My oldest, bestest war story finally corroborated:

[DemoTex]

My story, so often called bullshit:

I was TDY at Phu Bai during Lam Son 719 (Top Secret Code Word .. duh! 1971 Route 9, and the nasty mop-up). The OV-1C Mohawk came back to Phu Bai from Laos with battle damage. Pilot and tech-guy punched out over the field. Pilot's chute does not open and he lands at the steps of Phu Bai's US Army Graves Registration unit.

Seems that he did not have battle damage. Just a garden-variety double engine failure. Silly me! Here is the official report:

SHERECK JAMES JOHN
Name: CPT James John Shereck
Status: Killed In Action from an incident on 03/04/1971 while performing the duty of Pilot.
Age at death: 32.0
Date of Birth: 03/19/1939
Home City: Bagley, MN
Service: AV branch of the reserve component of the U.S. Army.
Unit: 131 AVN
Major organization: 1st Aviation Brigade
Flight class: 66-23/66-21
Service: AV branch of the U.S. Army.
The Wall location: 04W-022
Short Summary: Parachute in Martin Baker ejection seat failed to deploy after experiencing dual engine failure in an OV-1D on second tour.
Aircraft: OV-1D
Service number: W3155368
Country: South Vietnam
MOS: 1981 = 19 Rotary Wing Aviator (Unit Commander)
Primary cause: Parachute fail.
Major attributing cause: aircraft connected not at sea
Compliment cause: vehicular accident
Vehicle involved: helicopter
Position in vehicle: pilot
Vehicle ownership: government
Started Tour: 09/16/1970
"Official" listing: helicopter air casualty - pilot
The initial status of this person was: no previous report
Length of service: *
Location: Thua Thien Province I Corps.
Military grid coordinates of event: YD889103

Additional information about this casualty:
Jim was returning from a routine reconnaissance mission when his number one engine developed a severe propeller vibration. Jim immediately shut down the troubled engine and feathered the propeller. Jim notivied Phu Bai approach control, declared an emergency and requested priority handling. when Jim entered the Phu Bai control zone and reduced power to initiate his descent his number two engine failed. According to unit SOP, Jim attempted to restart his number two engine and as they descended through 5,000 feet he directed his Technical Observer (TO) to eject. shortly after efection the TO observed Jim's ejection and the subsequent crash of the aircraft. Jim's parachute failed to deploy and he impacted on the tarmac at Phu Bai airfield. Jim's Martin Baker ejection seat had failed to automatically deploy the parachute as required. Upon inspection it was determined that the device was required by regulations and SOP. There was no apparent attempt to manually deploy the parachute, and consensus of opinion was that Jim had probably passed out from the "G" forces associated with the ejection process. The TO survived. from Garland Lively, 26 November 199
Reason: aircraft lost or crashed
Casualty type: Non-hostile - died of other causes
married male U.S. citizen
Race: Caucasian
Religion: Roman Catholic
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 04/26/2002

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

1. Kicked and recommended.

MKJ