THE WALL OF FACES

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

Never Forget.

HOOAH

Dear SSGT Gene Hess, Thank you for your service with the 51st Field Maintenance Squadron. You are still MIA, Please come home. It is almost Memorial Day when we honor you. Please watch over the USA, it still needs your courage. Be at peace.

On June 17, 1966, a C-130E "Hercules" aircraft departed Cam Ranh Bay, South Vietnam en route to Kadena Air Base, Okinawa on an operational airlift support mission. Aboard the flight were the crew, consisting of LCDR Ralph B. Cobbs, ADJ2 Curtis D. Collette, YN2 Jack I. Dempsey, ADR2 Stanley J. Freng, LTJG Edward L. Romig, AN M.J. Savoy, and LTJG Donald E. Siegwarth. All were assigned to the 7th Air Transport Squadron. Also aboard the aircraft were U.S. Air Force personnel SSGT Robert A. Cairns, SSGT Gene K. Hess, CAPT Connie M. Gravitte, SSGT Oley N. Adams, and A1 Larry E. Washburn, and one other individual. About 30 minutes into the flight, when the aircraft was 43 miles northeast of Nha Trang, the crew of a naval gunboat cruising off the South Vietnam coast observed the C-130 explode and crash into the South China Sea. No hostile fire was observed, and the exact cause of the crash could not be determined. The vessel arrived at the crash scene only minutes after the impact and began an immediate search. The accident took place so swiftly that it must be assumed all aboard perished instantly. Some debris and wreckage have been recovered including parts of the aircraft and personal belongings. Only one body was recovered from the crash site. The others are listed as "Dead/Body Not Recovered." Cobbs and Siegworth were pilots, and probably the co-pilots of the aircraft, although this information is not included in public data relating to the loss. Crew positions of the remaining crew members are not available. Inexplicably, Cobbs' loss coordinates place him on the coast of South Vietnam a few miles northeast of Tuy Hoa, while the others aboard are listed as lost northeast of Na Trang. (This is a difference of about 55 miles.) Also, the entire crew of the aircraft has been assigned "Knowledge Category 4", while the passengers are in "Knowledge Category 5". Category 5 includes those individuals whose remains have been determined to be non-recoverable. Category 4 includes individuals whose loss details, such as location and time, are unknown and who do not fit into any of the varying degrees of knowledge other than category 5. No reason for this discrepancy can be determined. The Americans aboard the C130E are listed among the missing because their remains were never found to be returned to their homeland. They are among nearly 2500 Americans who were unaccounted for at the end of the Vietnam War. [Narrative taken from pownetwork.org; image from wikipedia.com]

Dear SSGT Gene Karl Hess, sir

As an American, I would like to thank you for your service and for your sacrifice made on behalf of our wonderful country. The youth of today could gain much by learning of heroes such as yourself, men and women whose courage and heart can never be questioned.

May God allow you to read this, and may He allow me to someday shake your hand when I get to Heaven to personally thank you. May he also allow my father to find you and shake your hand now to say thank you; for America, and for those who love you.

With respect, and the best salute a civilian can muster for you, Sir

Curt Carter