 Dennis Clark Hamilton   CWO Dennis Clark Hamilton, US Army 176th Aviation Co., 14th Aviation Bat., 23rd Infantry Div.   Name: Dennis Clark Hamilton Rank/Branch: WO/US Army Unit: 176th Aviation Company, 14th Aviation Battalion, 23rd Infantry Division (Americal) Date of Birth: 04 May 1946 (Tuscaloosa AL) Home City of Record: Barnes City IA Date of Loss: 05 January 1968 Country of Loss: Laos Loss Coordinates: 161907N 1063445E (XD701021) Status (in 1973): Missing in Action Category: 4 Acft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1D Refno: 0967 Other Personnel in Incident: James Williamson; John T. Gallagher; Ernest F. Briggs; Sheldon D. Schultz (all missing); indidgenous team members, names, numbers, (fates unknown) REMARKS: NO SIGN OF CREW SYNOPSIS: On January 5, 1968, WO Dennis C. Hamilton, aircraft commander; WO Sheldon D. Schultz, pilot; SP5 Ernest F. Briggs, Jr., crew chief; SP4 James P. Williamson, crewman, and SSgt. John T. Gallagher, passenger; were aboard a UH1D helicopter (tail #66-1172) on a mission to infiltrate an indigenous reconnaissance patrol into Laos. The reconnaissance patrol and SSgt. Gallagher were operating under orders to Command and Control North, MACV-SOG (Military Assistance Command, Vietnam Studies and Observation Group). MACV-SOG was a joint service high command unconventional task force engaged in highly classified operations throughout Southeast Asia. The 5th Special Forces channeled personnel into MACV-SOG (although it was not a Special Forces Group) through Special Operations Augmentation (SOA), which provided their "cover" while under secret orders to MACV-SOG. The teams performed deep penetration missions of strategic reconnaissance and interdiction which were called, depending on the time frame, "Shining Brass" or "Prairie Fire" missions. As the aircraft approached the landing zone about 20 miles inside Laos south of Lao Bao, it came under heavy 37mm anti-aircraft fire while at an altitude of about 300 feet over ground level. The aircraft immediately entered a nose-low vertical dive and crashed. Upon impact with the ground, the aircraft burst into flames which were 10 to 20 feet high. No radio transmissions were heard during the helicopter's descent, nor were radio or beeper signals heard after the impact. Four attempts to get into the area of the downed helicopter failed due to intense ground fire. During the next two days, more attempts to get to the wreckage failed. The pilot of one search helicopter maneuvered to within 75 feet of the crash site before being forced out by enemy fire. The pilot who saw the wreckage stated that the crashed helicopter was a mass of burned metal and that there was no part of the aircraft that could be recognized. No signs of life were seen in the crash area. Weather delayed further search attempts for a couple of days. After the weather improved, the successful insertion of a ground team was made east of the crash site to avoid enemy fire. The team was extracted after the second day, finding nothing. The crash site was located near the city of Muong Nong in Savannahet Province, Laos. Nearly 600 Americans were lost in Laos. The Pathet Lao insisted that the "tens of tens" of Americans they held would only be released from Laos, but the U.S. did not officially recognize the communist faction in Laos and did not negotiate for American prisoners being held by them. Not one American held by the Lao was ever released. Alarmingly, evidence continues to mount that Americans were left as prisoners in Southeast Asia and continue to be held today. Unlike "MIA's" from other wars, most of the nearly 2500 men and women who remain missing in Southeast Asia can be accounted for. Perhaps the crew of the helicopter did not survive the crash, but until there is positive proof of their deaths, we cannot forget them. If even one was left behind at the end of the war, alive, and many authorities estimate the numbers to be in the hundreds), we have failed as a nation until and unless we do> everything possible to secure his freedom and bring him home. 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 1998.  First name: DENNIS CLARK Home of Record (official): BARNES CITY State (official): IOWA Date of Birth: Saturday, May 4, 1946 Sex: Male Race: Caucasian Marital Status: Single Military Records Branch: Army Rank: CWO Component: Reserve Major Organization: 1st Aviation Bde Action Start of Tour: June 11, 1967 Date of Casualty: January 5, 1968 Declaration of Death: January 8, 1979 Status: Body not recovered from an incident on 01/05/1968 while performing the duty of Aircraft Commander Age at time of loss: 21.7 yrs. Casualty type: (A3) Hostile, died while missing Reason: Air loss - Crash on land (Crew member - Helicopter) Country: Laos You can find Dennis Hamilton honored on the Vietnam Memorial Wall, Panel 33E, Row 49. This graphic is entitled,"Farm Boy Returns Home". Although I haven't been able to find out if Warrant Officer Hamilton indeed came from a "farming" family here in Iowa, one thing I am sure of is this... He, as well as all of the others still classified as "Missing in Action", "Killed in Action", or "Prisoner of War" who have not been returned to their homeland are NOT forgotten. They are sorely missed by all whom they loved and those who loved them. 
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