Sergeant First Class William Roy Dennis entered the U.S. Army from Pennsylvania and was a member of Company A, 228th Aviation Battalion (Assault Helicopter), 11th Aviation Group, 1st Cavalry Division (Airborne)
On April 19, 1968, Sgt. Dennis was the flight engineer on a CH-47 Chinook (serial number 64-13124) carrying five crew members took off on a resupply mission to "Landing Zone Tiger" in A Shau Valley, Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam. As the Chinook approached the landing zone, it came under heavy small arms fire from the ground. There was an explosion on board and the helicopter spun out of control and crashed, with the impact causing a second explosion in the rear section. The pilot and copilot were able to escape from the wreckage and survived, but reported they did not see the other three crew members following the crash. A search for the downed helicopter was not immediately possible because of the enemy presence in the area. Post-war investigative records state that a refugee reported finding the wreckage of two U.S. helicopters near the location of this crash, with one having three sets of skeletal remains buried nearby, but no conclusive evidence was found that the reported wreckage was that of this helicopter or that these remains corresponded to any of the three missing crew members.
Sgt. Dennis' remains were not recovered.
Today, Sergeant First Class Dennis is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. His name is also inscribed along with all his fallen comrades on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, DC.
Sgt. Dennis was the son of Milton S. Dennis and Naomi L. [Moore] Dennis. In addition to his parents, he left behind siblings Jacqueline, Richard, Irma, and Raymond Dennis.
Panel 50E, Line 46
On April 19, 1968, Sgt. Dennis was the flight engineer on a CH-47 Chinook (serial number 64-13124) carrying five crew members took off on a resupply mission to "Landing Zone Tiger" in A Shau Valley, Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam. As the Chinook approached the landing zone, it came under heavy small arms fire from the ground. There was an explosion on board and the helicopter spun out of control and crashed, with the impact causing a second explosion in the rear section. The pilot and copilot were able to escape from the wreckage and survived, but reported they did not see the other three crew members following the crash. A search for the downed helicopter was not immediately possible because of the enemy presence in the area. Post-war investigative records state that a refugee reported finding the wreckage of two U.S. helicopters near the location of this crash, with one having three sets of skeletal remains buried nearby, but no conclusive evidence was found that the reported wreckage was that of this helicopter or that these remains corresponded to any of the three missing crew members.
Sgt. Dennis' remains were not recovered.
Today, Sergeant First Class Dennis is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. His name is also inscribed along with all his fallen comrades on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, DC.
Sgt. Dennis was the son of Milton S. Dennis and Naomi L. [Moore] Dennis. In addition to his parents, he left behind siblings Jacqueline, Richard, Irma, and Raymond Dennis.
Panel 50E, Line 46
Sergeant First Class William Roy Dennis entered the U.S. Army from Pennsylvania and was a member of Company A, 228th Aviation Battalion (Assault Helicopter), 11th Aviation Group, 1st Cavalry Division (Airborne)
On April 19, 1968, Sgt. Dennis was the flight engineer on a CH-47 Chinook (serial number 64-13124) carrying five crew members took off on a resupply mission to "Landing Zone Tiger" in A Shau Valley, Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam. As the Chinook approached the landing zone, it came under heavy small arms fire from the ground. There was an explosion on board and the helicopter spun out of control and crashed, with the impact causing a second explosion in the rear section. The pilot and copilot were able to escape from the wreckage and survived, but reported they did not see the other three crew members following the crash. A search for the downed helicopter was not immediately possible because of the enemy presence in the area. Post-war investigative records state that a refugee reported finding the wreckage of two U.S. helicopters near the location of this crash, with one having three sets of skeletal remains buried nearby, but no conclusive evidence was found that the reported wreckage was that of this helicopter or that these remains corresponded to any of the three missing crew members.
Sgt. Dennis' remains were not recovered.
Today, Sergeant First Class Dennis is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. His name is also inscribed along with all his fallen comrades on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, DC.
Sgt. Dennis was the son of Milton S. Dennis and Naomi L. [Moore] Dennis. In addition to his parents, he left behind siblings Jacqueline, Richard, Irma, and Raymond Dennis.
Panel 50E, Line 46
On April 19, 1968, Sgt. Dennis was the flight engineer on a CH-47 Chinook (serial number 64-13124) carrying five crew members took off on a resupply mission to "Landing Zone Tiger" in A Shau Valley, Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam. As the Chinook approached the landing zone, it came under heavy small arms fire from the ground. There was an explosion on board and the helicopter spun out of control and crashed, with the impact causing a second explosion in the rear section. The pilot and copilot were able to escape from the wreckage and survived, but reported they did not see the other three crew members following the crash. A search for the downed helicopter was not immediately possible because of the enemy presence in the area. Post-war investigative records state that a refugee reported finding the wreckage of two U.S. helicopters near the location of this crash, with one having three sets of skeletal remains buried nearby, but no conclusive evidence was found that the reported wreckage was that of this helicopter or that these remains corresponded to any of the three missing crew members.
Sgt. Dennis' remains were not recovered.
Today, Sergeant First Class Dennis is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. His name is also inscribed along with all his fallen comrades on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, DC.
Sgt. Dennis was the son of Milton S. Dennis and Naomi L. [Moore] Dennis. In addition to his parents, he left behind siblings Jacqueline, Richard, Irma, and Raymond Dennis.
Panel 50E, Line 46
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