This Military Service Page was created/owned by
Sgt Jerry Dennis
to remember
Rucker, John O'Neal, Sgt.
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Casualty Info
Home Town Kilgore, TX
Last Address Nakhon Phanom RTAFB, Thailand; Danang AB, South Vietnam
Casualty Date Jan 27, 1973
Cause KIA-Killed in Action
Reason Artillery, Rocket, Mortar
Location Quang Nam (Vietnam)
Conflict Vietnam War
Location of Interment Center Hill Cemetery - Linden, Texas
According to records, Sgt. Rucker was a crew chief who flew on the AC-119K "Stinger" aircraft out of Nakhon Phanom RTAFB, Thailand. He was on a TDY assignment with the 366th Fighter Wing at Danang at the time of his loss, training South Vietnamese crews in the use of the AC-119Ks. He was killed 11 hours before the cease fire was to take place on 28 January. And, he was the last American serviceman killed at Danang.
Comments/Citation:
On Jan 27, 1973, I was assigned to Det. 2, 6994th Security Squadron as a Voice Intercept Operator, Air Crew Member of EC-47s, stationed at DaNang AB, Republic of Vietnam. In the early hours of that day, the North Vietnamese Rocket Battalion launched rockets into Gunfighter Village where Sgt. Rucker was quartered. His barracks were just one road over from where 6994th Security Squadron members were quartered. Sgt. Mac Heaton and I walked over to where his barracks were located and saw the wreckage and damage to his quarters. He never knew what hit him.
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Headlines: Los Angeles Times, Sunday, January 28, 1973, Volume XCII.
"Cease-Fire in South Vietnam: Hope and Continued Shooting"
by George McArthur, Times Staff Writer
SAIGON ----- The appointed hour marking a cease-fire in South Vietnam arrrived today accompanied by church bells ringing in the towns and cities and continued shooting in many parts of the country. There was no high drama, but the hope for peace was painfully real. Many people stood motionless at 8 a.m. (4 p.m. PST for one minue of government oredered silence. At the end, they frequently turned to one another and stated the hope that the cease-fire was real.
The official end of the shooting--if indeed it was real--was obviouly going to be messy and drawn out. At the appoint hour, shooting was still in progress in many area--notably the far north below the demilitarized zone and along the so-called invasion corridor leading from Saigon northwest to Tay Ninh province and War Zone C.
Tan Son Nhut Airport remained on red alert after an early morning shelling or rocket attack and military headquarters reported that just before the cease-fire hour Communist gunners were shelling or rocketing air bases at Da Nang, Pleiku, Can Tho, and possibly elsewhere.
At lease one American was killed in the last flurry of noise and battle.
Until his relatives were notified, he was identifed only as an American officer. He thurs wrested questionable recognition as the last American to die from Air Force Sgt. John Rucker, killed by a rocket in Da Nang two days ago. When the final killed in action figures are in--depending on official record keept--the unnamed American officer will probably be No. 43,941.
(Please turn to Page 19, Column 1 (note: not available to this writer)"
