Ronald Daniel Briggs

The database page for Ronald Daniel Briggs

04 Jan 2003 The photo and following article is taken from The Philadelphia Daily News, special supplement entitled 'SIX HUNDRED AND THIRTY,' October 26, 1987. The special supplement was issued in conjunction with the dedication of the Philadelphia Viet Nam Memorial. Briggs was a mission collector and section officer at Northeast Catholic High School before graduating in 1962. He enlisted in the Army and went to Armor Officer Candidate School. Briggs was assigned to an armored unit in Viet Nam. The 24-year-old captain offically was reported missing in action on February 6, 1969, when radio contact was lost with the aircraft on which he was riding in Quang Tri Province. He was survived by his parents. Briggs was one of nine MIA's from Philadelphia, and one of at least 11 young men from the Fishtown-Kensington-Port Richmond neighborhoods to die or be missing in action in Viet Nam. All are honored on the CPL Charles J. Glenn 3rd Memorial in Fishtown, dedicated in 1967 and one of the first memorials to Viet Nam veterans in the United States. From a native Philadelphian and Marine, Jim McIlhenney christianamacks@comcast.net

15 Jan 2007 I never got to meet you but I feel like I have known you forever. I wish you could be here to meet your nephew. You will never be forgotten. Love, Colleen and Lil Walt From his niece, Colleen colleenb78@comcast.net

A Note from The Virtual Wall On 06 February 1969 a UH-1H (serial #67-17499) of the 282nd Assault Helicopter Company was conducting a resupply mission in Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam. Aboard the aircraft were 1LT David E. Padgett, aircraft commander; CW2 Charles I. Stanley, copilot; SP5 Robert C. O'Hara, crew chief; PFC Eugene F. Christiansen, door gunner; LTC Donald E. Parsons, MACV Advisory Team 4, passenger; MAJ Vu Vanh Phao, 1st ARVN Infantry, passenger; and 1LT Ronald D. Briggs, MACV Advisory Team 4, passenger. At about 1100 hours, while enroute from Landing Zone Vandergrift to LZ Tornado, 1LT Padget contacted the LZ Tornado radio operator and stated that due to poor weather conditions and poor visibility the flight was returning to LZ Vandergrift. At that time, the radio operator at LZ Tornado could hear the helicopter northeast of his location; it sounded as if the aircraft was heading in a northerly direction. When the aircraft failed to return to LZ Vandergrift, a coordinated search and rescue operation was initiated and continued for seven consecutive days, finding nothing. The seven men were classed as Missing in Action. As time passed, Presumptive Findings of Death were approved for the six Americans (Briggs on 20 Aug 1974). In the mid-90s, the aircraft wreckage was located on a ridgeline about 19 kilometers due south of Ba Long and the site excavated. Human remains found during the site search were repatriated on 27 August 1996. Tentative identification of the six Americans was completed in the Oct/Dec 2000 time frame. PFC Eugene F. Christiansen's remains were buried at the Eagle Point National Cemetery in Eagle Point, Oregon, on 25 June 2002. The remains of the other six men were buried with full honors at Arlington National Cemetery on Friday, 08 November 2002.

The point-of-contact for this memorial is a native Philadelphian & Viet Nam Veteran, Jim McIlhenney christianamacks@comcast.net

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With all respect
Jim Schueckler, former CW2, US Army
Ken Davis, Commander, United States Navy (Ret)
Memorial first published on 5 Jan 2003
Last updated 06/05/2008