FIELDS EARL J

CW2 Earl J. Fields was a VHPA member who died after his tour in Vietnam on 02/27/2026 at the age of 80.0 from Lung cancer
Fairview, TX
Flight Classes 65-6W and 65-6
Date of Birth 03/09/1946
Served in the U.S. Army
Served in Vietnam with 1 AVN 1 INF in 65, 155 AHC in 66, 170 AHC in 66
Call signs in Vietnam STAGECOACH, FALCON 7, BUCCANEER 7
This information was provided by Obit

More detail on this person: Earl Fields was born March 9, 1946 in Houma, Louisiana. Soon after graduation from Terrebonne High School in 1964, Earl joined the Army with a plan to go through Helicopter Pilot training which he successfully completed in 1965 at 19 years old. When he first landed in Vietnam he was assigned to the 155th AHC which was later changed to the 170th in Pleiku, Republic of Vietnam. Earl received the Bronze Star with Valor for heroism in ground combat resulting from his actions after being shot down December 24, 1965 near Lai Khe. He and his crew were rescued. At the end of his tour in Vietnam, he returned to the US where he was a flight instructor at Ft. Wolters in Mineral Wells, TX until his honorable discharge in 1968. Also in 1968, Earl went to work for Chevron Oil Company flying helicopters to the rigs in the Gulf of Mexico for nineteen years. He was then promoted to Chief Pilot and then became Manager of the Gulf of Mexico Operations. In 1995 Earl was promoted to Manager of Aircraft Services for Chevron Corporation in San Francisco, California. Earl retired in 2001 and with his wife, Ginny, embarked on a life-long dream of living aboard and cruising their boat, Sea Lark. They cruised the west coast from San Francisco to Alaska and wintered on Vancouver Island for four years. Then they went south to La Paz, Mexico for a few years before returning to the Pacific Northwest. In 2023 the boat was sold; meanwhile, Earl and Ginny had settled in Fairview, Texas close to their children and grandchildren. The grandsons benefited from hunting with PawPaw as he taught them the fine art of sitting quietly in the deer stand for long periods of time. Earl passed away February 27, 2026 after a brief battle with both lung cancer and pulmonary fibrosis, evidently from the long ago effects of Agent Orange. Earl is survived by his wife of 57 years, Ginny; two daughters, one son and three grandsons. He was loved and respected by family and friends alike and will long be missed.

This information was last updated 04/19/2026

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Date posted on this site: 07/15/2026