Name: LTC Robert Leslie Runkle
Status: Killed In Action from an incident on 04/04/1968 while performing the duty of Pilot Passenger.
Age at death: 42.0
Date of Birth: 03/20/1926
Home City: Ft Scott, KS
Service: IN branch of the regular component of the U.S. Army.
Unit: 1/5 CAV
Prior Unit: UTT 64
Major organization: 1st Cavalry Division
Service: IN branch of the U.S. Army.
The Wall location: 48E-010
Aircraft: UH-1H tail number 66-16952
Service number: O65724
Country: South Vietnam
MOS: 1542 = 15 Infantry Unit Commander
Major attributing cause: aircraft connected not at sea
Compliment cause: weapons
Vehicle involved: helicopter
Position in vehicle: observer
Started Tour: 06/12/1968
"Official" listing: helicopter air casualty - non-aircrew
Length of service: 22
Location: Quang Tri Province I Corps.
Additional information about this casualty:
He was the CO of the UTT Company when it was formed in Okinawa in the spring of 1963. They first went to Thailand and then on to Vietnam in 1964, where I assume that he did fly helicopters.
As far as I know he did not have a flying job while in the Cav. He was the Division G-1 in the spring of 1967 and later moved on to CO of the 1/5. Of course neither were flying jobs.
From: Sam Brown
Reason: aircraft lost or crashed
Casualty type: Hostile - killed
married male U.S. citizen
Race: Caucasian
Religion: Protestant - no denominational preference
Burial information: FT SNELLING NATIONAL CEM, MINNEAPOLIS MN
The following information secondary, but may help in explaining this incident.
Category of casualty as defined by the Army: battle dead Category of personnel: active duty Army Military class: officer
This record was last updated on 07/15/2006
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Date posted on this site: 11/13/2023
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