A Somber Homecoming

 

April 13, 2001

 

 

 

Seven American servicemen killed in a helicopter crash in Vietnam on April 7, 2001 were brought back to Hickam Air Force Base today.  Nearly 300 service members and civilians watched as the seven flag-draped coffins were carried from an Air Force C-17 and into seven white hearses. 

 

 

 

As each flag-draped coffin was placed into each hearse, many saluted to these men as their family, as their friends and as their co-workers.  One could feel the weight of their great losses in the air.

 

As each hearse drove away, many watched as a serviceman inside the lead vehicle lifted his white-gloved hand to his eyes to wipe away the tears.

 

 

 

The seven men were on an advance mission for Joint Task Force – Full Accounting and for the U.S. Army Central Identification Laboratory.  Their mission is to resolve the cases of Americans still unaccounted-for as a result of past conflicts.  Since its creation, the people of JTF-FA and CILHI have repatriated more than 600 remains and have given closure to some families who have been waiting many years for their loved ones return. 

 

Many of these remains were repatriated at the exact spot that these seven valiant men, who knew the risks and who knew the dangers, made their arrival to this somber homecoming. 

 

“Yesterday on this spot, 24 men and women returned to America with honor and joyful families,” Admiral Dennis C. Blair, commander in chief of U.S. Pacific Command, said during the ceremony.  “Today, seven men return to America, but to grieving families.”

 

 

Blair called out the names of the men: 

 

Army Lt. Col. Rennie Cory of Oklahoma was the commander of the task force’s Detachment 2 in Hanoi.

 

Army Lt. Col. George Martin III of South Carolina had been the commander of 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment, but was scheduled to take over command of Detachment 2 in July.

 

Air Force Maj. Charles Lewis of Florida was deputy commander of Detachment 2. 

 

Tech. Sgt. Robert Flynn of Alabama was a Vietnamese language specialist with Detachment 2. 

 

Navy Chief Petty Officer Pedro Juan “Pete” Gonzales of Arizona was stationed in San Diego but on temporary assignment as a medical specialist to the task force’s advance team. 

 

Air Force Master Sgt. Steven Moser of California was stationed with the task force at Camp Smith. 

 

Sgt. 1st Class Tommy Murphy of Georgia was also stationed in Hawaii, with the U.S. Army Central Identification Laboratory. 

 

You will never be forgotten
 

 

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