GARY LEE NEWPORT

Birth 02SEP45 Rank PFC Date of Death 02JUL66 P. of birth   Service Army (Draft) Place Unknown S. Vietnam Town of Record Roseburg Unit 1st Inf Div A Co 2nd Bn 18th Inf Death Code Hostile, Died; Multiple Fragmentation Wounds Ground Casualty Hometown   service # 56366883 Panel 08EAST - 121 Married Married In Service   Medals Purple Heart   Tour Date 24MAR66 Comment   Cemetery

     MICHAEL MERLE BLANTON

Birth 31AUG47 Rank LCPL Date of Death 05JUL66 P. of birth   Service Marines Place Quang Ngai S. Vietnam Town of Record Portland Unit DELTA CO,1 BN,7 MAR,1 MAR DIV Death Code Hostile, Died; Other Explosive Devices Ground Casualty Hometown   service # 2130566 Panel 08EAST - 132 Married Single In Service 1 yr Medals Purple Heart  Tour Date   Comment   Cemetery Willamette National Cem., Portland OR

     RONALD LEE LONGANECKER

Birth 12OCT47 Rank LCPL Date of Death 08JUL66 P. of birth   Service Marines Place Thua Thien S. Vietnam Town of Record Portland Unit CO A 3DRECONBN 3DMARDIV Death Code Hostile, Died; Air Loss, Crash - Land Helicopter - NonCrew Hometown   service # 2153617 Panel 09EAST - 07 Married Single Link Portlands MIA's Medals Purple Heart   MIA BNR Comment   Cemetery

Extracted information from the POWNetwork) On 8 July 1966, LCpl Ronald Lee Longanecker, 18, entered the stats as the first Marine to be killed in action from hostile causes in Quang Tri Province and the first Marine to be listed as KIA/BNR. It started simple enough 2 H46's were to insert a recon team southwest of Cam Lo. After insertion the team came under heavy fire and were successfully extracted and sent back to base. Two hours later they were ordered to try again... Same idea but two miles southeast of the previous attempt and at a higher elevation. The first chopper attempted a landing and was hit by heavy fire. The pilot aborted the insertion and miraculously made it out. That chopper tried to warn the second chopper, put it had already been hit by devastating ground fire and was losing power. The pilot manage to fly a short distance before bouncing down and rolling over. A fire started immediately and the crew and marines scrambled out. The first chopper had followed the second one in and landed close by. Men from that helicopter quickly secured a perimeter and the crashed Reconners ran for the safety of the chopper. Two men ran to the burning helicopter which was lying in heavy brush. One of the men reported that he saw Longanecker sitting inside the chopper on his back inside the helicopter obviously dead. The fire was spreading and the remaining men ran for it. They were about 50 meters away when the chopper blew ... all this the above information is from "Never without Heroes" written by Lawrence C. Vetter Jr. George Neville created a webpage Longanecker ... More information about this incident is available at PowNetWork.Org and Longanecker

     FELIPE VILLANUEVA

Birth 26JAN44 Rank PFC Date of Death 13JUL66 P. of birth   Service Army (Draft) Place Unknown S. Vietnam Town of Record Ontario Unit HHC USASUPCOM SGN Death Code Non Hostile, Died Other; Other Causes Ground Casualty Hometown   service # 56336140 Panel 09EAST - 19 Married Single In Service   Medals   Tour Date 19MAY66 Comment   Cemetery

     JOHN DOUGLAS CAREY

Birth 23NOV46 Rank PFC Date of Death 16JUL66 P. of birth   Service Marines Place Quang Tri S. Vietnam Town of Record Salem Unit A Co, 3RD MED Bn, 3RD MAR DIV Death Code Hostile, Died; Guns, Small Arms Fire; Ground Casualty Hometown   service # 2153625 Panel 09EAST - 27 Married Single In Service   Medals Purple Heart   Tour Date   Comment   Cemetery Willamette National Cem., Portland OR

     ROBERT GRAHAM NOPP

Birth 19SEP34 Rank LTC Date of Event 17JUL66 P. of birth  Velva, ND Service Army (Reserve) Place LZ Laos Town of Record Salem Unit 131st Aviation Company,14th Aviation Battalion Death Code Non Hostile, Died Missing; Air Loss, Crash - Land Fixed Wing - Pilot Hometown   service # 541344119 Panel 09EAST - 20 Married Married Declared Dead 01DEC77 Medals   MIA BNR Comment   Cemetery

MIA information from pownetwork.org on 14 Jul 1966, Capt. Robert G. Nopp, flew out of Hu Bai Airbase at Hue in an OV1C aircraft on a classified surveillance mission over Laos. He and his observer would use infrared detection equipment and a forward-aimed camera to detect enemy movement. More information available at Pownetwork.org

Photo & Bio Source: http://www.taskforceomegainc.org/N015.htm

     LAWRENCE HUMES WILSON Jr

Birth 29AUG46 Rank PFC Date of Death 19JUL66 P. of birth   Service Army (Draft) Place Unknown S. Vietnam Town of Record Lorane Unit 25th Inf Div A Co 1st Bn 27th Inf Death Code Hostile, Died Missing; Multiple Fragmentation Wounds Ground Casualty Hometown   service # 56409123 Panel 09EAST - 44 Married Single In Service   Medals Purple Heart   Tour Date 20APR66 Comment   Cemetery

GI From Lorane Killed in Vietnam A 1965 of Crow High School has been killed while on patrol in Vietnam. Pfc. Lawrence H. Wilson, 19, son of Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence Wilson of Lorane, was killed Tuesday while patrolling with Company A, 1st Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division. He had been in Vietnam four months when killed, his father said. Wilson was the sixth Emerald Empire serviceman killed in Vietnam fighting. Survivors include his parents, a brother Carl, 15, and a sister, Margaret, 17. Funeral services are pending at Poole-Larsen Funeral Home in Eugene. (Eugene Register Guard, Eugene OR, July 1966)

Thank you Oregon Genealogical Society

     ROBERT EUGENE HOSKINSON

Birth 26JUL29 Rank COL Date of Event 29JUL66 P. of birth   Service Air Force Place NZ N.Vietnam Town of Record Moro Unit  TDY from 467th Combat Support Group to 630th Combat Support Group Udorn, Thailand Death Code Hostile, Died Missing; Air Loss, Crash - Land Fixed Wing - Pilot Hometown   service # 540325288 Panel 09EAST - 87 Married Married Declared Dead 16FEB78 Medals Purple Heart   MIA BNR Comment   Cemetery

On 29 July, Maj. Galileo F. Bossio, aircraft commander; then Capt. Robert E. Hoskinson, pilot; Capt. Bernard Conklin, co-pilot; 1st Lt. Vincent A. Chiarello, intelligence officer; 1st Lt. Robert J. DiTommaso, intelligence officer; SSgt. James S. Hall, radar operator; TSgt. John M. Mamiya, crew chief; and TSgt. Herbert E. Smith, crew chief; comprised the crew of an unarmed RC47D Airborne Command and Control aircraft on a classified operational mission under the code name Project Dogpatch. Their call sign was also "Dogpatch." Further, this was no ordinary crew. Its members were extremely well trained and experienced in their respective fields, and were brought together from different units for this mission.