More detail on this person: Harold R. Manns, beloved husband, father, grandfather, brother, and
friend, passed away January 17, 2012 at the age of 68. This information was last updated 05/18/2016
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Date posted on this site:
01/11/2025
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He leaves his wife/soul mate, Linda Manns; a son, Jeffrey; a daughter, Elizabeth; a brother, Thomas;
three grandchildren, four stepchildren among several nieces, nephews, and cousins.
"Hal" served honorably in the United States Army for 31 years as a helicopter pilot (Cobra) with his
mentors, the Pink Panthers. He served in the Vietnam conflict and retired as a Colonel. Even after
his military service, Hal continued to be an advocate for military service members and a huge
contributor to military relations.
After leaving the service, Hal became a financial analyst and worked for Telcordia. He was one of
the original team members that developed DSL. Among his civilian accomplishments, he was a
professor at Lee High University.
He was a volunteer for Red Cross, Habit for Humanity, Homeless Veterans Organization, Save our Sea
Shores, and the Cure for Leukemia Organization. Also, one of his passions was politics, he wrote
speeches for Congressman Posey.
Hal was most known for his sincerity and charity. Everyone came first in his heart and mind. If
there was ever a problem, Hal was the first to offer help, even for those he barely knew. His life
revolved around his wife, Linda, and his mentors, the Pink Panther group, a close knit family for
years.
Anyone planning expression of sympathy is asked to consider Homeless Veterans organization, a
cause he was extremely passionate about.
A celebration of his life will be held at Devine Mercy on Courtenay Parkway, Thursday, January 26th
at 11:00.
Services held by Funeral Solutions, 321-638-1373.
One important point to correct: Hal did not FLY with H/29th Arty, for he was non-rated and the
battery had no aircraft. It was an artillery searchlight battery, Battery H of the 29th Artillery,
and Hal was a searchlight platoon leader in Bac Lieu. I'm guessing the reason VHPA said he flew
with that unit was that (1) the VHPA membership application asks for all units served with in
Vietnam, and (2) H/29th Arty might look like an aviation unite because it was attached to the 13th
Combat Aviation Battalion - that's because there was no other American unit of battalion size or
greater in the Mekong Delta, where the battery operated (later, the 164th Combat Aviation Group was
formed in the Delta, and it became the battery's higher headquarters). While there was a connection
to Army Aviation, Battery H was a strictly no-fly organization, as its members were frequently
reminded by those around them who wore the 1st Aviation Brigade patch (the searchlight battery was
only attached to the aviation chain of command; it was assigned to II Field Forces Artillery in Long
Binh. Its members wore the II Field Forces patch, and its vehicles bore the bumper marking,
IIFFV/29F).
I know these things because Hal Manns was one of the officers who greeted me when I joined H/29th
Arty in January 1968. He was part of the first shift, who formed the battery at Fort Sill and
brought it by boat to Vietnam. I was in the second shift, a replacement sent to take the place of
those like Hal who had completed their 12-month tours. He didn't stay long after I arrived, but he
did his best to coach and counsel me, and I always remembered him as someone I looked up to. Our
paths never crossed again until almost six years ago.
The occasion was the burial of the crew of a Kingsmen (B Company, 101st Aviation Battalion) UH-1
Huey that was lost in Laos during Operation Lam Son 719 and had only been found years later by a
team from the Joint Personnel Accounting Command, the organization based in Hawaii whose mission
is to find and bring home the remains of our MIAs and BNRs (KIA, Body Not Recovered) from Vietnam,
Laos, and Cambodia. Mike Sloniker, then as now the historian of the VHPA, wanted to ensure a proper
turnout to welcome the Kingsmen home, so he got the word out, and in addition to a large contingent
of veterans from B Company, 101st, there was a small crowd of locals from the Washington DC area.
After the funeral service at the Fort Myer Chapel, there was a procession down the hill to the
burial site at Arlington Cemetery. To reduce the traffic inside the cemetery, we were encouraged to
double up in cars, and Mike Sloniker teamed me up with Pete Kacerguis, another Vietnam helicopter
pilot who worked for the FAA in Washington, DC. Sloniker, himself an artilleryman turned aviator,
introduced me with some amusement as someone who'd once served in searchlights. On the way to
the grave site, Pete told me about his friend Hal Manns, a flight school roommate, who had also
served in searchlights in Vietnam before coming home and going to flight school. Pete put Hal and
me in touch be email, and I learned he lived about five miles west of Cape Canaveral, Florida. We
both agreed that we were fortunate as searchlight platoon leaders to have had outstanding platoon
sergeants - his was Lou Loscudo and mine was Ben Clarke - and we agreed, too, that all things
considered, flying was more fun.
One last little coincidence: one of the Kingsmen crew buried that day at Arlington was the cousin of
Gene Lucas, who served in Battery C, 5th Battalion (Automatic Weapons, Self-Propelled), 2nd
Artillery - a twin 40mm "Duster" battery to which my searchlight platoon was later attached. At the
reception following the burial, I saw Gene for the first time since he drove me to Tan Son Nhut for
my flight home in January 1969. Sadly, Gene is gone, too.
May all those good men we served with, those killed in Vietnam and those who have died since, rest
in well-deserved peace.
From: James Kurtz