DENNIS, MARK V.

• Finally Accounted For 07/27/1990 after previous mis-identification

Name:  Mark V. Dennis
Rank/Branch: HM3/USN
Unit: Assigned as medic to E. Company with the Marines 
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record: OH
Loss Date: 15 July 1966
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: (unknown) Dong Ha
Status (In 1973):  Killed In Action
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: CH46 Helicopter
Other Personnel In Incident:

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:  Not on original official Missing lists (PMSEA)

SYNOPSIS:  Hospitalman Mark Dennis was a Navy medic aboard a Chinook
helicopter when it was shot down on July 15, 1966.  All men on board
were declared Killed In Action.  Three and a half weeks later, a casket
arrived in Ohio and was buried.  In November, 1970, an issue of News-
week carried a photograph of an "unknown POW" which his brother felt was
MARK DENNIS.  That, combined with an earlier report from the Navy, that
"a couple of men could have gotten out of the helicopter" sparked Mark's
brother to travel to Paris, Bangkok and Vietnam in search of the truth.

The remains purported to be those of Mark Dennis were exhumed, and
exhaustive tests made.  The results proved to Mark's family beyond a
shadow of a doubt that they DID NOT BURY MARK DENNIS, but someone else,
unknown to them.  Mark's family continues to actively pursue answers to
their question, "Where is Mark Dennis?"
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BAMBOO CAGE - by Nigel Cawthorn
Page 225

.... This was not the first time errors have come to light. During the war
itself grave doubts arose over the army's identification methods. The family
of Navy corpsman Mark V. Dennis were told that he had been killed in a
helicopter crash in 1966. Remains were identified and returned to the family
who buried them. But in 1970, Jerry Dennis saw a picture of his brother in
Newsweek magazine alive in North Vietnam. The picture was captioned:
'Unidentified PoW.'....

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05/15/2015

Vindication for the family of Navy Corpsman Mark V. Dennis. Family finally proves remains
returned in 1966 were misidentified. Leaving in question the identity of a POW shown in a 1970
photo the family believes is Mark.

http://www.9news.com/…/vietnam-war-the-battle-ove…/27349359/

--
Lynn

Lynn O’Shea
Director of Research 718-846-4350
National Alliance of Families
For the Return of America’s Missing Servicemen
World War II + Korea + Cold War + Vietnam + Gulf Wars + Afghanistan

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1) Here's the PGR mission, which tells the short story of Navy Corpman 3rd Class Mark V. Dennis:

The family of 3rd Class Mark V Dennis DOB 9/21/46 DOL 7/15/66 POW/ MIA, has graciously invited the
Patriot Guard Riders, to escort them to Tampa International Airport to pick up their hero, and then escort to
Sylvan Abbey Crematory. Then escort from Funeral Home on 4/6/17 to lay their loved one to rest.
3rd Class Dennis was attached to E Company USMC Dong Ha South Vietnam. Dennis was aboard a CH46
chopper, during operation Hastings, when they were shot down by NVA. Dennis was one of the corpsmen
on the Chopper. On Nov 30th 1970 Newsweek carried a photo of an unknown POW, The family identified the
picture as being Mark V Dennis. The family had buried another hero thinking it was their son, after hiring
investigators, they found that the hero they buried wasn't their son. They now have their son who has been
identified as Mark V Dennis 3rd Class USN.

 

2) The 1st paragraph under "Synopsis" may also: work as a short bio/history: https://www.pownetwork.org/bios/d/dx02.htm

 

3) To read about the family's ordeal, see this link: http://www.9news.com/news/local/vietnam-war-the-battle-over-remains/132390811

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http://obits.dignitymemorial.com/dignity-memorial/obituary.aspx?n=Mark-Dennis&lc=4681&pid=184775802&mid=7350908

Obituary

 

Dennis, Mark V.
Mark was born September 21, 1946 in Miamisburg, OH. He was the son of Charles Russell and Vera Alice (Sheley) Dennis.
Mark graduated from high school in 1964 in Miamisburg, OH. He joined the U.S. Navy in 1964 and trained as a medic. He
was a Hospital Corpman, 3rd Class with the U.S. Navy, assigned as a medic to E. Company with the Marines in Dong Ha,
South Vietnam. He was also the acting chaplain for his unit, and wanted to be a missionary. He died when his helicopter
shot down on July 15, 1966, where he was a passenger. Mark was a mature and caring young man who loved his fiancée,
Linda Mullins Williams and his family including his mother, Vera Dennis; father, Charles Dennis; brother, Jerry Dennis;
sisters, Karen Moline and Eileen Brady; nieces and nephews; and his beloved dog, Sparky. There will be a graveside
service on Thursday, April 6, 2017 at 10 AM as he is laid to rest at Garden Sanctuary Cemetery in Seminole, FL with
full military honors. The funeral arrangements have been entrusted by Serenity Funeral Home in Largo, FL.

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1

....But the end of a mournful, half-century saga is nearing for Brady and Moline. 

On Tuesday the sisters once again received a flag-draped casket of human remains, this time ceremonially lifted
from a commercial flight to Tampa Bay from Omaha where the last government DNA tests on the remains were
conducted at Offutt Air Force Base.....

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01/2020

https://dpaa.secure.force.com/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt000000oMgK4EAK