Name: WO1 Wesley Womble Carroll III
Status: Killed In Action from an incident on 01/27/1970 while performing the duty of Aircraft Commander.
Age at death: 26.1
Date of Birth: 12/27/1943
Home City: Houston, TX
Service: AV branch of the reserve component of the U.S. Army.
Unit: 235 AVN, 164 CAG
Major organization: 1st Aviation Brigade
Flight class: 69-13
Service: AV branch of the U.S. Army.
The Wall location: 14W-072
Short Summary: Flew into the ground on a gun run at night with front seat 1LT Leighton.
Aircraft: AH-1G tail number 68-17039
Call sign: VIPER
Country: South Vietnam
MOS: 100E = Attack Helicopter Pilot
Primary cause: A/C Accident
Major attributing cause: aircraft connected not at sea
Compliment cause: unknown
Vehicle involved: helicopter
Position in vehicle: pilot
Started Tour: 08/12/1969
"Official" listing: helicopter air casualty - pilot
Length of service: 06
Location: An Xugen Province IV Corps.
Additional information about this casualty:
I have just discovered the account of "Wes" Carroll's fatal accident in the 235th Aviation Company in RVN. "Greg" describes the tactical situation and weather exactly. Wes Carroll had been my wingman for some time and we had been flying in this area for several months. Pilot fatigue was a critical factor. The missions lasted all night, with much physical labor (reloading and rearming) between flights. I had 165 hours of flight time (most of it night) in 26 days during this period. That was far above maximum allowed, but we were below strength and low on experienced pilots. Wes was a relatively new fire team leader, but a good, solid pilot. The crash site was discovered the next morning, relatively undisturbed by the VC.
While looking through some old photographs, I found a few pictures of Wes taken just before the accident. If Any family members would like to have them, please contact me.
From: Joe Shipes at Jfshipes2@aol.com
Reason: aircraft lost or crashed
Casualty type: Non-hostile - died of other causes
married male U.S. citizen
Race: Caucasian
Religion: Protestant - no denominational preference
Burial information: HOUSTON NATIONAL CEMETERY, HOUSTON TX
The following information secondary, but may help in explaining this incident.
Category of casualty as defined by the Army: non-battle dead Category of personnel: active duty Army Military class: warrant officer
This record was last updated on 07/24/2007
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Date posted on this site: 11/13/2023
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