LILLY LAWRENCE EUGENE

Click here for more information about this incident

Name: 1LT Lawrence Eugene Lilly
Status: Body Not Recovered from an incident on 03/17/1971 while performing the duty of Pilot.
Age at death: 25.1
Date of Birth: 02/17/1946
Home City: Los Angeles, CA
Service: IN branch of the reserve component of the U.S. Army.
Unit: A/1/9 CAV 1 CAV
Major organization: 1st Cavalry Division
Flight class: 70-22
Service: IN branch of the U.S. Army.
The Wall location: 04W-055
Short Summary: Shot down in Cambodia with CPT Schweitzer who was rescued. An ARVN unit entered area to rescue Lilly but found him dead.
Aircraft: AH-1G tail number 68-17035
Country: Cambodia
MOS: 1981 = 19 Rotary Wing Aviator (Unit Commander)
Primary cause: Cambodia-BNR
Major attributing cause: aircraft connected not at sea
Compliment cause: unknown or not reported
Vehicle involved: helicopter
Position in vehicle: co-pilot
Vehicle ownership: government
Started Tour: 11/15/1970
"Official" listing: helicopter air casualty - other aircrew
The initial status of this person was: missing in action - interim
Length of service: *
Military grid coordinates of event: CLASSIFE

Additional information about this casualty:
The following is from Robert Fureigh 2 Jul 92 on 1LT Lawrence Eugene Lilly: As his classmate (70-22), I was told what happened to Larry by another pilot (as we were out-processing, near DEROS, at Cam Ranh) who witnessed Larry trying to run to a nearby clearing (the pilot who told me the story and his crew were circling overhead, giving signals to Larry as to which way to run. The bad guys were: 1. shooting intensely at the circling helicopter 2. impeding Larry's progress toward the clearing by placing heavy automatic weapons fire in front of him. Larry would try to change direction, but the bad guys would repeat their tactic. The circling aircraft was being shot at to the extent that coupled with Larry's hopeless situation and the strength of the enemy, they had to leave Larry to become a POW. Robert Fureigh. According to the Defence Intelligence Agency, Lt. Lilly was last seen by U.S. personnel lying on his back with his shirt partially open and blood on his chest and neck. He was observed being fired upon by Viet Cong forces. An ARVN ground unit entered the battle area to try to rescue Lilly and 5 ARVN, but found Lilly dead. The unit came under heavy fire, and in the course of the battle, the body was lost to the enemy. Lilly's remains were never recovered.

Reason: aircraft lost or crashed
Casualty type: Hostile - died while missing
married male U.S. citizen
Race: Caucasian
Religion: Roman Catholic
Burial information: ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY, VA (IMO)
The following information secondary, but may help in explaining this incident.
Category of casualty as defined by the Army: battle dead Category of personnel: active duty Army Military class: officer
This record was last updated on 02/10/2002

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