William Conrad Weiss, Jr

Specialist Four
B CO, 158TH CAB, 160TH CAG, 101 ABN DIV
Army of the United States
23 February 1947 - 06 May 1970
Hershey, PA
Panel 11W Line 118

101 ABN DIV

UH-1 HUEY

158th CAB
William C Weiss

Army Aircrew

Purple Heart, Air Medal, National Defense, Vietnam Service, RVN Military Merit, RVN Gallantry Cross, RVN Campaign medals

The database page for William Conrad Weiss, Jr

05 Oct 2001

This is my brother Bill.
I was only 13 when he was killed in May of 1970 and miss him terribly.
He was a great big brother.

Anyone viewing this who may have any information on Bill, it would be much appreciated if you could contact me. I was only 13 when he was killed and would love to know about his life in the service.

Cindy Weiss Skinner
skinners3@verizon.net

The Mission

On May 6, 1970, UH-1H aircraft from the 158th Combat Aviation Battalion were engaged in laying a smoke screen for a combat assault in the mountains west of Tun Tavern and Langley, Quang Tri Province, SVN. The aircraft involved in this incident were
  • UH-1H hull number 68-15663 from Bravo Company crewed by
    • CW2 Richard C. Worthington, pilot, KIA/BNR
    • WO1 Robert Lee Kirk, co-pilot, KIA
    • SGT Frank Sanchez Hernandez, gunner, KIA/BNR
    • SP4 William Conrad Weiss, Jr., crew chief, KIA

  • UH-1H hull number 66-16707 from Charlie Company crewed by
    • CW2 Clifford Earl Poe, Jr., pilot, KIA
    • WO1 Roger Bruce Baxter, co-pilot, KIA
    • SP5 Allen Gene Kinne, crew chief, KIA
    • Gunner, name not available
The two aircraft were flying formation with Worthington in the lead and Poe flying echelon right when the collision occurred; both were laying smoke. One crewman from Poe's ship was the only survivor; he fell through through triple canopy jungle after jumping or being thrown out upon collision. The survivor stated that Worthington's helicopter skid had struck the main rotor of his helicopter.

A search team was sent to the site on the same day (May 6). The bodies of Kirk and Weiss were recovered from the wreckage of 68-15663 and those of Poe, Baxter, and Kinne from the wreckage of 66-16707. Although there were no signs of anyone having left the crash site area and it was believed that there were no survivors of the crash, the bodies of Worthington and Hernandez were not recovered.

The VHPA accident reports are available for both 68-15663 and 66-16707. These pages will open in a new window.





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With all respect
Jim Schueckler, former CW2, US Army
Ken Davis, Commander, United States Navy (Ret)
Channing Prothro, former CAP Marine
Last updated 11/13/2010