HOFFMAN, TERRY ALAN

Remains Returned, buried 1994

Name: Terry Alan Hoffman
Branch/Rank: United States Marine Corps/E3
Unit: HMM 262 MAG 39
Date of Birth: 03 February 1945
Home City of Record: DANVILLE IN
Date of Loss: 19 August 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 165813 North  1065935 East
Status (in 1973):Killed In Action/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: CH46D #152566
Missions:
Other Personnel in Incident: Rocky Darger, Pilot; co-pilot survived; John
William Hutchison, aircrew, KIA, body recovered; other aircrew, KIA body
recovered.
Refno: 1254

Source: Compiled by P.O.W. NETWORK from one or more of the following: raw
data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with POW/MIA
families, published sources, interviews and CACCF = Combined Action
Combat Casualty File.  2020

REMARKS:

CACCF/CRASH/AIRCREW/QUANG TRI

-----------------------------

From - Sun Jul 25 1999

I was the Commanding Officer of HMM-262 at Quang Tri in Vietnam beginning in
September 1968.  I arrived just before the incident in which Terry Hoffman
lost his life, but did not assume command until a month later.  I am
currently the historian  of the HMM-262 Vietnam association.  The entries
below appear in our home page at
http://www.hmm-262vietnam.org/
His brother Gary L. Hoffman, Florida, is a member of our association, and we
correspond regurlarly.

Albert N. Allen LtCol USMC (Ret)

TERRY ALLAN HOFFMAN - CPL
PANEL 48W ROW 056 - 19-Aug-68

Corporal Terry Allen Hoffman 2316108/6320 USMC was from Danville, Indiana.
He was born on February 3, 1945. He arrived in Vietnam June, 1968. He was 23
years old at the time of his death. He died on August 19, 1968 in Quang Tri
Province. He was a crewmember of CH-46 buno 152566 which crashed on land due
to hostile causes. His body was not recovered until 1994. He was officially
listed as an Missing In Action for 26 years (HMM-262's only MIA). He was
finally interred by his family in 1994. He was not married. His race is
officially listed as Caucasian. His religion was Protestant. He had one
years' service at the time of his death.

The following is a letter from Terry's Commanding officer to the historian
of the HMM-262 Vietnam Association:

"I have been reading your messages with great interest and sometimes
sorrow. In the case of Terry Hoffman, he joined the squadron in March
1968. His body was not recovered from the burning wreckage even though a
rescue team searched the area. He was presumed consumed in the fire. The
other two crewman's remains were recovered. Both pilots were thrown
clear of the wreckage and survived. Rocky Darger was the pilot. It was
sometime in 1991 or early 1992 that human remains and parts of a flight
suit, boots, and a dog tag of Terry Hoffman were turned in to the
Vietnamese government by local farmers. Until then they were afraid to
but they were doing this for humanitarian reasons. Forensic examination
proved the remains were of Terry Hoffman. On July 4, 1994, my wife Doris
and I attended a memorial service for Terry Hoffman in Danville,
Indiana. He was buried with full military honors and the whole town paid
tribute to him. The Marine Corps Reserve provided the honor guard, the
Army provided a horse drawn caisson to carry the remains to the family
cemetery, and the Air Force National Guard provided 4 F-16s in a missing
man formation fly by. It was sad but it was a privilege to be there..."

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01/2020

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