THE WALL OF FACES

Dear Albert,
My name is Katie, and I’m part of the Gridley High School Posting Project which consists of posting remembrances for all of you who fought in the war. Our goal is to post a remembrance for everyone on here. I would like to say thank you for all you have done, and everything that you had to give to fight for this wonderful country. Thank you again, and you will always be remembered!
Sincerely,
Katie

I learned of Albert Crouch by accident. I was researching the death of my cousin, WO Nicholas Gabriel Saunders, and, through a reporting error in the VHPA database, Albert Crouch’s name kept popping up. I discovered that Albert and Nicholas were both listed in the same flight class at Ft. Rucker, got their wings on the same day, and were KIA on the same day. I wonder if they knew each other.

Below is the information on WO Albert Crouch from the Vietnam Helicopter Pilot’s Association database ( www.vhpa.org ):

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Information on U.S. Army helicopter UH-1H tail number 66-16680
The Army purchased this helicopter 0767
Date: 05/18/70
Incident number: 70051818.KIA
Unit: B/7/1 CAV
at 10 feet and 0 knots.
South Vietnam
Casualties = 01 KIA . .
Original source(s) and document(s) from which the incident was created or updated: War Story as related by a witness. Also: Bernie Goldenzweig ()
Summary: Had just inserted ARVNs in LZ. Got hit while at a hover. Flew to Tan An aid station where dustoff picked up pilot and took him to 24th

Crew Members:
P CROUCH ALBERT B KIA
AC GOLDENZWEIG BERNIE S RES

War Story:
This aircraft was chalk 3 on an ARVN insertion. The flight went into the LZ 21 times. Flight lead was Richard Thompson. Bernie S. Goldenzweig was the aircraft commander of chalk 3. After they dropped off the ARVNs, they did a hovering 180 degree turn then got hit while at a hover. Bernie flew to Tan An aid station where Crouch was picked up by a Dustoff and taken to the 24th EVAC. Bernie then flew to Vinh Long to check out the aircraft and to clean it out with a fire hose. from Bernie Goldenzweig and Richard Thompson, July 2000
This record was last updated on 08/08/00
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Name: WO1 Albert B. Crouch
Status: Killed In Action from an incident on 05/18/70 while performing the duty of Pilot.
Age at death: 21.4
Date of Birth: 12/06/48
Home City: Numa, IA
Service: AV branch of the reserve component of the U.S. Army.
Unit: B/7/1 CAV
Major organization: 1st Aviation Brigade
Flight class: 69-31/69-29
Service: AV branch of the U.S. Army.
The Wall location: 10W-060
Short Summary: One round in the head on an insertion that got Antonelli, Grebby, Clarke, and Losinski DFC's.
Aircraft: UH-1H tail number 66-16680
SSN: 483609083
Country: South Vietnam
MOS: 100B = Utility/Observation Helicopter Pilot
Primary cause: Hostile Fire
Major attributing cause: aircraft connected not at sea
Compliment cause: small arms fire
Vehicle involved: helicopter
Position in vehicle: pilot
Started Tour: 04/30/70
"Official" listing: helicopter air casualty - pilot
Length of service: *
Location: Kien Hoa Province IV Corps.
Reason: aircraft lost or crashed
Casualty type: Hostile - killed
married male U.S. citizen
Race: Caucasian
Relgion: Protestant - no denominational preference
The following information is secondary, but may help in explaining this incident.
Category of casualty as defined by the Army: battle dead Category of personnel: active duty Army Military class: warrant officer
This record was last updated on 08/20/95
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