Servicemen killed
in copter crash
to be met with
honors in Hawaii

But first, Hanoi will
hold memorial rites for the
7 Americans and 9 Vietnamese

By Gregg K. Kakesako
Star-Bulletin

The remains of the seven Americans killed when the Russian-made helicopter they were riding in crashed in Central Vietnam will be brought to Hawaii on Friday with full military honors.

The flag-draped caskets will arrive at Hickam Air Force Base at 1:30 p.m. and then be escorted by a 12-member honor guard representing all branches of the military.

Tomorrow, the three Army, three Air Force and one Navy servicemen will be remembered, along with the nine Vietnamese who perished in the crash Saturday, at a memorial service held in the Daewoo Hotel in Hanoi.

Following the service, the seven caskets will be placed on an Air Force C-17 jet transport for the flight to Hawaii.

Escorting the remains will be their boss, Brig. Gen. Harry Axson, commander of the 161-member Joint Task Force-Full Accounting.

The 16 were killed while preparing for the 65th and latest U.S. mission to recover the remains of U.S. servicemen killed during the Vietnam War.

The remains will be taken to the U.S. Army Central Identification Laboratory at Hickam Air Force Base and then returned to their families for burial.

Two of the seven victims were permanently assigned to military installations here.

Army Sgt. 1st Class Tommy James Murphy was a mortuary specialist with the Army Central Identification Laboratory. A private memorial service will be held for Murphy, 38, at 11 a.m. tomorrow at the Hickam Air Force Base chapel.

This was Murphy's second tour with the Hawaii-based Army unit.

Also stationed here was Air Force Master Sgt. Steven Moser, 38, who was assigned to Joint Task Force-Full Accounting at Camp Smith.

The victims included Army Lt. Col. George D. "Marty" Martin III, 40, of Hopkins, S.C., a battalion commander based in Fort Drum who was to take over command of the Hanoi detachment of the MIA task force in July; and Army Lt. Col. Rennie Cory Jr., the outgoing Hanoi detachment commander.

Also killed Saturday were Air Force Maj. Charles E. Lewis of Las Cruces, N.M.; Tech. Sgt. Robert M. Flynn of Huntsville, Ala.; and Navy Chief Petty Officer Pedro Juan Gonzalez of Buckeye, Ariz.

Moser had told his family in San Diego that he planned to retire when he completed his latest Vietnam assignment. He joined the Air Force almost 19 years ago, after spending a year at the University of California-San Diego.

Trained in linguistics and cryptology, Moser was proud of his role in locating MIAs, his family said.

The helicopter was part of an advance mission for a 95-member American team that was to begin monthlong recovery operations May 3 to investigate six possible recovery sites, said Lt. Col. Franklin Childress, Joint Task Force spokesman.

Officials were still investigating the cause of the accident in Quang Binh province, about 280 miles south of Hanoi. The military helicopter exploded on impact into a mountainside.