Name: CPT Dwight Jackson Thornton
Status: Killed In Action from an incident on 10/25/1969 while performing the duty of Aircraft Commander.
Age at death: 30.1
Date of Birth: 09/01/1939
Home City: Albany, GA
Service: IN branch of the reserve component of the U.S. Army.
Unit: B/101 AVN 101 ABN
Major organization: 101st Airborne Division
Flight class: 68-36
Service: IN branch of the U.S. Army.
The Wall location: 17W-118
Short Summary: Pilot in right seat hit by an RPG, the helicopter went inverted and crashed. The CE and G were thrown out and survived 50 ft. fall.
Aircraft: UH-1D tail number 65-09738
Call sign: KINGSMEN
Country: Laos
MOS: 1981 = 19 Rotary Wing Aviator (Unit Commander)
Primary cause: Hostile Fire
Major attributing cause: aircraft connected not at sea
Compliment cause: vehicular accident
Vehicle involved: helicopter
Position in vehicle: pilot
Vehicle ownership: government
Started Tour: 01/30/1969
"Official" listing: helicopter air casualty - pilot
The initial status of this person was: hostile dead - killed out-right
Length of service: *
Reason: aircraft lost or crashed
Casualty type: Hostile - killed
married male U.S. citizen
Race: Caucasian
Religion: Baptist - other groups
Burial information: FLORAL MEMORY GARDENS, ALBANY, GA
The following information secondary, but may help in explaining this incident.
Category of casualty as defined by the Army: battle dead Category of personnel: active duty Army Military class: officer
This record was last updated on 12/02/2000
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: 10/25/2024
Copyright © 1998 - 2024 Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association