vietnamese communist forces. Captain Young was captured, and he died of illness while in enemy hands in September 1972. In 1989, the Vietnamese government returned to U.S. custody a set of unidentified remains they had associated with CPT Young’s loss incident. In November 1997, forensic analysis identified the remains as those of CPT Young.

Source: National Archives., Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

Dale Wayne Richardson, age 28, from Cashton, Wisconsin, Monroe county.

Service era: Vietnam
Military history: 2nd Battalion, 34th Armor Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division

Date of death: May 2, 1970
Death details:On August 21, 2015, the Department of Defense announced it identified the remains of Major Dale W. Richardson, missing from the Vietnam War.

Major Richardson, who joined the U.S. Army from Wisconsin, served with Company D, 2nd Battalion, 34th Armored Regiment, 25th Infantry Division. On May 2, 1970, he was a passenger aboard a UH-1H Iroquois (serial number unknown) that carried eight in total and flying to Fire Support Base Katum, South Vietnam. At some point, the helicopter was diverted due to bad weather. It flew into Cambodian air space where it was hit by enemy ground fire. The pilot made an emergency landing in Kampong Cham Province, Cambodia. The four crew members and four passengers survived the crash landing, but three, including MA Richardson, died in a firefight with enemy soldiers that occurred after the landing. One U.S. soldier escaped, but the rest were taken as prisoners of war. The bodies of the three men killed in the firefight were not recovered until February 2012, when a Joint U.S./Cambodian team located the crash site and recovered human remains, and forensic analysis identified MAJ Richardson among the remains recovered from the site.
Cemetery: Mountain View, Arkansas

Source: National Archives, Department of Defense, WGEM, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

Rodney Lynn Griffin from Centralia, Missouri, Boone county.

Service era: Vietnam

Date of death: May 2, 1970
Death details: On January 27, 2015, the Department of Defense announced it had identified the remains of Sergeant Rodney Lynn Griffin, missing from the Vietnam War.

Sergeant Griffin, who entered the U.S. Army from Missouri, served with the 2nd Battalion, 34th Armored Regiment, 25th Infantry Division. On May 2, 1970, he was a passenger aboard a UH-1H Iroquois (serial number unknown) that carried eight in total and flying to Fire Support Base Katum, South Vietnam. At some point, the helicopter was diverted due to bad weather. It flew into Cambodian air space where it was hit by enemy ground fire. The pilot made an emergency landing in Kampong Cham Province, Cambodia. The four crew members and four passengers survived the crash landing, but three, including SGT Griffin, died in a firefight with enemy soldiers that occurred after the landing. One U.S. soldier escaped, but the rest were taken as prisoners of war. The bodies of the three men killed in the firefight were not recovered until February 2012, when a Joint U.S./Cambodian team located the crash site and recovered human remains, and forensic analysis identified SGT Griffin among the remains recovered from the site.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

Bunyan Durant Jr. Price from Belmont, North Carolina, Gaston county.

Service era: Vietnam

Date of death: Saturday, May 2, 1970

Death details: On August 21, 2015, the Department of Defense announced that it identified the remains of Staff Sergeant Bunyan Durant Price Jr., missing from the Vietnam War.

Staff Sergeant Price, who joined the U.S. Army from North Carolina, served with Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion, 34th Armored Regiment, 25th Infantry Division. On May 2, 1970, he was a passenger aboard a UH-1H Iroquois (serial number unknown) that carried eight in total and flying to Fire Support Base Katum, South Vietnam. At some point, the helicopter was diverted due to bad weather. It flew into Cambodian air space where it was hit by enemy ground fire. The pilot made an emergency landing in Kampong Cham Province, Cambodia. The four crew members and four passengers survived the crash landing, but three, including SSG Price, died in a firefight with enemy soldiers that occurred after the landing. One U.S. soldier escaped, but the rest were taken as prisoners of war. The bodies of the three men killed in the firefight were not recovered until February 2012, when a Joint U.S./Cambodian team located the crash site and recovered human remains, and forensic analysis identified SSG Price among the remains recovered from the site.

Staff Sergeant Price is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency