Name: 1LT Donel Joe Dobbs
Status: Killed In Action from an incident on 03/17/1972 while performing the duty of Pilot.
Age at death: 24.2
Date of Birth: 01/11/1948
Home City: Gamaliel, AR
Service: IN branch of the reserve component of the U.S. Army.
Unit: F/9 CAV 1 CAV
Major organization: 1st Cavalry Division
Flight class: 71-36
Service: IN branch of the U.S. Army.
The Wall location: 02W-115
Short Summary: Exploded in flight (see 1LT Williamson). Started in 101 ABN as Ghostrider prior to being in-country transferred to the CAV.
Aircraft: UH-1H tail number 66-17051
Country: South Vietnam
MOS: 1981 = 19 Rotary Wing Aviator (Unit Commander)
Primary cause: Explosion
Major attributing cause: aircraft connected not at sea
Compliment cause: vehicular accident
Vehicle involved: helicopter
Position in vehicle: pilot
Vehicle ownership: government
Started Tour: 02/17/1972
"Official" listing: helicopter air casualty - pilot
The initial status of this person was: non-hostile missing - interim
Length of service: *
Location: Bien Hoa Province III Corps.
Military grid coordinates of event: YT101213
Reason: aircraft lost or crashed
Casualty type: Non-hostile - died while missing
married male U.S. citizen
Race: Caucasian
Religion: Church of Christ
Burial information: BEAN CEMETERY, GAMALIEL, AR
The following information secondary, but may help in explaining this incident.
Category of casualty as defined by the Army: non-battle dead Category of personnel: active duty Army Military class: officer
This record was last updated on 07/29/1995
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Date posted on this site: 11/13/2023
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