SMG Kidd was a
native of Orlando, Florida and entered military service in 1947. His
assignments included tours of duty at For Lee, Virginia, Austria,
Salsburg and Bremerhaven Germany, Korea, France, and eleven years of
service at Fort Gordon, Georgia. Prior to reporting to Vietnam he
served as Operations Sergeant Major, S3 Section, 4th AIT Brigade (MP)
at Fort Gordon.
On
Wednesday, 5 June 1968 SGT Maggard, age 22 of Hazzard, Kentucky (driver
for COL Payne), and SMG Kenneth E. Kidd , age 40, of Orlando, Florida,
accompanied Colonel Francis E. Payne, the 89th MP Group Commander on a
helicopter flight to Saigon and the Delta Region.
The Colonel
had received orders for a new assignment and was conducting a farewell
inspection of the units before leaving Vietnam.
SMG Kidd
started his tour with HQ Detachment, 720th MP Battalion and was later
transferred to the 89th MP Group.
Both SGT
Maggard and SMG Kidd were in the back seat of the Huey on the return
flight to Bien Hoa Air Base. They had just passed over Saigon, the
Colonel who had dozed off briefly, awoke startled by the pilots frantic
calls of Mayday.
Within
seconds the helicopter fell to the ground and crashed into a rice paddy
in the vacinity of the Newport Bridge. The force of the impact threw
COL Payne and the pilot clear of the impact into the rice paddy, SGT
Maggard and SMG Kidd were not as lucky, they were crushed when the
helicopter motor came forward.
The Colonel
and the pilot were both kept alive by the quick actions of a doctor who
was passing by in a jeep several hundred yards away and had witnessed
the crash. The doctor managed to swim to them and assist their
breathing until they could be evacuated to Saigon. Both were very
seriously injured but survived.
As reported
by LTC (COL Ret.) Francis E. "Frank" Payne:
SMG Kidd
was survived by his wife, Betty, to who he was married in 1949, and two
daughters, Debbra Sue and Peggy Lee. He was a member of the Fairfield
Baptist Church in Burgess, Virginia.
On 8 June
1968 A special memorial service was given for CSM Kidd at Chapel #6,
4th AIT Training Brigade, Military Police School, Fort Gordon, Georgia.
In giving
the Eulogy at the service for SMG Kidd at Fort Gordon, CMS Buford Brown
stated: "In one sense there is no death. The life of a soldier lasts
beyond his departure. You will always feel that life touching you in
the familiar things he touched, worked with, loved as familiar friends.
He lives on in your life and in the lives of all others who knew him."
On 15 June
1968 the men of HQ Detachment, 720th MP Battalion named their newly
finished day room on Long Binh Post, "Kidd's Place" in honor of SMG
Kidd who encouraged them to build it before his death.
Major General Karl W. Gustafson, The Provost Marshal General, presented
the Legion of Merit, awarded posthumously to CSM Kenneth E. Kidd, to
his widow, Mrs. Betty L. Kidd, at the Main Navy Building in Washington,
D.C. The promotion to CSM was also made posthumously.
--- General /
Personal ---
Last name:
KIDD
First name:
KENNETH EDWARD
Home of
Record (official): ORLANDO
State
(official): FL
Date of
Birth: Saturday, December 17, 1927
Sex: Male
Race:
Caucasian
Marital
Status: Married
---
Military ---
Branch: Army
Rank: SMG
Serial
Number: 14244761
Component:
Regular
Pay grade:
E9
MOS
(Military Occupational Specialty code): 00A50
--- Action
---
Start of
Tour: Saturday, October 28, 1967
Date of
Casualty: Wednesday, June 5, 1968
Age at time
of loss: 40
Casualty
type: (A2) Hostile, died of wounds
Reason: Air
loss - Crashed on land (Helicopter, non-crew)
Country:
South Vietnam
Province:
Gia Dinh
The Wall:
Panel 60W - Row 019