Cascade High School Leavenworth WA

Birth 27NOV51 Rank PFC Date of Death 02MAR71 P. of birth   Service Army Place Long Khanh, S. Vietnam Town of Record Leavenworth Unit 25th Inf Div, C Co, 2nd Bn, 12th Inf Death Code Hostile, Died; Ground Casualty; Other Explosive Device Hometown   service # 539504939 Panel 04WEST - 16   married Single MIA -   Medals   Tour Date 01DEC70 Comment   Cemetery

Rodney Dee OSBORNE

Birth 05DEC49 Rank SP5 Date of Death 04MAR71 P. of birth   Service Army Place N. Vietnam Town of Record Kent Unit 138th Radio Research Co (AVN) Death Code Hostile Died Missing; Fixed Wing - NonCrew; Air Loss Crash - Land BNR Hometown   service # 537529737 Panel 04WEST - 21   married Single MIA - BNR Medals   Tour Date   Comment   Cemetery

(MIA information extracted from the POWNETWORK.org and ASA)   Rodney D. Osborne was the technical observer aboard a JU21-A twin engine turbo prop that departed Phu Bai, 4 Mar 1971, on a top secret mission. Operating under the direction of the U.S. Army Security Agency Group the plane's job was classified electronic observation (still classified "Reportedly, the aircraft's mission was to collect intelligence regarding surface-to-air missile sites, either in the DMZ or just north of it."). Because of the nature of the work Osborne has two unit designations...138th Aviation Company, 224th Aviation Battalion, 509th RR (Radio Research) Group and the real unit...138th ASA Company, 224th ASA Battalion (Aviation), U.S. Army Security Agency Group, Vietnam. Little is known of the downing of the plane. Two hours into the mission all radio and radar communication was lost. Search efforts were initiated. A reliable source indicated that an aerial detonation occurred about the time and location the plane went missing. More information about the death of Osborne and the rest of the 5 man crew can be found at Pownetwork.org and National Security Agency

David Lindford NELSON

Birth 10NOV43 Rank CAPT Date of Death 05MAR71 P. of birth Ft. Walters TX Service Army (Reserve) Place Laos Town of Record Kirkland Unit Company C, 158th Aviation Battalion, 101st Airborne Brigade Death Code Hostile Died Missing; Helicopter - Crew; Air Loss Crash - Land Hometown   service # 532403302 Panel 04WEST - 25   married Single MIA - remains found Medals   Tour Date 01SEP70 Comment   Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery, September 1990

(MIA report extracted from P.O.W. Network). David Lindford Nelson was born 10 Nov 1943 Ft. Walters TX and became MIA in Laos 5 Mar 1971. His unit was Company C, 158th Aviation Battalion, 101st Airborne Brigade. His Helicopter (he was aircraft commander) was part of Operation Dewey Canyon II. While on final approach to Landing Zone Sophia with seven or eight South Vietnamese soldiers on board, the helicopter has hit. The pilot attempted to bring the helicopter in but moments later, a helicopter was observed by crewmen bursting into flames and crashing. It was believed that it was Nelson's aircraft. No search was made. All the men aboard were declared KIA - BNR (killed in action - bodies not recovered). In 1988 a former officer in the Royal Lao Army (now living in the US) stated on national television that he knew David Nelson... and had been held prisoner with him and another American. In Jan 1990 a joint US/Lao team excavated the site of the crash of the helicopter... No remains were found for David Nelson and very little material for the rest... He and the other three Americans and the South Vietnamese on board were declared "officially" dead. All the men, American and South Vietnamese were buried in Arlington National Cemetery in a group burial... This is one of those controversies....
For greater information - P.O.W. Network

Edward Lee RAYBURN

Birth 05MAR50 Rank SP4 Date of Death 05MAR71 P. of birth Lafayette IN Service Army Place Binh Dinh, S. Vietnam Town of Record Milton Unit 1st Avn Bde 180th, Aviation Co Death Code Non-Hostile Died; Helicopter - Crew; Air Loss Crash - Land Hometown   service # 316544665 Panel 04WEST - 25   married Single MIA -   Medals   Tour Date 02FEB71 Comment   Cemetery

