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:
10/23/2024
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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