RICHARD K ZIMMERMAN
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HONORED ON PANEL 34W, LINE 46 OF THE WALL

RICHARD KING ZIMMERMAN

WALL NAME

RICHARD K ZIMMERMAN

PANEL / LINE

34W/46

DATE OF BIRTH

06/24/1937

CASUALTY PROVINCE

BINH DUONG

DATE OF CASUALTY

01/20/1969

HOME OF RECORD

ST CLAIRSVILLE

COUNTY OF RECORD

Belmont County

STATE

OH

BRANCH OF SERVICE

ARMY

RANK

MAJ

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Contact Details

REMEMBRANCES

LEFT FOR RICHARD KING ZIMMERMAN
POSTED ON 7.26.2015

Final Mission of MAJ Richard K. Zimmerman

On January 20, 1969, a U.S. Army helicopter OH-6A (tail number 66-07872) from A Troop "Silver Spurs", 3rd Squadron, 17th Air Cavalry, 1st Aviation Brigade was operating in the Binh Duong Province (III Corps) when it came under hostile automatic weapons fire. The aircraft was shot down, crashed and burned. Both crewmen suffered fatal injuries in the attack. They included observer MAJ Richard K. Zimmerman and pilot 1LT David E. Taylor. The following is a personal account of the aftermath of the attack by John Connor: “On the day they were killed we were working in a new AO that included the Iron Triangle for the first time. The Scout Platoon Leader and myself were flying together to check out the new AO as the scout part of the hunter/killer team. 1LT Taylor and MAJ Zimmerman came into the area at altitude and let us know they were joining us for a while to look the area over. They joined us at low level for a while and then said they were going back to altitude to look the rest of the AO over before going to Cu Chi for a briefing. We continued working low level on various plotted target areas without finding much in the way of fresh signs, however we saw a lot of older trails, bunkers and such. We were scheduled to do a BDA (bomb damage assessment) on a B-52 strike and started to pull up to altitude to move to that area when our gun ship asked what the smoke was from where we just pulled up. We did a 180 degree turn to see what they were talking about and not far behind us was the typical smoke column of a downed ship burning. We went back to low level and started circling at a distance since ammo and grenades were cooking off and we couldn't get too close. We also were looking for anything that might have brought it down. We spotted one rotor blade a little distance away and then a piece of metal that had our troop emblem (the inverted triangle with a yellow bar across it except the yellow bar wasn't painted yet) and I knew it was the standby ship that 1LT Taylor and MAJ Zimmerman had taken that morning. The gunnies put out the radio calls by then and we were getting some reaction forces in from Cu Chi. They swept and secured the area and started searching. They found a lot of spider holes and tunnel entrances but no enemy troops. They started pumping smoke and tear gas into the tunnels and it came up all over a huge area. There wasn't much of anything to recover from the ship after the fire and explosions. The people on the ground theorized that they had come back into the area without us or the gunship knowing it and when they came down to low level a gook popped out of a hole and sprayed them with automatic fire.” [Taken from vhpa.org, armyaircrews.com and northwestvets.com]
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POSTED ON 1.20.2015
POSTED BY: JERRY SANDWISCH WOOD CTY.OHIO NAN VET 1969-70 ARMY 173rd ABN BDE

You are not forgotten

The war may be forgotten but the warrior will always be remembered!!!!Rest in peace Richard. :-(
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POSTED ON 3.8.2014
POSTED BY: Curt Carter [email protected]

Remembering An American Hero

Dear Major Richard King Zimmerman, 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.

With respect, Sir

Curt Carter
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POSTED ON 1.3.2013

Always remembered

Photo courtesy of Capt. Tim Griffin.

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POSTED ON 1.1.2013
POSTED BY: Michigan Call for Photos Project

Always remembered

Photo courtesy of John Briggs. Photo take about 3 weeks before Major Briggs' death.

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