William Lee Peters, Jr
First Lieutenant
HMM-165, MAG-16, 1ST MAW, III MAF United States Marine Corps Fort Dodge, Iowa March 05, 1943 to June 21, 1969 WILLIAM L PETERS Jr is on the Wall at Panel W22, Line 107 |
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1stLt William Lee Peters, USMC, was the pilot in command when he was killed on 21 June 1969. His CH-46D helicopter was shot down while inserting a Marine Force Recon team 22 1/2 miles northwest of Da Nang, Quang Nam Province. He was the recipient of the Navy Cross, the Nation's second highest award, for a previous mission on 12 April 1969. The Citation reads as follows:
"You only live once, but if you live right, once is enough." For more information on 1stLt Peters or other Marine helicopter crewmen killed in action in Vietnam please visit the Pop-A-Smoke site. |
A Note from The Virtual WallMarine helicopter squadron HMM-165 (CH-46D aircraft) was tasked with a recon insert mission approximately 22 miles WNW of Danang. The landing zone was prepped heavily prior to commencement of a spiral approach. The helicopter (CH-46D BuNo 154811) was brought into a brief hover. Heavy small arms fire was received prior to anyone exiting the aircraft and the insertion was aborted. During climb out a loud explosion occurred aft of the cockpit area. The aircraft pitched extreme nose up and rolled slowly right to a somewhat inverted position with no control input response. It crashed and burned.Eight men died in the crash:
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