THE WALL OF FACES

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

On October 24, 1964, a U.S. Air Force Fairchild C-123B Provider (#55-4549) from the 309th Troop Carrier Squadron, the lead aircraft in a three-ship formation, departed Nha Trang Air Base on an aerial resupply mission to an isolated U.S. Special Forces camp at Bu Prang near the Cambodian border. The Provider, carrying ammunition for the troops at Bu Prang, began dropping smoke grenades as it approached the drop zone, indicating that it was taking ground fire. Smoke was then observed coming from its right engine. The aircraft commenced a shallow left turn and then a sharp right turn and crashed. No one was seen to have left the aircraft by parachute or otherwise before going down. The wreckage came to a stop imbedded in the woods and was completely destroyed. Subsequent evaluation revealed that the formation was mistakenly over the Cambodian camp of Dak Dam and the aircraft was shot down by Cambodian groundfire. Six USAF crewmen and two Special Forces passengers were killed. They included pilot 1LT Valmore M. Borque, co-pilot 1LT Robert G. Armstrong, navigator CAPT Edward S. Krukowski, SSG Theodore B. Phillips, SSG Ernest J. Halverson, and A1C Eugene Richardson; and passengers SSG Larwence Woods and PFC Charles P. Sparks. A search team recovered seven of the eight personnel but reported they were unable to locate SSG Wood’s remains. A 1997 and 1999 investigation of the crash site revealed that the wreckage was on the Vietnam side of the border. In 2009-2010, U.S. and Vietnamese teams excavated the site and recovered human remains which were later identified as Woods. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org, aviation-safety.net, and vietnam.ttu.edu]

When I flew on the AWACS in Tinker in the USAF, they handed out metal bracelets with MIA/KIA service members of past for us to wear. I choose SSG Lawrence Woods as we had the same last name... while we are not related that I know of I am honored to wear this bracelet bearing his name every patriotic holiday when I don my own dog tags. Rest easy, SSG Woods, and I hope to shake your hand or perhaps even a hug when I make it to heaven someday.

On October 24, 1964, Special Forces SSGT Lawrence Woods was a passenger on a Fairchild C-123 "Provider" which departed Na Trang on an aerial resupply mission near the border of South Vietnam and Cambodia. The aircraft was hit by enemy fire and crashed. The aircraft itself was completely destroyed by fire except for the tail section. No parachutes were seen to leave the aircraft as it crashed. Subsequent searches of the crash site resulted in the recovery or accounting of seven individuals onboard the aircraft, but Woods was not found. Lawrence Woods was listed among the missing because his remains were never found. However, He was accounted for on 27 September 2013, and was buried with full military honors in early 2014. [Narrative taken from pownetwork.org; image from wikipedia.org]

Welcome home Staff Sergeant Woods.