Joseph Thaxter Clark
Chief Warrant Officer
334TH AHC, 145TH AVN BN, 12TH AVN GROUP, 1ST AVIATION BDE, USARV
Army of the United States
Davenport, Washington
November 25, 1936 to December 26, 1967
JOSEPH T CLARK is on the Wall at Panel 32E, Line 62

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Joseph T Clark
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14 June 2001

My uncle died in Vietnam. While I was too young to know the details at the time, he died leaving two small children. His wife had died earlier in a car accident.

Obviously, as with all people, his death had a tremendous impact on my mother (his sister) and everyone involved. He never made it through five months of his tour, died the day after Christmas, and left two orphans.

A memorial from his nephew,
Tom Brennan, Jr.
tfbjr@optonline.net




 

A Note from The Virtual Wall

"Firefly" missions involved a UH-1 equipped with an infrared/visible searchlight. The missions, obviously flown at night, usually included a command helo, a gunship, and the Firefly aircraft. The Firefly aircraft moved along at low altitude, using the IR searchlight to locate targets. When the gunship gained position, the Firefly crew would turn on the visible light and literally light up the target to be attacked. The primary drawback to Firefly was the need to operate at low altitudes and speeds at night, something which leaves very little room for error.

On 26 Dec 1967 a Firefly UH-1D (tail number 65-09948) from the 334TH AHC departed Bien Hoa Airbase on a mission somewhere in Bien Hoa Province. While the specific location is not known, what happened is: the Huey's engine failed at low altitude, the aircraft crashed and exploded, and five men died:

  • Aircrew, 334TH AHC
    • CW2 Joseph Thaxter Clark, aircraft commander
    • WO1 Robert Edwin Woods, co-pilot
    • SP4 Raymond Spencer Adams, gunner
    • SP4 Gerald Loyd Rowen II, crew chief

  • Observer, 525th MI Group
    • MAJ Willie T. Brickhouse, Eastville, VA

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