02 May 1999 David Lee Gilmor, Specialist 4, United States Army, was buried on 30 December 1970 in the Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery, Point Loma, San Diego County, California, surrounded by other men of integrity and courage. From a friend, Sue Haynes Tresenrider huey227@verizon.net

 

11 Apr 2004 Dear Ms. Tresenrider... First, I want to humbly thank you for taking the time to enter this information about David and I am sorry for your loss. I also apologize for being so late in delivering this message as 35 years ago, I was in Vietnam. I am a 1967 graduate of Valencia High School and I knew Dave even though he was a year ahead of me. I was in Vietnam from 23Feb69 to 24Feb70 and was a Huey Crew Chief and flew into Vung Tau many times from our base in III Corps. I have known of David's passing since shortly after it happened as I was discharged 24Dec70 and had just returned to Placentia when I learned of this accident. I am sorry I did not have any contact with anyone until this moment in time. It is strange that I just read today that one of Dave's pilots was Fred A. Williams ... my closest friend in Vietnam who was also a Huey Crew Chief was named Fred L. Williams. Although I do not know your relationship with Dave, please accept my sincere condolences as it is never my intention to bring up the past and cause anyone pain, I just wanted you to know that I still grieve for our lost brothers. May God's blessings be with you this Easter Sunday ... and always. Respectfully, Chris Vorderkunz RVN 23Feb69-24Feb70 Hawk 6 MOS 67N20 Florida vorderkunz@comcast.net

 

A Note from The Virtual Wall The 358th Aviation Detachment, based at Vung Tau, was tasked with providing transportation for the 525th Military Intelligence Group in all four Corps areas. On 16 Dec 1970 UH-1H tail number 67-17532 crashed on take-off. The pilot had loaded a half-dozen passengers and then attempted a low-level down-wind take-off followed by a low-level left turn. While in the turn the aircraft settled into the ground; both the port skid and the main rotor blade hit ground. The Huey bounced into the air, then impacted, coming to rest about 300 feet from the initial point of impact. Four men are known to have died in the crash: WO Fred A. Williams, Roseboro, NC, copilot, 358th Avn Det SP5 Starr F. Frye, Salt Lake City, UT, crew chief, 358th Avn Det CWO Joseph J. Danna, Vineland, NJ, passenger, 358th Avn Det SP4 David L. Gilmor, Placentia, CA, passenger, 571st MI Det

Contact Us

© Copyright 1997-2019 www.VirtualWall.org, Ltd ®(TM)

Last update 08/15/2019.