More detail on this person: Cancer.I am
saddened to report the death of CW2 Larry Gene
Gore. Born January 17th, 1942, Larry graduated
helicopter flight training (WORWAC) in class 67-5.
He entered combat action in Vietnam in June, 1967
where he distinguished himself many times while
flying with A/229th 1st Air Cavalry. While
launching from LZ English in II Corps, he flew
headlong into hot LZ's during the battles for LZ
Pat and Tam Quan. The 1st Cavalry moved north to
I Corps on January 20th, 1968 and right into the
middle of TET 1968 and the battle for HUE. Despite
torrential monsoon rains, obscured ceilings, and
enemy gunfire, Larry never had second thoughts
about launching and completing his assigned
missions. A/229th had not completed the ongoing
battle for HUE when Larry and company did a
'wheel & turn' to lead the entire Cavalry assault
into Khe Sanh. On the heals of this battle, again
Larry Gore and the 229th entered the battle for
the A-Shau Valley where he earned the
Distinguished Flying Cross having survived while
22 helicopters were lost to anti-aircraft fire on
the first day. Somewhere in the middle of all
this, he served as aviation liaison officer from
the 1st Air Cavalry to the 101st Airborne as on
the onset of their arrival in Vietnam their TO&E
was changed from Airborne to Airmobile but
somebody forgot to give them many helicopters.
This was an intense job for a WO1 as he had to
find loose 1st Cavalry helicopter units to not
only perform battlefield troop movements, but for
Ash & Trash and Charlie-Charlie runs for then
101st commander Colonel Cushman. He tippy-toed
through this assignment with the dexterity of a
brain surgeon and the finesse of a rear echelon
General. This information was last updated 05/18/2016
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Date posted on this site:
03/10/2024
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After Vietnam, Larry instructed at Hunter Army
Airfield in Savannah, Georgia until January 1970.
He entered civilian life as an Air Traffic
Controller and retired in 2002. After a short
battle with cancer, Larry was laid to rest on May
9th in his beloved home town of Tabor City, NC. At
his side was his wife of over 30 years Sonya-Jean
Gore (OVWC - Original Vietnam Wives Club
member) and two sons: Jason Alan Gore &
Jonathan Owen Gore. In addition to his DFC,
Larry's other awards include Bronze Star and Air
Medal with 5 Silver Leaf Clusters.
Having been a very close friend to Larry for 38
years, I and all who knew him will miss his North
Carolina drawl and his dry humor. I wonder if they
have Hueys in Heaven?
CW2 Tom Johnson