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Whenever Britt Small & Festival sang "Angel Flying Too Close" Britt would invite women Veterans to join him on the stage. Although this is Willie Nelson's song I decided to play Britt's version of it here to honor the women we lost in Vietnam. Killed in Vietnam: 1962: 0 US Military women, 1 US Civilian woman 1963: 0 US Military women, 1 US Civilian woman 1964: 0 US Military women, 1 US Civilian woman 1965: 0 US Military women, 2 US Civilian women 1966: 2 US Military women, 1 US Civilian woman 1967: 2 US Military women, 3 US Civilian women 1968: 2 US Military women, 5 US Civilian women 1969: 1 US Military woman, 2 US Civilian women 1970: 0 US Military women, 2 US Civilian women 1971: 0 US Military women, 2 US Civilian women 1972: 0 US Military women, 2 US Civilian women 1975: 1 US Military woman, 38 US Civilian women Total a/o 1 Jan 09: 8 US Military women, 60 US Civilian women 68 US women killed during Vietnam The following women died while serving our country in Vietnam. 4 Apr 75:
Rita Hawkins sent me a little more info about CPT Klinker that I share with you now--CPT Klinker was a graduate from Saint Elizabeth's Hospital School of Nursing, were I attended. I always leave a flower for her at a traveling Vietnam Wall. According to Find A Grave Mary died on 9 April and is buried in a cemetery in Tippecanoe County, IN. This is the first time I've read of the possibility that she survived the crash on 4 Apr and died later.
CIVILIANS--The
following women were also killed in the crash of the C5-A
Galaxy outside Saigon while transporting Vietnamese children out of the country on 4 April 1975. All
but three of the women were working for various U.S. government agencies in
Saigon at the time of their deaths: Barbara Adams Clara Bayot Nova Bell Arleta Bertwell Helen Blackburn Ann Bottorff Celeste Brown Vivienne Clark Juanita Creel Mary Ann Crouch Dorothy Curtiss Twila Donelson Helen Drye Theresa Drye (child) Mary Lyn Eichen Elizabeth Fugino Ruthanne Gasper Beverly Herbert Penelope Hindman Vera Hollibaugh Dorothy Howard Barbara Kauvulia Barbara Maier Rebecca Martin Sara Martini Martha Middlebrook Katherine Moore Marta Moschkin Marion Polgrean June Poulton Joan Pray Sayonna Randall Anne Reynolds Marjorie Snow Laurie Stark (teacher) Barbara Stout Doris Jean Watkins Sharon Wesley Sharon Wesley had previously worked for both the
American Red Cross and Army Special Services. She chose to stay on in Vietnam
after the pullout of U.S. military forces in 1973. I know there is a memorial to all the women who died in Vietnam in Angel Fire, NM and another one in California but recently Mike Cunningham sent me a photo he took of a marker at the soon-to-be closed Kelly Air Force Base in San Antonio, TX honoring Twila Donelson so I thought I'd share it with you here too! Just click on it to read it better!
1972: Both of these women were members of the Christian Missions of Many Lands. They were captured in Kengkok, Laos on 27 Oct along with Lloyd Oppel and Samuel Mattix. The men were taken north but the women were tied together and burned to death on or about 2 Nov. They were listed as POW-MIA for several years until the house they were kept in was located. Their remains were recovered and returned to their families.
