DRAVIS JAMES STEVENS JR

Name: CW2 James Stevens Dravis, Jr. (posthumously promoted)
Status: Killed In Action from an incident on 08/02/1969 while performing the duty of Pilot.
Age at death: 27.1
Date of Birth: 06/30/1942
Home City: Mineral Point, PA
Service: AV branch of the reserve component of the U.S. Army.
Unit: 201 AVN
Major organization: other
Flight class: RWQC66
Service: AV branch of the U.S. Army.
The Wall location: 20W-086
Short Summary: Ground casualty.
Country: South Vietnam
MOS: 062B = Helicopter Pilot, Utility and Light Cargo Single Rotor
Primary cause: Ground Casualty
Compliment cause: small arms fire
Started Tour: 12/17/1968
"Official" listing: ground casualty
Length of service: 06
Location: Khanh Hoa Province II Corps.

Additional information about this casualty:
I see that you have James Dravis (69) as KIA. Jim was my room mate at the time of his death which was actually the result of murder. He was pulling duty officer in the Company Headquarters one night when a guy from our unit (high on some kind of drug) hosed down the building with his M-16 hitting Jim in the back and killing him. I remember getting the Army Times in Vietnam and reading the weekly breakdown of deaths. There was of course, KIA, MIA and I distinctly remember KOC. That stood for killed other than combat. That designation would be closer to the truth than "killed in action".

From: Don Pedrazzini

I was holding Mr. Dravis when he died. A loud noise preceded the fatal shot. It came through the headquarters building unbeknownst to us. There were three of us in the building at the time. I saw dust rise from the mail room but didn't make the connection. Then a second boom and Mr Dravis emerged from the CO's office with his arms clutching his sides. He had been shot through both lungs. We applied CPR but he bled out and died on the floor with my hands on the wounds. I think about it every day. From: Stanton M Levin

Reason: accidental homicide
Casualty type: Non-hostile - died of other causes
married male U.S. citizen
Race: Caucasian
Religion: Baptist - other groups
Burial information: GRANDVIEW CEMETERY, JOHNSTOWN, PA
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: warrant officer
This record was last updated on 08/11/2014

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Date posted on this site: 11/13/2023