Let us not forget the brave soldiers that died for our country
Summary: While on an armed recon at tree top level and 40 knots, the helicopter blew up and crashed.
Loss of three lives all members of the 1st Cavalry Div
Crew Members:
P 1LT KINGMAN BARRY DEAN KIA
OB SSG AUSTIN VICTOR LEROY KIA
CE PFC ROBERTS RONALD EUGENE KIA
War Story:
I was the pilot in command of this aircraft's wingman on the day of the incident. The OH6 was on an armed reconnaissance mission flying at tree top level at approximately 40 kits. The aircraft blew up and crashed. I was approximately 600 ft above the OH6 looking straight at the aircraft at the time. To this day, I still have no idea what happened to cause the aircraft to blow up; however, we were in a very hostile location. I went down to check for survivors but saw none and received no enemy fire that I know of. I was flying an AH1G Cobra and it was difficult to hear enemy fire unless it was very close, so I could have been taking fire and not known it. If I can be of further assistance please let me know. There were three brave soldiers that died that day.
The last time I saw Barry was when we were both working at Craig Medlen's summer camp in the Santa Cruz Mountains. I think it would have been around 1964. While Paly was socially stratified in many respects, Barry was always friendly and interactive whether you knew him well or not, and always made you feel good about yourself. I remember being so shocked at the news of his death in Vietnam, and saddened. The loss of Barry and Richard Stone really brought Vietnam home for me, and for a lot of us I would imagine. Whenever I am D.C. I visit the Vietnam Memorial and look Barry and Richard up. I'm sorry they never got to live their lives. RIP guys.
Buck, the gentle giant. I played football with Buck at Paly---he was committed, serious and motivated to do his best. I remember going to the Malibu Club in British Columbia with Buck and Craig as we were "selected" to participate in a week long camp with youth from around the Bay Area. Craig's mom thought it was a Communist organization; basically we didn't know what we were getting into except "Christian" was mentioned somewhere in the initial discussions. During our stay there, Buck, Craig and I used our time to stay in shape for football and I recall Buck always referring to us as "Mac",,,,hey, "Mac", what are you doing, etc. Tough, but not really. Such a good guy. Well, it turned out we were all given the big sales talk on the boat ride home when we were all asked to take Christ into our hearts......I think we all said..."OK" and the deal was we were to start a local Young Life club in Palo Alto. I think we had one or two meetings.....then we decided we'd much rather be playing sports or making mischief. Like one Halloween when Buck's father's car was fully pelted by a carton of eggs, ruined the pait job and Buck was in deep doo doo.
A few years after Buck died, Sue and I were in Washington, D.C. where we visited the Viet Nam memorial and had a big emotional cry when we saw his name. For about 10 year after Buck's death, I would have recurring dreams of meeting Buck on the street, at a social gathering or whatever....he was really OK. It was so real. Phew....brings back memories.
Elisabeth Prentice
Buck was such a good guy and a good friend. Died as a Lieutenant in Viet Nam. I last saw him our senior year at UC Berkeley. RIP.
Ron Rundell
Let us not forget the brave soldiers that died for our country
Summary: While on an armed recon at tree top level and 40 knots, the helicopter blew up and crashed.
Loss of three lives all members of the 1st Cavalry Div
Crew Members:
P 1LT KINGMAN BARRY DEAN KIA
OB SSG AUSTIN VICTOR LEROY KIA
CE PFC ROBERTS RONALD EUGENE KIA
War Story:
I was the pilot in command of this aircraft's wingman on the day of the incident. The OH6 was on an armed reconnaissance mission flying at tree top level at approximately 40 kits. The aircraft blew up and crashed. I was approximately 600 ft above the OH6 looking straight at the aircraft at the time. To this day, I still have no idea what happened to cause the aircraft to blow up; however, we were in a very hostile location. I went down to check for survivors but saw none and received no enemy fire that I know of. I was flying an AH1G Cobra and it was difficult to hear enemy fire unless it was very close, so I could have been taking fire and not known it. If I can be of further assistance please let me know. There were three brave soldiers that died that day.
from Bill Rice
David Banker
B D Kingman, UC Berkley. Assigned to 1st Platoon, C Company, ROTC Summer Camp, Fort. Lewis, 1965
Michael Goltzer
The last time I saw Barry was when we were both working at Craig Medlen's summer camp in the Santa Cruz Mountains. I think it would have been around 1964. While Paly was socially stratified in many respects, Barry was always friendly and interactive whether you knew him well or not, and always made you feel good about yourself. I remember being so shocked at the news of his death in Vietnam, and saddened. The loss of Barry and Richard Stone really brought Vietnam home for me, and for a lot of us I would imagine. Whenever I am D.C. I visit the Vietnam Memorial and look Barry and Richard up. I'm sorry they never got to live their lives. RIP guys.
David Banker
Jon Cretarolo
Buck, the gentle giant. I played football with Buck at Paly---he was committed, serious and motivated to do his best. I remember going to the Malibu Club in British Columbia with Buck and Craig as we were "selected" to participate in a week long camp with youth from around the Bay Area. Craig's mom thought it was a Communist organization; basically we didn't know what we were getting into except "Christian" was mentioned somewhere in the initial discussions. During our stay there, Buck, Craig and I used our time to stay in shape for football and I recall Buck always referring to us as "Mac",,,,hey, "Mac", what are you doing, etc. Tough, but not really. Such a good guy. Well, it turned out we were all given the big sales talk on the boat ride home when we were all asked to take Christ into our hearts......I think we all said..."OK" and the deal was we were to start a local Young Life club in Palo Alto. I think we had one or two meetings.....then we decided we'd much rather be playing sports or making mischief. Like one Halloween when Buck's father's car was fully pelted by a carton of eggs, ruined the pait job and Buck was in deep doo doo.
A few years after Buck died, Sue and I were in Washington, D.C. where we visited the Viet Nam memorial and had a big emotional cry when we saw his name. For about 10 year after Buck's death, I would have recurring dreams of meeting Buck on the street, at a social gathering or whatever....he was really OK. It was so real. Phew....brings back memories.