Publish Date 
Written by - Full Name: GARY CHARLES DAVID
- Wall Name: GARY C DAVID
- Date of Birth: 12/20/1949
- Date of Casualty: 3/1/1971
- Home of Record: POTTSTOWN, PENNSYLVNIA
- Branch of Service: ARMY
- Rank: SP5
- Casualty Country: CAMBODIA
Troops' Remains From Vietnam Era Buried
Thursday Nov 6, 2003
More than three decades after Army Warrant Officer Paul Black's helicopter was shot down by the Viet Cong, his remains were buried with those of three wartime comrades Thursday at Arlington National Cemetery.
About 50 mourners gathered under a drizzling rain with their hands over their hearts as a horse-drawn caisson carried the flag-draped casket. It contained the recently identified remains of Black, along with those from three other men who were on the Huey helicopter with him when it crashed and burned in Cambodia on March, 1, 1971.
Black, Warrant Officer Robert Uhl of San Mateo, California, Specialist Gary David from Pottstown, Pennsylvania, and Specialist Frank Sablan of Phenix City, Alabama, were on an aerial reconnaissance mission at the time. Black, 22, was from Central Valley, California.
Black's remains were recovered by the military's Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command in 1995, and then identified in early January, according to Gina Jackson with the Hawaii-based command.
His comrades' remains were recovered and identified in 1971, she said.
Thirty-two years after their U.S. Army helicopter was shot down over Cambodia,
the remains of four soldiers are carried by a horse-drawn caisson to their burial site
during a military funeral at Arlington National Cemetery, Thursday, November 6, 2003.
Warrant Officer 1st Class Paul Vernon Black, Sergeant First Class Gary Charles David,
Specialist Frank Sablan, and Warrant Officer 1st Class Robert D. Uhl died while
flying a combat mission near Kampong Cham, Cambodia, March 1, 1971.
Their remains were identified through DNA analysis
Thirty-two years after Warrant Officer Paul Black's U.S. Army helicopter was shot down
over Cambodia, his remains are carried by a casket team during a military funeral at
Arlington National Cemetery November 6, 2003.
Paul Black's remains, found with others in his helicopter, were
identified through DNA analysis earlier this year.
Thirty-two years after Warrant Officer Paul Black's U.S. Army helicopter
was shot down over Cambodia, his father, Jim Black of Port Orford, Oregon,
center, is comforted at a military funeral for his son at Arlington National Cemetery
Thursday, November 6, 2003. Paul Black's remains, found with others in his helicopter, were identified through DNA analysis earlier this year.
Michael Robert Patterson was born in Arlington and is the son of a former officer of the US Army. So it was no wonder that sooner or later his interests drew him to American history and especially to American military history. Many of his articles can be found on renowned portals like the New York Times, Washingtonpost or Wikipedia.
Reviewed by: Michael Howard