DENNIS, WILLIAM ROY

Name: William Roy Dennis
Rank/Branch: E4/US Army
Unit: Company A, 228th Aviation Battalion (Assault Support Helicopter), 11th
Aviation Group, 1st Cavalry Division
Date of Birth: 26 December 1948
Home City of Record: Pittsburgh PA
Date of Loss: 19 April 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 162248N 1070700E (YD290105)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: CH47A
Refno: 1134

Other Personnel In Incident: Douglas R. Blodgett; Jesus A. Gonzales (missing
from CH47A, coordinates YD290105 pilot and co-pilot survived); Michael J.
Wallace, Anthony F. Housh; (missing from CH47, coordinates YD291087-LZ
Tiger; pilot, co-pilot and gunner survived); Arthur J. Lord; Charles W.
Millard; Philip R. Shafer; Michael R. Werdehoff (missing on CH54,
coordinates YD255095-LZ Tiger)

Source: Compiled from one or more of the following: raw data from U.S.
Government agency sources, correspondence with POW/MIA families,
published sources, interviews. Updated by the P.O.W. NETWORK in 2020.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On April 19, 1968 three Army helicopters were shot down in the A
Shau Valley of South Vietnam. All three were making supply runs to Landing
Zone Tiger in Quang Tri Province. Five men survived the three crashes, and
nine men remain missing.

The CH47A on which Douglas Blodgett was a crewman, William Dennis was flight
engineer, and Jesus Gonzales was crewchief was resupplying ammunition at the
LZ when it received small arms fire from the ground and crashed. The pilot
and co-pilot were able to crawl away, but the rest of the crew was never
found. They were declared Missing In Action.

The CH47 on which Anthony Housh was flight engineer and Michael Wallace was
crewchief was hit by 50 calibre and 37 mm ground fire on its approach to the
LZ. Housh and Wallace jumped from the aircraft from an altitude of 50-100
feet above the jungle canopy. The others were rescued. No trace of Housh and
Wallace was ever found. They were declared Missing In Action.

The CH54 "Flying Crane" on which Arthur Lord was aircraft commander, Charles
Millard pilot, Arthur J. Lord co-pilot, Michael Werdehoff flight engineer,
and Philip Shafer crewchief was carrying a bulldozer into the recently
re-secured LZ Tiger when the aircraft was hit and crashed. All the crew were
classified Missing In Action.

Thorough searches for the 3 helicopters were not immediately possible
because of the enemy situation. A refugee later reported that he had found
the wreckage of two U.S. helicopters, one with 3 sets of skeletal remains,
in Quang Tri Province. The U.S. Army believes this could correlate with any
of the three helicopters lost on April 19, 1968, but no firm evidence has
been secured that would reveal the fate of the nine missing servicemen.

Some 250,000 interviews and "millions of documents" have been analyzed
relating to Americans who may still be alive, captive, in Southeast Asia.
Many experts believe there are hundreds of men still alive, waiting for
their country to rescue them. Whether any of the nine missing from near LZ
Tiger is among them is unknown, but it is clearly past time for us to bring
our men home.


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01/2020

https://dpaa.secure.force.com/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt0000000BTOjEAO

 

SFC WILLIAM ROY DENNIS

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On April 19, 1968, 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.

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). He was the flight engineer aboard this Chinook when it crashed, and his 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.

Based on all information available, DPAA assessed the individual's case to be in the analytical category of Active Pursuit.

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