John Edward Lynch
Sergeant
HHC, 6TH PSY OPS BN, USARV SPECIAL TROOPS, ARMY HQ AREA CMD, USARV
Army of the United States
Forty Fort, Pennsylvania
July 19, 1948 to June 15, 1969
JOHN E LYNCH is on the Wall at Panel W22, Line 54

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11 Nov 2007

A green felt frame is hanging
Adorned with brass and silver
They say the medals of a hero
Who went beyond the realm.

These medals tell a story
Of a boy turned into man
By a war that was horrific
Only nightmares tell it all.

Their names are proudly listed
On a monumental wall
Those who never returned to family
From a scorched and burning hell.

All honors, medals and monuments
I would trade for just one more day
To hold and love my brother
Who went away to stay.

His death did not a hero make
Of this gentle loving man
He was born a hero to all of us
For a short twenty year span.

The medals do not tell the story
Of a boy who stood so tall
Filled with love and all the kindness
for family, friends and all.

They tell of momentary actions
In a place of war and strife
Not of twenty years of living
A compassionate loving life.

We who love and do remember
The boy, the man he soon became
Know we walked with such a hero
And daily speak his name.

From his sister.
E-mail address is not available.


 

A Note from The Virtual Wall

On 15 June 1969 B Company, 229th AHB, was tasked with supporting a PsyOps mission on behalf of the 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, near Landing Zone ROCK in Long Khanh Province. The aircraft, UH-1H tail number 66-16694, carried a crew of four and two (possibly 4) passengers:
  • Aircrew, B/229th AHB:
    • CWO Gelonek, pilot
    • WO Kish L. Green, Los Angeles, CA, copilot
    • SGT Larry D. Lemaster, Hebron, NE, gunner
    • SP4 Pollett, crewchief

  • Passengers:
    • SGT John E. Lynch, Forty Fort, PA, HHC, 6th PsyOp Bn
    • 1 (possibly 3) ARVN PsyOps personnel
The VHPA database record for 66-16694 says that
After about 15 minutes in the vicinity of LZ ROCK, the aircraft dropped to low level to deliver "Chu Hoi" pamphlets near the LZ. The aircraft made two passes over a small village approximately 1000 meters to the south of LZ ROCK. On the third pass, heading due north at 100 feet and 80 knots, the aircraft struck high tension wires at YT486346. Upon striking the wires the UH-1H flipped twice, crashed 106 meters north of the wires on a north-south road leading into LZ ROCK, caught fire and burned. Two crew members, WO Green and SGT Lemaster, and two PsyOps personnel, SGT Lynch and ARVN My Vah, were killed by fire. The crew chief (Pollett) and pilot (Gelonek) escaped with 30 and 40% body burns respectively. The tail boom of the aircraft had been severed, the pilot and cargo compartment burned, and the main rotor blades ripped from the aircraft.
In another section of the VHPA database is a short summary which reads
"Wire strike on PsyOps mission near LZ Rock. AC W1 Gelonek, CE E4 Pollett and two ARVN survived".
While there is some uncertainty as to the number of people aboard the Huey, there is no doubt that four men died in the crash.

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