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This Remembrance Profile was originally created by Sgt Stephen Willcox - Deceased
Casualty Info
Home Town Louisville
Last Address Tan Son Nhut AB
Casualty Date Feb 02, 1962
Cause KIA-Killed in Action
Reason Air Loss, Crash - Land
Location Bien Hoa (Vietnam)
Conflict Vietnam War
Location of Interment Cave Hill Cemetery - Louisville, Kentucky
"On 2 February 1962, a Ranch Hand crew became the first Air Force fatalities in Vietnam. Captain Fergus C. Groves II, Captain Robert D. Larson and Staff Sergeant Milo B. Coghill were killed while on a training mission.." Source: Ranch Hand, Defoliant Operations in South East Asia (SEA), http://home.earthlink.net/~aircommando1/RANCHHAND.htm
"On 2 February 1962, a C-123 on a training flight for Operation Ranch Hand crashed in South Vietnam, probably the result of ground fire or sabotage.." Source: http://usmilitary.about.com/cs/airforcejoin/a/afhistory2.htm
"February 2, 1962
First U.S. Air Force Plane crashes in South Vietnam.
The first U.S. Air Force plane is lost in South Vietnam. The C-123 aircraft crashed while spraying defoliant on a Viet Cong ambush site.
The aircraft was part of Operation Ranch Hand, a technological area-denial technique designed to expose the roads and trails used by the Viet Cong..." Source: This Day in History, http://www.history.com
"Fergus Groves II
The body of Air Force Captain Fergus Coleman Groves II, who was killed in a plane crash in South Vietnam February 2, is being returned to Louisville for burial. Groves, 27, was a 1955 University of Louisville graduate and was a military honor student. His father, Lt. Col. F.C. Groves, formerly was professor of air science and tactics at U. of L. and is now stationed in Germany.
