More detail on this person: I am Barbara Drennan, Ray's wife. My daughter told me about this site
and wanted me to look for some information. Ray's death was May 17th , 1971, he was 28 years old.
He was flying a Jet Bell Ranger for the Illinois Department of Public Works. His job was to
transport engineers to new roadway sites. He misjudged a sloping wire and was killed on impact.
The seat harness on the helicopter broke on impact and he was thrown from the copter. This information was last updated 05/18/2016
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Date posted on this site:
01/11/2025
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I am trying to find his unit number during his tour in Vietnam, for some reason I think it was
HHM163 but I still need to do some digging to make sure. I think he was a 2nd Lt but may have been
Captain, I just can't remember. His tour was 1968 to 1969 as an active Marine Corp reservist.
When he returned from Vietnam he was a flight instructor in Pensacola Fl until leaving active duty
in 1970. In 1970 he was hired by the Illinois department of Public Works. He was still attending
reserve meetings until his death.
From: Barbara Drennan