THE WALL OF FACES

The 82nd Aviation Battalion deployed to Vietnam in 1965 to support the 173rd Airborne Brigade. Battalion aircraft conducted air assaults, resupply missions, combat extractions, and some of the first combat medical evacuations using rope and Swiss seat (rappel harness) in dense jungle environments. On the evening of June 12, 1965, an A Company UH-1B helicopter was enroute to Tan Son Nhut Airbase near the capital from Cap St. Jacques Airfield in Phuoc Tuy Province when it was lost in bad weather. The crash occurred during a storm about 30 miles east of Saigon. After radio contact was lost, flare ships were sent to the area during the night while two companies of Vietnamese troops moved in to secure the crash site. The bodies of four American crewmen were recovered the following morning. They included pilots CW2 Billy G. Hammer and WO1 Micheal L. Wildes, crew chief SP5 Donald L. Baker, and gunner SSG Kenneth L. Reed. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org, vhpa.org, and “U.S. Copter Crash Kills 4.” Pacific Stars & Stripes, June 15, 1965; article taken from The New York Times (New York, NY), June 14, 1965]

Sp5 Donald Baker is buried at Egyptian Memorial Gardens in Herrin, Illinois. Tomorrow is his 58th anniversary.

We were fellow crew chiefs in Nam and I was honored to be a pall bearer at your Saigon memorial service!
-Gene Elwood-

May those who served never be forgotten. Rest in peace SP5. Baker, I salute your brave soul. My heart goes out to you and your family.

Thank you for your service to our country so long ago sir. As long as you are remembered you will always be with us....