Name: 1LT Milton Dale Pate
Status: Killed In Action from an incident on 10/31/1968 while performing the duty of Aircraft Commander.
Age at death: 23.3
Date of Birth: 07/25/1945
Home City: Galveston, TX
Service: AR branch of the reserve component of the U.S. Army.
Unit: A/3/17 CAV
Major organization: 1st Aviation Brigade
Flight class: 67-20
Service: AR branch of the U.S. Army.
The Wall location: 40W-066
Short Summary: Flare ignited inside the aircraft during a Fire Fly mission at 1500 ft. exploded at 1000 ft. 6 KIA Wolter, Gheer, Bourne, Mesa, Lemus.
Aircraft: UH-1H tail number 66-16033
Service number: O5244523
Country: South Vietnam
MOS: 61204
Primary cause: Flare ignited
Major attributing cause: aircraft connected not at sea
Compliment cause: weapons
Vehicle involved: helicopter
Position in vehicle: aircraft commander
Started Tour: 01/04/1968
"Official" listing: helicopter air casualty - other aircrew
Length of service: 02
Location: Long An Province III Corps.
Military grid coordinates of event: XS8962
Reason: aircraft lost or crashed
Casualty type: Non-hostile - died of other causes
single male U.S. citizen
Race: Caucasian
Religion: Protestant - no denominational preference
Burial information: WHEELOCK CEMETERY, LEON COUNTY, TX
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 07/28/1994
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Date posted on this site: 11/13/2023
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