Spec. 4 Edward Lee Rayburn, 21, of 1104 Juniper St., Milton, was killed 5 Mar (1971) in Vietnam. He was born in Lafayette IN, and his family lived in the Milton area the past five years. He had served in the Army four years and this was his second tour of duty as a helicopter crew chief. Survivors include his mother, Mrs. Madeline Rayburn; his father, Royal Rayburn, with the U.S. Army in California; a sister, Margaret, of the home; two brothers, Robert Dean and Larry Dwayne, both of the home; and his grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Robert Nelson, of Milton; and Mrs. Bertha Rayburn, of Lafayette. Services with full military honors will be announced by Powers Wrigley Clements Funeral Home, Puyallup. (Tacoma News Tribune, Tacoma WA, 12 Mar 1971)

Hyrum Barry PORT

Birth 12FEB48 Rank CWO Date of Death 07MAR71 P. of birth   Service Army Place Quang Tri, S. Vietnam Town of Record Pittsburgh PA Unit Americal Div, F Trp, 8th Cav Death Code Non-Hostile Died Missing; Helicopter - Crew; Air Loss Crash - Land Local Wenatchee service # 534462246 Panel 04WEST - 31 married Single Links BYU and My Bro Medals   Tour Date 10JUL70 Comment   Cemetery

Merle E. LOOBEY

Birth 17JAN31 Rank SFC Date of Death 09MAR71 P. of birth   Service Army Place Kien Giang, S. Vietnam Town of Record Olympia Unit A Special Forces "A" Det in the 10th SF GP 1963 Death Code Hostile, Died; Ground Casualty; Gun, Small Arms Fire Hometown   service # 533229615 Panel 04WEST - 30   married Married MIA -   Medals   Tour Date 10DEC70 Comment   Cemetery

Keith Allan BRANDT

Birth 27DEC40 Rank CAPT Date of Death 18MAR71 P. of birth   Service Army (Reserve) Place Laos Town of Record Bellingham Unit D Co, 101st Aviation Bn, 101st Airborne Div Death Code Hostile Died Missing; Helicopter - Crew; Air Loss Crash - Land Hometown   service # 533883257 Panel 04WEST - 57   married Married MIA - BNR Medals   Tour Date 03NOV70 Comment Remains Recovered Jan. 1990 ID Announced 19JUL90 Cemetery

(MIA Report Extracted from P.O.W. Network) Born 27 Dec 1940, Keith Allan Brandt, D Company 101st Aviation Battalion 101st Airborne Division, was the pilot of a Cobra gunship who responded to a call for help by trapped ARVN who were withdrawing from Tchepone and being pursued by the enemy. Brandt provided air support to keep them men from being over run while waiting for helicopters to come in. Brandt and his crewmember, Alan Boffman had returned to Khe Sahn for refueling and rearming three times during the long afternoon. When the helicopters arrived Brant volunteered to show them the location of the ARVN... and as they moved in they were struck by enemy fire and the Cobra was shot down. There was no hope of survival for the men aboard. A 1990 joint American/Lao team excavated the crash site in 1990 and Capt Brandt and Boffman were returned to their families. (personal note... all of these extractions from the P.O.W. Network are hard for me to do... This one was particularily difficult.)
for much more information P.O.W. Network

David Clyde LANCASTER

Birth 18MAY48 Rank WO Date of Death 21MAR71 P. of birth   Service Army (Reserve) Place Laos Town of Record Everett Unit 1st Avn Bde, C Trp, 7th Sqdr, 17th Cav Death Code Hostile, Helicopter Pilot, Air Loss, Crash on Land Hometown   service # 538462222 Panel 04WEST - 63   married Married MIA -   Medals   Tour Date 29SEP70 Comment   Cemetery   Cascade High School, Everett WA, 1966

Killed in Action The Defense Department said Monday that WO David C. Lancaster, Everett WA, had been killed in action in the Southeast Asian war. The department said his widow, Christine, lives in Everett. (The Bellingham Herald, Bellingham WA, Tuesday 30 Mar 1971)

Larry Arnold SIMONSON

Birth 14SEP49 Rank SP4 Date of Death 25MAR71 P. of birth   Service Army (Draft) Place Laos Town of Record Mercer Island Unit 1st Avn Bde, 173rd, Avn Co, 223rd Avn Bn, 12th Avn Grp Death Code Hostile, Died; Helicopter - Crew; Air Loss, Crash - Land Hometown   service # 534506265 Panel 04WEST - 78   married Single MIA -   Medals   Tour Date 28AUG70 Comment   Cemetery

