Name: CPT John W. Wilmot, Jr.
Status: Killed In Action from an incident on 05/19/1966 while performing the duty of Pilot.
Service: .
Unit: AIR AMERICA LAOS
Service: .
Short Summary: Shot while attempting to land in a safe area near LS-48. Helicopter crashed. Died immediately.
Aircraft: UH-34D tail number H-42
Country: Laos
Primary cause: Hostile Fire
Additional information about this casualty:
The following is an extract from Across the Mekong by Davis starting on page 129. Note that Davis names the dead pilot as Bill Wilmont while the AA Memorial has him John W. Wilmot Jr.
General Vang Pao came to the area the afternoon that Bill was killed and organized a reaction force. Air America inserted this force near the crash site and they were able to recover Bill's body.
Davis writes: I had heard that Wilmont had been employed by Air America in the early 1960s as a flight mechanic. After a few years in that job, he decided he wanted to be a helicopter pilot and went back to the States for training and got his license to fly. That was no easy task, as it takes a lot of time and a good deal of money. He must have been highly motivated, for he did it and then got a job flying a small Bell helicopter at various places, with most of his experience being acquired with a company in Canada. After several years at that job, he gained enough flying experience and applied for the job as helicopter pilot with Air America. That was one of those long range plans that worked out. That is, until this terrible morning of 19 May when all of his dreams literally came crashing down.
This record was last updated on 07/23/1999
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Date posted on this site: 11/13/2023
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