CRODY, KENNETH LLOYD

Name: Kenneth Lloyd Crody
Rank/Branch: E4/US Marine Corps
Unit: HMM 165, MAG 36, 1 MAW
Date of Birth: 03 August 1953
Home City of Record: Griffith Lake IN
Date of Loss: 11 July 1972
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 163433N 1072250E (YD345644)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 3
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: CH53D
Refno: 1999
Other Personnel in Incident: Jerry W. Hendrix (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 March 1991 from one or more of
the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence
with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Updated by the P.O.W.
NETWORK 1998.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: Kenneth Crody attended Griffith High School and enlisted in the Marine
Corps during his sophomore year. His final training before being shipped to
Vietnam was Gunner Training. He was assigned to be a gunner onboard a CH53D
helicopter based onboard the USS TRIPOLI (LPH 10)

On the morning of July 11, 1972, the helicopter to which Crody was assigned
launched from the USS TRIPOLI to participate in combat operations in support of
operation LAM SON 72 (Phase II) in Vietnam.

LAM SON 719 had been a large offensive operation against NVA communications
lines in Laos in the region adjacent to the two northern provinces of South
Vietnam. The operation was a raid in which ARVN troops drove west from Khe Sanh
on Route 9, cut the Ho Chi Minh Trail, seized Tchepone, some 25 miles away, and
then returned to Vietnam. The ARVN provided and commanded the ground forces,
while U.S. Army and Air Force furnished aviation airlift and supporting
firepower.

Losses were heavy. The ARVN suffered some 9,000 casualties, almost 50% of their
force. U.S. forces incurred some 1,462 casualties. Aviation units lost 168
helicopters and another 618 were damaged. Fifty-five aircrewmen were killed in
action, 178 were wounded and 34 were missing in action. There were 19,360 known
enemy casualties for the entire operation lasting until April 6, 1971.

Phase II of LAM SON included inserting South Vietnamese marines behind enemy
lines near communist-occupied Quang Tri City, Republic of Vietnam. This was the
mission of Crody's helicopter.

While approaching the drop zone, the helicopter was struck by a heat-seeking
SA-7 missile in the starboard engine. The aircraft immediately burst into flames
and crashlanded moments later. Several aboard received injuries and were taken
back to the TRIPOLI for treatment. The bodies of Crody and another crewman, SSGT
Jerry W. Hendrix, could not be recovered because of the intense heat of the
burning aircraft.

Crody and Hendrix are listed with honor among the missing because their remains
were not returned home. Witnesses believed they were both dead in the aircraft.
For many others of the missing, however, clear-cut answers cannot be had. Many
were alive and in radio contact with would-be rescuers when they were last heard
from. Others were photographed in captivity, only to disappear.

Since the war ended, the Defense Department has received over 10,000 reports
relating to the men still unaccounted for in Southeast Asia, yet concludes that
no actionable evidence has been received that would indicate Americans are still
alive in Southeast Asia. A recent Senate investigation indicates that most of
these reports were dismissed without just cause, and that there is every
indication that Americans remained in captivity far after the war ended, and may
be alive today.

It's time we learned the truth about our missing and brought them home.

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