David Joseph Underhill, age 19, from Rutland County Rutland, Vermont .
Parents: Harry E. Underhill
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Friday, April 15, 1966
Death details: Killed when struck by the debris from a helicopter that crashed on the USS Kitty Hawk.
Cemetery: Cavalry
Source: National Archives, Associated Press (1966), Rutland Daily Herald (1966), , Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
Michael Richard Zerbe, age 24, from San Diego County Julian, California .
Parents: Richard and Marguerite Zerbe
Spouse: Kathy
Children: Sterling, 1
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Friday, April 15, 1966
Death details: On April 15, 1966, a UH-2B Sea Sprite (bureau number unknown) with three crew members took off on a test flight from the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk (CVA 63). Immediately after taking off, the helicopter rolled to the left, causing its rotor to strike the catwalk along the flight deck edge and partially disintegrate. The helicopter went over the port side of the flight deck and crashed into the water in the vicinity of (GC) 48Q ZE 080 610. The copilot and another crew member were able to escape the wreck and were picked up by rescuers. However, a thorough search by sea and air units was unable to recover the pilot. Lieutenant Junior Grade Michael Richard Zerbe, who entered the U.S. Navy from California, served with Helicopter Combat Support Squadron 1 and was the pilot of this Sea Sprite when it crashed. He could not be recovered and remains unaccounted for. Today, Lieutenant Junior Grade Zerbe is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. His name is also inscribed along with all his fallen comrades on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, DC.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Ramona Sentinel (1966)