1971: CIVILIAN Betty Gebhardt worked for the Central Intelligence Agency. She died in Saigon. 9 Feb 71: CIVILIAN Lucinda J. Richter worked with the American Red Cross. She died of Guillain-Barre Syndrome in Cam Ranh Bay. 20 Oct 70: CIVILIAN Gloria Redlin was working with the Catholic Relief Services. She was shot to death in Pleiku and died at the Cam Ranh Bay Hospital. She was originally from Oshkosh, WI and had graduated from high school in 1953. 16 Aug 70:
2 Oct 69: CIVILIAN Hannah E. Crews was also with the American Red Cross who died. She was in a jeep accident in Bien Hoa. CIVILIAN Dr. Breen Ratterman was with the American Medical Association assigned to the United States Agency for International Development. She died from injuries suffered in a fall from her apartment balcony in Saigon. She was from Louisville, KY. 8 Jun 69:
26 Oct 68: CIVILIAN Rosalyn Muskat worked with the Army Special Services. She died in a jeep accident in Long Binh. 29 Sep 68:
14 Aug 68:
8 Jul 68:
1 Feb 68: Three missionaries were killed during Tet 68 on a leprosarium in Ban Me Thout. It was this raid in which Betty Olsen was captured. This same location had been hit several times before including 1962 when Eleanor Vietti was captured. CIVILIAN Ruth Thompson, wife of a minister, was killed along with her husband. CIVILIAN Carolyn Griswald was the daughter of a minister. They both died as a result of this raid. CIVILIAN Ruth Wilting was also killed in that raid. 30 Nov 67: These two women (along with two male nurses, Jerome E. Olmstead of Clintonville, WI and Kenneth R. Shoemaker, Jr. of Owensboro, KY) were returning from a shift in a hospital in Pleiku were all their extra hands and skills were required during a push in activity when their plane crashed. The women were posthumously awarded Bronze Stars and I'm sure the men received them also. Their names can be found on The Wall on Panel 31E. Eleanor is on Line 8; Hedwig is on Line 15.
CIVILIAN Dorothy Phillips was onboard the same plane with the nurses and also died that day near Qui Nhon. She was serving with the Army Special Services. 16 Aug 67:
9 May 67:
18 Feb 66: These two women were both assigned to the 3rd Field Hospital in Saigon. They died in a helicopter crash near Saigon. Their names can be found on Panel 5E. Carol is on Line 46 while Elizabeth is on Line 47.
3 Jan 66:
4 Nov 65:
30 Mar 65:
1964: CIVILIAN Regina “Reggie” Williams died of a heart attack in Saigon. She was the civilian US Department of the Navy OICC (Officer in Charge of Construction). 4 Mar 63: CIVILIAN Janie A. Makil was with some missionaries in Dalat when she was shot to death in an ambush. She was only five months old. 30 May 62:
Some of the information and photos regarding the American women who died in Vietnam has come from the following sources and this author's own research: Vietnam Women's Memorial Project A Circle of Sisters/A Circle of Friends Ann Kelsey, Task Force Omega, Inc Use the buttons below to go to another page.
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USA ANC 2LT Pamela Dorothy Donovan,
26, was from Allston, MA.
Pam was assigned to the 85th EVAC in Qui Nhon. She became seriously ill and died
of Pneumonia after only four months in Vietnam. She is listed on
The Wall at Panel 53W Line 43. Photo donated by Carl Hannon who knew
more about her. Carl stated that Pam had attended St Gabriel's School and
graduated from St Elizabeth's Hospital Nursing School both in Brighton, MA.
USA ANC 1LT Hedwig Diane Orlowski, 23,
was from Detroit, MI. She was
assigned to the 67th EVAC also in Qui Nhon.
CIVILIAN
Marilyn L. Allan was from
Albany, NY. She was a nurse working with the United States Agency for
International Development. She was murdered in Nha Trang by a U.S. soldier who
then committed suicide. His name appears on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial but
Marilyn's isn't allowed!
USA
ANC 2LT Carol Ann Drazba, 22, was from Dunmore, PA. Photo donated by
illyria.com. 
USA
ANC 2LT Elizabeth Ann Jones, 22, was from Allendale, SC. Photo
donated by illyria.com.
CIVILIAN
Georgette (Meyer) “Dickey” Chapelle, a
photo-journalist, was killed by a mine while on patrol with Marines outside Chu Lai.
On 30 December 2005 there was a program titled "Heroes Under Fire" on the
History Channel about her life. I found it quite interesting. She had written
the book "What's a Woman Doing Here?" in 1962 and Roberta Ostroff wrote "Fire in
the Wind" about Dickey's life. Now there may be a movie in the works too. Dickey
was originally from WI. Nanci Griffith sings "Pearl's Eye View" about Dickey that you can
sometimes hear at The Vietnam Era 60's 70's music site when its working--just click on "playlist 1" and scroll down to hear it!
