Name: WO1 Michael Joseph Drake
Status: Killed In Action from an incident on 12/16/1969 while performing the duty of Aircraft Commander.
Age at death: 21.6
Date of Birth: 05/15/1948
Home City: Royal Oak, MI
Service: AV branch of the reserve component of the U.S. Army.
Unit: A/25 AVN 25 INF
Major organization: 25th Infantry Division
Flight class: 68-23
Service: AV branch of the U.S. Army.
The Wall location: 15W-062
Short Summary: Rotor hit ground causing crash and burn during night approach into LZ in bad weather. G E4 HARRIS survived.
Aircraft: UH-1H tail number 68-16196
Service number: W3163744
Country: South Vietnam
MOS: 100B = Utility/Observation Helicopter Pilot
Primary cause: A/C Accident
Major attributing cause: aircraft connected not at sea
Compliment cause: fire or burns
Vehicle involved: helicopter
Position in vehicle: aircraft commander
Started Tour: 03/08/1969
"Official" listing: helicopter air casualty - other aircrew
Location: Tay Ninh Province III Corps.
Additional information about this casualty:
We were friends through flight school, same class, stick buddies, same company in Vietnam. We were scheduled to fly together that night until I was grounded with an ear infection. I was the body escort and did not return to Vietnam. We will never forget our fallen. From: Curtis Edwards
Reason: aircraft lost or crashed
Casualty type: Non-hostile - died of other causes
married male U.S. citizen
Race: Caucasian
Religion: Roman Catholic
Burial information: WHITE CHAPEL MEMORIAL PARK CEMETERY, TROY, MI
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 02/11/2009
This information is available on CD-ROM.
Additional information is available on KIAs at http://www.coffeltdatabase.org
Please send additions or corrections to: The VHPA Webmaster Gary Roush.
KIA statistics
Return to the Helicopter Pilot KIA name list
Return to the KIA panel date index
Date posted on this site: 11/13/2023
Copyright © 1998 - 2023 Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association