PFC FRANK JOHN HOLGUIN
560th Military Police Company

Age 20 - From Los Angeles, California
Killed in action on March 15, 1964
while supporting the 114th Avn. Co. as a door gunner -  Vinh Long, South Viet Nam



EXCERPTS FROM "GOLD BOOK DATA"
FOUND AT "HOME PAGE OF THE WAR VETERANS
OF THE
560th MILITARY POLICE COMPANY"
(For full report text, please click the link below)
http://560mp.tripod.com/560MP/Holguin.htm

Gold Book data

Helicopter or incident 62-01963
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Information on U.S. Army helicopter UH-1B tail number 62-01963
Date: 03/15/64
Incident number: 07954ACD Accident case number: 07954 Total Loss Accident
Unit: 114 AHC
South Vietnam
Number killed in accident = 5 . . Injured = 0 . . Passengers = 1
costing 0
Original source(s) and document(s) from which the incident was created or updated: Defense Intelligence Agency Helicopter Loss database. Army Aviation Safety Center database. Also: OPERA (Operations Report. )
Loss to Inventory

Crew Members:
AC CPT GAUVIN ROGER EDWARD KIA
P 1LT SHANNON KENNETH ARTHUR KIA
CE SP5 UPTON CARLETON WEBSTER KIA
G PFC HOLGUIN FRANK JOHN KIA

Passengers:
X2 NUA LV, VS, UN, KIA

This record was last updated on 09/20/98

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The following is crew member information for this incident:
.    .    .
.    .    .
Name: PFC Frank John Holguin
Status: Killed In Action from an incident on 03/15/64 while performing the duty of Gunner.
Age at death: 20.8
Date of Birth: 06/14/43
Home City: Los Angeles, CA
Service: regular component of the U.S. Army.
Unit: 560 MP CO
Major organization: other
Service: U.S. Army.
The Wall location: 01E-047
Short Summary: Volunteered to be a door gunner with the 114 AHC from the 560th Military Police Company.
Aircraft: UH-1B tail number 62-01963
Service number: 19764590
Country: South Vietnam
MOS: 95B20 = Military Police
Major attributing cause: aircraft connected not at sea
Compliment cause: weapons
Vehicle involved: helicopter
Position in vehicle: door gunner
"Official" listing: helicopter air casualty - other aircrew
Length of service: 01
Location: Unknown Province
Reason: aircraft lost or crashed
Casualty type: Hostile - killed
single male U.S. citizen
Race: Caucasian
Relgion: Roman Catholic
The following information secondary, but may help in explaining this incident.
Category of casualty as defined by the Army: battle dead Category of personnel: active duty Army Military class: enlisted personnel
This record was last updated on 06/16/01
.    .    .
.    .    .
The above information was provided  by the Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association.
The following is from the 114th Avn Co. history book, Knights over the Delta, by Steve Stibbens, Editor.

From the Pacific Stars and Stripes:
SAIGON, South Vietnam (AP) - Four more American airmen were killed in South Vietnam as Red guerrillas shot down a U.S. helicopter.

The airmen were aboard the helicopter that was hit by ground fire during a Vietnamese government operation Sunday at Gia Ria in Ba Xuyen Province, 100 miles south of Saigon.  They were Lt. Roger E. Gavin, pilot, Caribou, Maine, Lt. Kenneth A. Shannon, co-pilot, Lynchburg, Virginia, SP5 Carleton W. Upton, crew chief, Auburn, California, and PFC Frank J. Holguin, gunner, Los Angeles.

From a letter to home by Lt. John Shaw Sabine IV, Birddog pilot, 73rd RAC.

The last two days have been bad ones for Army Aviation.  Ken Shannon was killed yesterday.  He had been the copilot of a Huey from the 114th, stationed here at Vinh Long.  This was his first mission after a checkout.  He had only been here five days.  I'm sorry that I didn't get to see him but neither of us knew the other was here.  He was flying tail end of a three-ship formation that  was stopping a large group of VC.  The first ship called the other two and said he was receiving ground fire.  The second ship made the same statement as he passed the target.  Then the pilot of the second ship started his turn for a second pass.  At the same time, he looked back at Ken's ship and it was falling, but it appeared to be level.   At this point, he should have seen the stricken ship autorotating.  Nothing like this happened and the ship fell about 300 feet, exploding on impact.  Immediately, the first ship hovered over the wreck, attempting to blow the flames away.  From close by, ARVN troops tried to get the people aboard out and they did get Ken.  It was better that he didn't live.  Also killed were the pilot, Lt Gauvin, the crew chief, the gunner, and the ARVN observer.



FROM PFC HOLGUIN'S MEMORIAL PAGE AT
THE VIRTUAL WALL WEBSITE

(http://www.virtualwall.org/dh/HolguinFJ01a.htm)

Notes from The Virtual Wall

On 15 March 1964, four men of the 114th Aviation Company died when
their UH-1B HUEY (hull number 62-01963) was shot down:
  • CPT Roger Edward Gauvin, aircraft commander
  • 1LT Kenneth Arthur Shannon, pilot
  • SP5 Carleton Webster Upton, crew chief
  • PFC Frank John Holguin, gunner
The 114th Air Mobile Company arrived at Vinh Long, South Vietnam, on 10 May 1963.

In 1964, it was redesignated as the 114th Aviation Company, a component of the 13th Aviation Battalion. In June 1966 it was redesignated 114th Assault Helicopter Company, 13th Avn Bn, 1st Avn Bde. In 1969 the 114th was reassigned to the 214th Avn Bn, 1st Avn Bde.

On 29 Feb 1972, after 3,217 days of combat operations, the 114th AHC departed Vinh Long.

During this time, the 114th received numerous unit awards:

Presidential Unit Citation
Valorous Unit Award (Two Awards)
Meritorious Unit Citation
Vietnamese Gallantry Cross with Palm (Four Awards)

PFC Frank J Holguin
and the other men who died in service with the 114th AHC
are remembered on the
114th AHC Memorial

Click Here To View The Virtual Wall Database Page
for PFC Frank John Holguin, Jr.




INFORMATION FOUND AT VIETNAM VETERANS
MEMORIAL FUND WEBSITE (www.vvmf.org)

FRANK JOHN HOLGUIN
is honored on Panel 1E, Row 47 of
the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

Full Name: FRANK JOHN HOLGUIN
Wall Name: FRANK J HOLGUIN
Date of Birth: 6/14/1943
Date of Casualty: 3/15/1964
Home of Record: LOS ANGELES
State: CA
Branch of Service: ARMY
Rank: PFC
Casualty Country: SOUTH VIETNAM
Casualty Province: PR & MR UNKNOWN



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