Name: WO1 William Ashley Gunnells
Status: Killed In Action from an incident on 02/25/1972 while performing the duty of Aircraft Commander.
Age at death: 24.1
Date of Birth: 01/14/1948
Home City: Charleston, SC
Service: AV branch of the reserve component of the U.S. Army.
Unit: 62 CAC
Major organization: 1st Aviation Brigade
Flight class: 71-23/71-19
Service: AV branch of the U.S. Army.
The Wall location: 02W-110
Short Summary: Tail rotor strike departing a ship in Da Nang Harbor with a high ranking ARVN General.
Aircraft: UH-1H tail number 68-15391
Country: South Vietnam
MOS: 100B = Utility/Observation Helicopter Pilot
Primary cause: A/C Accident
Major attributing cause: aircraft connected at sea
Compliment cause: drowning
Vehicle involved: helicopter
Position in vehicle: aircraft commander
Vehicle ownership: government
Started Tour: 08/31/1971
"Official" listing: helicopter air casualty - other aircrew
The initial status of this person was: non-hostile missing - interim
Length of service: *
Location: Offshore, MR 1 Province I Corps.
Military grid coordinates of event: BT095850
Reason: aircraft lost or crashed at sea
Casualty type: Non-hostile - died while missing
married male U.S. citizen
Race: Caucasian
Religion: Methodist (Evangelical United Brethren)
Burial information: OLD ST ANDREWS EPISCOPAL CHURCH, CHARLESTON, SC
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 06/06/1996
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Date posted on this site: 11/13/2023
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