BABCOCK WILLIAM H

CPT William "Bill" H. Babcock, Mr was a VHPA member who died after his tour in Vietnam on 02/23/2024 at the age of 79.5 from Parkinson
Sitka, AK
Flight Class 67-18
Date of Birth 08/07/1944
Served in the U.S. Army
Served in Vietnam with B/1/9 CAV 1 CAV in 67-68, POW in 68
Call sign in Vietnam SABER 25
This information was provided by James H. Kurtz

More detail on this person: It's my sad task to report the passing of William H. Babcock, Jr., a B Trooper whose Huey gunship was shot down near Hue on the first day of Tet 1968. The four-man crew was captured by enemy forces and separated, two held by one group of NVA and two held by another. Then-1LT Babcock and the door gunner were rescued by another B Troop gunship crew, led by WO1 Tom Maehrlein, but the other two prisoners were executed by their captors. The story has been published in several books and was included in the January/February 2021 issue of the Saber, the newspaper of the 1st Cavalry Division Association (see attached PDF and the Veteran Tribute appended below). Bill Babcock spent the later years of his life in Indonesia, where he died in a hospital last Friday, February 23. I am told his death is attributed to pneumonia, but he had also had Parkinson's Disease and was in ill health with heart issues for some time. Bill Babcock's daughter Tumara Thompson and son Robert quite naturally wants their father's remains buried in the United States, but the rules in Indonesia raise some obstacles. One rule reportedly says remains will not be cremated until hospital bills are paid; fortunately, that's been taken care of. However, that raises the issue of how to get the ashes back to the United States to be buried or scattered. The rules regarding shipment are reportedly quite restrictive, and the best bet is to have someone accompany them. A neighbor of Bill's, an American citizen, has a trip to the States planned six months from now, and he may be able to escort the ashes back home. If not, one of Bill's children may have to fly to Indonesia and bring them home. To be sure the job gets done, Tumara has established a gofundme page, a link to which will follow in a separate email. May William H. Babcock, Jr., rest in peace . . . in the country he served in war.

This information was last updated 03/09/2024

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Date posted on this site: 10/23/2024