More detail on this person: Major Larry L.
Bagwell and another Marine were killed when their
CH-46 Sea Knight helicopter crashed after
departing Marine Corps Air Facility Santa Ana, CA.
He was assigned to Marine Medium Helicopter
Training Squadron 301 (HMMT-301) when his plane
crashed during routine night mission training near
Hidden Ranch in Black Star Canyon. The other
Marine to perish in the accident was Corporal Gale
D. Abrams. Burial information: Arlington Memory Gardens, Oklahoma City, OK
This information was last updated 06/02/2017
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Date posted on this site:
03/10/2024
Copyright © 1998 - 2024 Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association
Burial: Arlington Memory Gardens, Oklahoma City,
Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, USA
MAJ Bagwell was killed while flying as an
instructor pilot for HMMT-302 in Tustin California
in 1968. He was flying night instruction for a
student pilot, 1stLt Bob Trigalet and Sgt Gale
Abrams was the duty Crew Chief. While he was
flying over Black Star mountain, the helicopter
lost the rear fuselage section/rotor on a practice
landing approach and Maj Bagwell attempted to
regain control of the aircraft but was killed when
the front section impacted the mountain. Sgt
Abrams was killed but Lt. Trigalet survived with
severe injuries. Lt Trigalet was killed in Vietnam
one year later in Vietnam in a mi-air collision.
I knew Maj Bagwell at the time - I was a sergeant
and the squadron "grunt": I wasn't an airwinger
but since I was recovering from wounds I had
received in Vietnam, the Corps put me there as the
"Duty runner/mail room NCO/machinegun
instructor/platoon sergeant for the squadron. Maj
Bagwell used to come to my mailroom every day
and ask if he had any mail. He never did, so I
wrote him a letter for him one time and he thought
that it was great joke. He was fine leader.
Semper Fi, Forrest R. Lindsey, LtCol USMC (ret) ,