Name: 1LT John William Simpson, Jr. 
  
Status: Killed In Action from an incident on 07/16/1968 while performing the duty of Pilot.
Age at death: 28.5
  
Date of Birth: 01/06/1940
Home City: Columbus, GA
   
Service: IN branch of the reserve component of the U.S. Army.
Unit: 271 ASHC, 13 CAB
    
Major organization: 1st Aviation Brigade
Flight class: 64-4W       
Service: IN branch of the U.S. Army.
The Wall location: 52W-039
 
Short Summary: While refueling at Dong Tam, the forward transmission seized and killed Simpson as it departed the aircraft.
Aircraft: CH-47B tail number 66-19113
       
Service number: O5343886
   
Country: South Vietnam
  
MOS: 1981 = 19 Rotary Wing Aviator (Unit Commander)
    
Primary cause: A/C Accident
   
Major attributing cause: aircraft connected not at sea
Compliment cause: unknown
   
Vehicle involved: helicopter
Position in vehicle: pilot
Started Tour: 02/01/1968
  
"Official" listing: helicopter air casualty - pilot
Length of service: 10
Location: Dinh Tuong Province IV Corps.
  
Reason: aircraft lost or crashed
Casualty type: Non-hostile - died of other causes
married male U.S. citizen
Race: Caucasian
  
Religion: Methodist (Evangelical United Brethren)
Burial information: ELMWOOD CEMETERY, BIRMINGHAM, AL
          
The following information secondary, but may help in explaining this incident.
Category of casualty as defined by the Army: non-battle dead Category of personnel: active duty Army Military class: officer
This record was last updated on 05/20/1997
 
This information is available on CD-ROM.
Additional information is available on KIAs at http://www.coffeltdatabase.org
Please send additions or corrections to: The VHPA Webmaster Gary Roush.
KIA statistics
Return to the Helicopter Pilot KIA name list
Return to the KIA panel date index
Date posted on this site: 08/17/2025
Copyright © 1998 - 2025 Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association