HELMICH, GERALD ROBERT
Name: Gerald Robert Helmich
Branch/Rank: United States Air Force/O4
Unit:
Date of Birth: 17 November 1931
Home City of Record: MANCHESTER NH
Date of Loss: 12 November 1969
Country of Loss: LAOS
Loss Coordinates: 172800 North 1054000 East
Status (in 1973): Presumptive Finding of Death
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: A1H #139821
Missions:
Other Personnel in Incident:
Refno: 1521
Source: Compiled by P.O.W. NETWORK from one or more of the following: raw
data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with POW/MIA
families, published sources, interviews and CACCF = Combined Action
Combat Casualty File.
REMARKS:
CACCF/CRASH/PILOT
No further information available at this time.
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Plaque honors Manchester man killed in Vietnam War
By Holly Ramer,
Associated Press, 05/31/99
MANCHESTER, NH (AP) - Nearly 30 years after Col. Gerald Helmich's
plane was shot down over Laos, Donn Inglis turned his friend's final
mission into a mission of his own Monday.
Seeing his high school classmate's name inscribed on a replica of the
Vietnam Veterans Memorial got Inglis thinking about a way to honor
Helmich at their 50th class reunion next year. But what he originally
envisioned as a small display at the West High School Class of 1950
reunion ended up becoming something much more permanent -- a bronze
plaque unveiled near the neighborhood where Helmich grew up.
"He was a regular guy who enjoyed fishing, hunting, swimming and
dancing," Inglis said at the dedication. "He had many friends,
including me, and a ready smile."
Helmich joined the Air Force in 1954 after graduating from the
University of New Hampshire. He was piloting a rescue mission over
southern Laos when his plane was shot down Nov. 12, 1969. Hemlich was
declared missing in action until 1978, when the government officially
declared him killed in action.
Hemlich was posthumously awarded the Silver Star, the Air Medal, the
Distinguished Flying Cross and the Purple Heart.
His body was never found.
About 50 people joined Inglis at the Memorial Day ceremony in
Hemlich's honor, including members of the Manchester Veterans Council
and the local Veterans of Foreign Wars Post, who helped raise money
for the plaque.
"Let it be a constant reminder to those who are here today and to
future generations that the freedom we have and continue to defend
around the world is costly," said VFW Post 8214 Commander William
Corbin. "Please, as you pass by this plaque and others in our parks,
squares, cities, state and country, take a moment to make that day
Memorial Day... Never let these heroes be forgotten."
US Sen. Bob Smith, R-NH, who has been a leader in the effort to
determine the fate of missing prisoners of war and servicemen listed
as missing in action, said he remains committed to finding out more
about what happened to Hemlich.
"The frustrating part for me is that the Vietnamese do have answers
they haven't given us on this case and others," he said.
Several of Hemlich's relatives attended the ceremony. Maureen
Gallagher Poehlman of Bedford looked across the busy intersection to
McNeil Street, where she remembers playing with her cousin.
"He was really a fun guy, very easygoing, very happy," she said.
"He was really like a brother; we were only six months apart."
She looked up at the bronze plaque, engraved with Helmich's name and
birthdate.
"It's really something special," she said.
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