UPLINGER BARTON JOHN

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Name: CPT Barton John Uplinger
Status: Killed In Action from an incident on 02/19/1968 while performing the duty of Pilot Passenger.
Age at death: 25.5
Date of Birth: 09/02/1942
Home City: Camarillo, CA
Service: reserve component of the U.S. Marine Corps.
Unit: VMO-6
Service: U.S. Marine Corps.
The Wall location: 40E-033
Short Summary: Died as a passenger when helicopter returning IFR to Marble Mountain crashed off shore. Wreckage was not recovered from some time.
Aircraft: CH-53A tail number 153278
Service number: 093496
Country: North Vietnam
MOS: 7563 = Pilot UH-1N Qualified
"Official" listing: helicopter air casualty - non-aircrew
Length of service: 03
Military grid coordinates of event: ZD050295

Additional information about this casualty:
CPT Uplinger flew UH-1Es in Vietnam. I helped train him in UH-1Es at the Marine Corps Base, Camp Pendleton and knew him fairly well before he went to Vietnam. Some time later, he was reported MIA to his wife, who lived in the Pendleton area near me. She was understandably upset and my wife and I comforted her as well as we could. Several weeks later the wreckage of a CH-53 was discovered near Monkey Mountain. All onboard were lost. Bart was not on the manifest, but was on the aircraft, according to forensic pathologists. His status was then changed from MIA to KIA. He'd apparently hitched a ride at the last minute from Phu Bai to Marble Mountain on the doomed CH-53. Anyway, Bart was indeed a helicopter jock on one of the two Marine Observation Squadrons assigned in country, which flew the UH-1E gun-birds for the Marines. Col. David A. Ballentine, USMC, (Ret.) June 14, 1995

Reason: aircraft lost or crashed at sea
Casualty type: Non-hostile - died of other causes
married male U.S. citizen
Race: Caucasian
Religion: Protestant - no denominational preference
Burial information: JEFFERSON BARRACKS NAT CEM, ST LOUIS MO (GROUP)
This record was last updated on 11/26/1996

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Date posted on this site: 11/13/2023