GARY A BEST
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HONORED ON PANEL 17W, LINE 126 OF THE WALL

GARY ALLEN BEST

WALL NAME

GARY A BEST

PANEL / LINE

17W/126

DATE OF BIRTH

12/25/1950

CASUALTY PROVINCE

KONTUM

DATE OF CASUALTY

10/28/1969

HOME OF RECORD

DECATUR

COUNTY OF RECORD

Macon County

STATE

IL

BRANCH OF SERVICE

ARMY

RANK

SP5

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Contact Details

REMEMBRANCES

LEFT FOR GARY ALLEN BEST
POSTED ON 6.24.2021
POSTED BY: john fabris

honoring you....

Thank you for your service to our country so long ago sir. The remembrance from your high school friend May Leslie Kercheval is moving. As long as you are remembered you will always be with us...
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POSTED ON 12.22.2020
POSTED BY: ANON

Never forgotten

On the remembrance of your 70th birthday, and during Christmas, your sacrifice is not forgotten.

Forever 18.

HOOAH
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POSTED ON 12.25.2019
POSTED BY: Dennis Wriston

I'm proud of our Vietnam Veterans

Specialist Five Gary Allen Best, Served with the 64th Transportation Company, 124th Transportation Battalion, 8th Transportation group, United States Army Support Command (Qui Nhon), 1st Logistical Command, United States Army Vietnam.
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POSTED ON 6.3.2019

Final Mission of SP5 Gary A. Best

On October 28, 1969, a U.S. Army helicopter UH-1C (tail number 66-15129) from the 57th Assault Helicopter Company crashed after takeoff from Dak To Base Camp in Kontum Province, RVN. One crewman and four passengers were killed in the incident. The aircraft reportedly commenced flight in a standard-type traffic pattern but did not climb due to artillery being fired from the base. Near the eastern end of the airstrip, the pilot made a 180-degree right-hand turn for the purpose of low-level flight parallel and north of the airstrip. While traveling at 60-70 knots of airspeed, the helicopter fell to the ground, its skids making contact for about 100 feet. The pilot abruptly pulled up, causing the main rotors to flex and shear off the tail boom. The aircraft then spun three complete revolutions in the air before impacted with the ground where it immediately burst into flames. The four lost passengers were the crew of a gun truck called Mighty Minny from the 64th Transportation Company. They included SP5 Gary A. Best, SP4 Charles F. Gamble Jr., SP5 Donald L. Neeley, and SP5 Barrent O. Torgerson. The aircraft commander, WO1 John H. Whittington, was critically burned and medically evacuated to the U.S. Army’s burn center at the 106th General Hospital in Yokohama, Japan, where he died four weeks later on November 24, 1969. Two other crewmen, the pilot and gunner, survived with injuries. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org and vhpa.org]
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POSTED ON 3.3.2017
POSTED BY: Lucy Conte Micik

Remembered

DEAR SPEC 5 GARY BEST,
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE AS A HEAVY VEHICLE DRIVER. IT HAS BEEN FAR TOO LONG FOR ALL OF YOU TO HAVE BEEN GONE. WE APPRECIATE ALL YOU HAVE DONE, AND YOUR SACRIFICE. WATCH OVER THE U.S.A., IT STILL NEEDS YOUR COURAGE.. GOD BLESS YOU. MAY THE ANGELS BE AT YOUR SIDE. REST IN PEACE. MANY OF US HAVE BEGUN OUR JOURNEY TO EASTER. YOU ARE ALL IN OUR PRAYERS.
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