More detail on this person: Murdered in a Las
Vegas hotel room in 1983. This information was last updated 05/18/2016
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Date posted on this site:
03/10/2024
Copyright © 1998 - 2024 Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association
1Lt. James G. Ungaro got the Silver Star for an
action near Hue in the late spring of 1968. He
was not only written up in the citation but was
also the subject of a story in the 1st Cav Div
newspaper which found it's way into the hands of
the NVA. Hanoi 'Hannah' was calling him by name,
in her pidgin English voice, over the AM radio
band and telling him that "brave soldiers of the
NLF were coming soon for him at Camp Evans".
They never showed up but the 'grim reaper' did
some years later.
From: Bruce Huffman, 23 Jul 2002
BruceH426@aol.com
Awards and Decorations:
Disginguish Flying Cross with 3 bronze oak leaf
clusters;
Bronze Star Medal with 1 bronze oak leaf cluster
with letter V device;
Air Medal with numeral 26;
Army Commendation Medal;
National Defense Service Medal;
Vietnam Service Medal with 4 bronze service stars;
Republic of Vietnam Campaign ribbon w/device
(1960);
Expert Badge with pistol bar;
Marksman Badge with rifle bar;
Army Aviation - crewman badge;
Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with palm unit
citation.
From: Mark C. Ungaro and Laura Ungaro
On Friday February 15, 2013 I received a comment
on one of the Post (Mission Number 6) on my Blog.
The comment came from Laura. She was wanting
to hear more about James Ungaro and to see if
anyone had more pictures of him.
James was a Scout Pilot in Charlie Troop 1/9
Cavalry. He just happened to be one of the Pilots
that I consider a Hero. I responded quickly. At
the same time, I posted a comment on Charlie
Troops Yahoo site asking for anyone who knew
James and may have pictures of him to let me
know. I received several replies and forwarded
them to Laura. Bruce Huffman and John Powell,
both Pilots, knew Jim very well and considered him
a true friend.
James Ungaro died May 27, 1983. It seems as
though he did not talk to his family about his
time in Vietnam. By uniting Larua with the men who
served with him, a gap in his life (for his
family) will be filled. The reason behind this
Blog was to let the world know What and Who
Charlie Troop 1st Squadron 9th Cavalry was and to
help families learn about their family members
from the men that served in this unit. The
following are Comments made to Mission Number
six and some email that went back and forth. Laura
was kind enough to give me some pictures of Her
and her siblings.
The following are some of the comments between
myself and Laura: What a nightmare. We are
interested in any other information you may have
regarding Lt. Ungaro. Any other pictures, stories.
He was our brother, and he did not tell us of his
experiences. Our Mother found his medals long
after he returned from Viet Nam. He loved our
country and was glad he was able to do what he
could at the time. After returning from Nam, he
was productive, contributing member to our
community, had two children_his daughter became
an Air Force officer. He was building an apartment
complex he and his brothers owned when he died.
About 500 people attended his funeral.
From: Laura Ungaro
Laura, Your Brother Jim was Hero to men like me. I
don't know if you understand what our mission as a
unit was or not. We were the 1st Cavalry Divisions
Recon. Jim flew in a small helicopter known as an
OH-13. He and a team of two enlisted men flew
trying to find the enemy. They flew very low and
very slow. The one thing that I will always
remember and honor him for followes: We had been
flown to a mountain top. Shortly after we moved in
so did the rains. We were suppose to be there for
3-4 days. On the seventh day our food was gone,
our ammunition was low and the batteries that we
needed to operate our radio were almost useless.
Several times they had tried to get supplies to us
but they couldn't. Jim had his two enlisted men
get out of his helicopter and then had it loaded
with food, ammo and the battries. The fog was so
thick that Jim flew with the skids of his
helicopter touching the tree tops as he ascended
the mountain. As he neared us I called him on the
radio and I would give him a count. He would
listen to my count and determine which way to
move to find us. As he got over the top of us the
skies opened up a little. He hovered his
helicopter off of the ground as the ammo and all
was unloaded. Then he lifted back up and the skies
closed again. He used the same manner of flight as
he descended the mountain. It has his courage and
his love for his fellow man that made him so
special and really saved the day for us. I will
notify several others who knew Jim and ask them to
add their comments. If you want to talk to any of
them just ask and I know they will be very happy
to answer you by email or even by Phone. If you
will tell me what state you live in I may be able
to find someone from that state. I consider your
brother Jim to be a Hero, a Comrade in Arms and a
Brother.
Thank you for responding to my blog. I am trying
to honor all of the men I served with. If you or
anyone has a story about Jim that you would like
to share with us please type it and send it to my
email address and I will post it to my blog on his
post.Laura,
I understand that Bruce is travelling right now. I
know he is looking forward to talking to you. I
don't know if you receieved an email from him or
not but he and Jim were very close and they went
on R&R together. R&R is Rest and Relaxation.
To view those two post and any of the others I
have on there, when you get to the first page go
over to the right hand side. Go down a little and
click on any of the letters. The two I referenced
are under J-K.
I will look because I think I may have some other
pictures of Jim. If Not I will send an email to
all of the guys and see if any of them have some.
Have a Great Day,
Pat., How do I thank you? Mr. Huffman has
contacted me and says he will get back to me
soon. Apparently he is traveling. Thank you for
your number. I will contact you shortly, if you
don't mind. My number is (702) 248-6556. My
brother Mark was zipped at the hip with Jim (we
called him Giac [Jock] an Italian version of
James. GiacandMark were one word til Jim went
into the Army and then immediately upon his return
to Las Vegas. He will be very interested in
getting in on the conversation. We all will! It's
been a long 30 years since we knew anything about
Jim.
Thank you again. Laura
Laura, All the Thanks I need from you is for you
and your family to be happy. I hope that by
finding this site and being able to talk to the
people who flew with Jim true happiness will be
yours. However, if you have a picture of Jim with
his family and maybe even a picture of him and you
and your brother I would love to be able to get a
copy so I can insert intyo his Post. Maybe in a
year or two my wife. Carol, and I can come to Las
Vegas to meet you. I would like that.Enjoy this
site and enjoy the comments from the men who
knew Him so well.
Love, Peace and Happiness to you and yours.
Pat
The following email came in from John Powell
another American Hero and a Scout Pilot in Charlie
Troop:
Pat_ask her if she would like to talk to me. Her
brother and I went to OCS and flight school
together and were also stick buddies. I have a lot
of photos of him both stateside and Vietnam. He
also talked me into flying scouts and my first
flight in VN was with him. He and I went to visit
his parents in Vegas after we got our commissions.
His greatest gift to me was introducing me to blue
cheese salad dressing_.lol_.15/25_.jpI am sure
that John and Laura has gotten together by now as
I forwarded this email and Johns' email address to
Laurs.
We have also heard from several Crew Members
who flew with Jim. Scouts like, John Woodruff and
Greg Jayne.
From:
https://patrickbieneman.com/2013/02/18/1lt-james-
ungaro-and-his-charlie-troop-family/