Spec 4 Richard B. Stack - Vietnam Veteran

Dick was a door gunner on a Huey helicopter, stationed in KontumCity, on the border of Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam and very close to the Ho Chi Minh Trail. The North Vietnamese army had bases outside their own borders, and the Special Operations Group (SOG), comprised of special forces from all branches of the services, had the responsibility for finding and destroying them. Dick’s crew transported the special forces, landing and taking off with blinding speed, while gun ships hovered in the air in case of trouble.

On February 19, 1968, Dick was left behind, nursing pneumonia, while his crew went in to rescue a SOG unit that had been attacked by the enemy. Two Hueys successfully took off with all the men. Then the second was hit and went down. Three men were killed, including the man who had taken Dick’s place as door gunner. Their remains were gone the next day when an attempt to collect them failed.

In 2009 their mixed remains were finally found and brought home. They were interred in Arlington National Cemetery in the same casket, buddies who would be together forever.

JoAnne P. Miller