THE WALL OF FACES

Thank you for your service to our country so long ago sir. The remembrances from Tom Tesmar are touching and reflect his admiration and respect for you. As long as you are remembered you will always be with us….

Dear WO Jeremiah McGarry, Thank you for your service as an Utility & Light Cargo Single Rotor Helicopter Pilot. Saying thank you isn't enough, but it is from the heart. On this day in 1945, Japan surrendered. Time passes quickly, but our world needs help. Please watch over America, it stills needs your strength, courage, guidance and faithfulness. Rest in peace with the angels.

Jeremiah entered the Army on October 31, 1966, and he arrived in South Vietnam on the 13th of November, 1967, where he was assigned as a pilot to the 189th Assault Helicopter Company (Ghost Riders) based at Camp Holloway near Pleiku.

A month after arriving at the 189th, WO Mc Garry was on a “cake-run”. No shots being fired, no battle being waged, he just needed to deliver some chain-saws. He was hovering over a mountain peak in western Kontum Province, as some of the men on board were lowering the saws to infantrymen on the ground below. The peak below was covered with trees that reached a height of 120 feet, and the troops below (members of Delta Company, 3rd of the 8th), were in sore need of resupply. But first, they needed the saws to clear a space for helicopters to land. Their Battalion Commander and their Command Sergeant Major were onboard the helicopter, and the Colonel had borrowed the door gunner’s intercom to guide the pilot over the best place to lower the saws through the trees. The starboard door gunner, who would normally watch the tail rotor for sufficient clearances in similar situations, did not have his intercom. This, combined with tricky winds over the mountain peak, trees too tall, ropes too short, and a desire to make an extra effort for the men on the ground, resulted in the tail rotor of the aircraft striking a tree and causing a terrible accident in which four good men died, on the 20th of December, 1967, in Kontum Province, Republic of Vietnam.

WO McGarry's awards include the Army Aviator Badge, the Air Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Vietnam Service Medal, and the RVN Campaign Service Medal.

Jeremiah McGarry is buried in the Saint Michaels Cemetery, Bayport, Washington County, Minnesota. Plot: Block 108 Addition, Lot A, Grave 6

Warrant Officer Jeremiah D. McGarry, Served with the 189th Assault Helicopter Company, 52nd Aviation Battalion, 17th Aviation Group, 1st Aviation Brigade.