Island boy Dies in Laos
    Mr. and Mrs. Arnold Simonson of Mercer Island received word Sunday that their son, Larry L. Simonson, 21, had been killed Thursday, 25 Mar (1971), while assisting in the evacuation of South Vietnamese troops from Laos.
    Larry, a Specialist 4 with the United States Army, was door gunner on a helicopter crew. His parents said he had survived being shot down three times, once with forty bulletholes counted in the ship. He was hit Thursday by mortar fire while his craft was on the ground in Laos, refuelling.
    Mr. and Mrs. Simonson last weekend received a letter from their son indicating the immense danger under which he had been living daily. Portions of the letter are reprinted here in. He had been in Vietnam seven months and three days, his last stations being Dong Ha and Quang Tri in Laos.
    "Larry was not enthusiastic about the war," said his minister, Reverend Burdette Palmberg of Island Covenant Church. "But he felt his only viable alternative was to, as he said, 'serve my nation, the nation I live in and want to continue to live in,'" He had lost his roommate a short time before he himself was killed, Rev. Palmberg added.
    Larry, a Mercer Island Reporter junior dealer for four years, was born in Seattle, lived 19 years with his family on Mercer Island. At North Mercer Junior High School he was active in track and football. Ring Thorgerson, one of Larry's favorite teachers, said Larry was well-liked by teachers and students, was always willing to do what he was asked in a quiet, non-assuming way. "He was a good boy," Thorgerson said, "who did not get into trouble. Those of us who knew him are deeply grieved by what has happened."
    After graduating from Mercer Island High School in 1968, Larry attended Bellevue Community College for two quarters. He was number one in the draft lottery, and entered the service 27 Jan 1970.
    His brother Jack, attends North Mercer; Neal, 11, Mercer Crest Elementary School. both handle Larry's old Reporter route.
    His brother Jack, 14 attends North Merc Funeral arrangements were not yet final by the Reporter's presstime. Later information can be obtained from Green's Funeral Home, Bellevue, or from Rev. Palmberg, who will conduct the service. The Simonsons said their son will be buried in Olympia.

Excerpts from Larry Simonson's Last Letter... , March 21, 1971
    "Hi Mon, Dad, Jack and Neal...
    "Well, we are taking troops out of Laos now and it is even worse than when we put them in.
    "Helicopters are getting shot down right and left...
    "Things over here are really bad, Like wow, when we go into a LZ to pick up the ARVNS the NVA are also in there shooting at us. It's just like target practice.
    "You've got to keep your eyes open every second because the NVA pop up behind trees, pop up out of holes and everywhere to fire at you. Everytime we go into a place I'm shooting the guns like crazy.
    "then the ARVNS try to overload the helicopters and we have to push them off. It's hard to do but it's either them or you.
    "Every time we go into an LZ we get mortared, so we have to get out of there as quick as possible.
    "The ARVNS are so scared that when the helicopter takes off they jump up and grab a hold of the skids and hang on. I've seen ARVNS fall 4,000 feet or more from helicopters because of hanging on the skids. "So now we put grease on the skids so they can't even hold onto the skids.
    "It's really bad, and if you think what I just wrote sounds bad, imagine it 100 times worse and then you'll know what it's like over here. Just can't wait till we get out.
    "....We are supposed to get rocketted and mortarred tonight. We have already had two mortars come in, but they landed so far away that I thought they were outgoing.
    "(When I get home) I will have a nice car and school all paid for. But what a price to pay for it!"
    "Will see you all soon ...don't worry about me as I'll be all right...
"Larry." (MIReporter, Mercer Island WA, Apr 71)

Lester James MOE

Birth 16AUG44 Rank TM1 Date of Death 29MAR71 P. of birth   Service Navy Place Kien Hoa, S. Vietnam Town of Record Olympia Unit RPLT SEAL TM1 Death Code Hostile, Died; Ground Casualty; Other Explosive Device Hometown   service # 503500754 Panel 04WEST - 92   married Married MIA -   Medals   Tour Date 26OCT70 Comment Seal Team 1 Cemetery