AMERICAL DIV

123RD CAB

Gary Robert Cady

Specialist Four
B CO, 123RD AVN BN, 16TH AVN GRP, AMERICAL DIV
Army of the United States
21 December 1949 - 20 October 1970
Spokane, Washington
Panel 06W Line 011

UH-1



Air Medal, National Defense, Vietnam Service, Vietnam Campaign

The database page for Gary Robert Cady

31 Jan 2005

He loved his country, family and the American way of life.
I am proud to have known him.

A Note from The Virtual Wall

At dawn on 20 Oct 1970 an aero scout team from B Company, 123rd Aviation Battalion, departed Chu Lai Army Air Field to conduct a "first light" visual recon mission southwest of Chu Lai. The team consisted of an OH-6A which would operate at low altitude; an AH-1G Cobra gunship which provided fire support and mission direction while flying at about 1000 feet; and a UH-1 with an infantry squad aboard in trail at 1500 feet.

During the mission the scout team came across an infantry unit which had called in an emergency medevac. While the OH-6 worked in the vicinity of the ground unit, the Cobra crew (flying at a higher altitude) watched the UH-1 medevac aircraft arrive, land, load, and take off to return to Chu Lai. He realized that the OH-6 and the medevac UH-1 were on a possible collision course, with both aircraft at low altitudes and moving around opposite sides of the same hill, the UH-1 in a clockwise direction and the OH-6 in a counter-clockwise direction. The AH-1 crew advised the OH-6 crew of the danger and received an acknowledgement from the OH-6 pilot - but very shortly thereafter the UH-1 and the OH-6 collided.

SP4 Cady was flying as crew chief in the OH-6A; while his two crewmates survived, Cady and the six men in the medevac UH-1 died in the incident:

  • In medevac UH-1H tail number 66-16617 (no survivors):
    • CWO Terence A. Handley, Portland, OR, 68th Med Det, pilot
    • 1LT Kenneth M. Schlie, Vienna, VA, 54th Med Det, copilot
    • SP4 Thomas R. Weiss, Glenbeulah, WI, 571st Med Det, crew chief
    • SP4 Harold C. Gay, Wilson, NC, 54th Med Det, medic
    • SP4 Alexander Campbell, Fayetteville, NC, C Co, 4/3 Infantry
    • CPL Larry W. Kilgore, Lees Summit, MO, C Co, 4/3 Infantry

  • In OH-6A tail number 69-16023:
    • WO B. J. Straup, pilot; survived
    • SP4 Gary R. Cady, Spokane, WA, crew chief; died
    • SP4 G. A. Shawver, gunner; survived


The point-of-contact for this memorial is
a friend,
Mike Swick
jmswick@msn.com 
31 Jan 2005



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With all respect
Jim Schueckler, former CW2, US Army
Ken Davis, Commander, United States Navy (Ret)
Last updated 02/01/2005