Sergeant
121ST AHC, 13TH AVN BN, 164TH AVN GRP, 1 AVN BDE
Army of the United States
06 November 1949 - 02 April 1970
Dayton, Ohio
Panel 12W Line 085

Three men of the 121st Assault Helicopter Company died when their UH-1H (tail number 66-16991) was hit in the cabin by a B-40 rocket, crashed, and burned. The pilot, WO Ed Skuza, and the copilot, name unknown, survived with injuries. The three men killed were

· SGT William Louis Vaspory, gunner

· SP4 Thomas Joseph Silva, crew chief

· SP5 Clyde Lee Coffman, gunner

UH-1H 66-16991 was named "Tiger Surprise" and had been with the 121st since January 1969. There are several mentions of "Tiger Surprise" to be found on the Internet.

Photos courtesy of Sergeant Vaspory's family.