Name: 1LT Willard D. Richardson, Jr.
Status: Killed In Action from an incident on 08/21/1969 while performing the duty of Pilot.
Age at death: 23.3
Date of Birth: 04/30/1946
Home City: Memphis, TN
Service: FA branch of the reserve component of the U.S. Army.
Unit: D/158 AVN 101 ABN
Major organization: 101st Airborne Division
Flight class: 68-514/68-24
Service: FA branch of the U.S. Army.
The Wall location: 19W-090
Short Summary: While visiting his old unit (C/101 AVN) rotor blades came off at 3000 ft. giving CPT Joe Shaw a demo of the capabilities of the Cobra.
Aircraft: AH-1G tail number 68-15059
Call sign: REDSKINS
Service number: O5428351
Country: South Vietnam
MOS: 1981 = 19 Rotary Wing Aviator (Unit Commander)
Primary cause: Lost main rotor
Major attributing cause: aircraft connected not at sea
Compliment cause: fire or burns
Vehicle involved: helicopter
Position in vehicle: pilot
Started Tour: 11/01/1968
"Official" listing: helicopter air casualty - pilot
Length of service: 03
Location: Thua Thien Province I Corps.
Reason: aircraft lost or crashed
Casualty type: Non-hostile - died of other causes
single male U.S. citizen
Race: Caucasian
Religion: Church of Christ
Burial information: MEMPHIS NATIONAL CEMETERY, TN
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: officer
This record was last updated on 07/29/1995
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Date posted on this site: 11/13/2023
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