Zenga, Ronald P. (KIA)

Ronald Paul Zenga, Sergeant, USAF (KIA)
June 29, 1945 – January 3, 1969

On January 3, 1969, a U.S. Air Force helicopter UH-1F (tail number 63-13164) operating from Ban Me Thuot was making its second attempt to extract a Special Forces patrol in Cambodia. As they came to a hover above the trees, enemy fire struck the fuel cells setting the aircraft on fire. They were able to accelerate the aircraft and attempted a landing in a small jungle clearing but the engine failed just short of the clearing and the helicopter crashed into the trees. The crew chief, SGT Ronald P. Zenga, was pinned under the aircraft and died in the ensuing fire. [Taken from wikipedia.org and vhpa.org]

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