Last week, I wrote about the dedication of the new Nebraska Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Papillion. I was moved by the sacrifice the United States made in Vietnam.
I mentioned last week how much Vietnam vet’s mentorship helped my military career. I was honored to attend with the governor. It reminded me of an older classmate I knew who died in Vietnam, a ‘Gold Star’ veteran. He is called that because his parents no-doubt received a gold star service flag along with a folded American flag.
It had been a long time since I last thought of him.
Morris Ostrander was from one of the oldest and most respected families to homestead a ranch in the Sandhills near the turn of the last century. He was ahead of me in school by several years. I remember him being drafted and leaving Gordon to report for U.S. Army basic training. On one of the many Vietnam Veteran websites, I found a first-hand account left by one of Morris’s fellow soldiers of the circumstances surrounding his tragic loss on a “virtual” Vietnam Veterans Wall website.
After his training as a CH-47 “Chinook” crew chief, SPC Ostrander was assigned to the 178th Assault Support Helicopter Company in Chu Lai, Vietnam. On 1 Jul 1968, his unit was tasked with picking up troops from a tactical PZ (pick-up zone) in the field.
The CH-47s were accompanied by UH-1 gunships, which patrolled around the pick-up zone to protect the larger and more vulnerable CH-47s. As CH-47 tail number 67-18457 was descending toward the PU zone it collided with UH-1C tail number 66-00740. The CH-47’s forward rotor hit the UH-1’s tail rotor area, severing the Huey’s tail boom and destroying the CH-47’s rotor blades. Both aircraft fell to the ground, the Huey in a semi-controlled rotation and the CH-47 in a nose-down attitude. Although the UH-1’s four crewmen survived with injuries, the five crewmen in the CH-47 were killed in the crash and subsequent fire. They were:
• 1LT William B. Eoff, Oklahoma City, OK;
• WO Geddes C. Boyter, Spartanburg, SC;
• SP4 Richard F. Burnham, Decatur, GA;
• SP4 Morris E. Ostrander, Gordon, NE; and
• SP4 Robert L. Puls, Phoenix, AZ.
I have participated in several air assault operations with helicopters, and been in command of a few. I have known many Army aviators and crew who are no longer with us because what the Army does with helicopters is inherently very dangerous. When you add people shooting at you, bad things happen.
Reading this story really brought home the sacrifice made by our country in Vietnam. Seen through the lens of a soldier on an air assault operation, names carved into a marble wall can come back to life.
It makes me grateful to know people like Morris Ostrander didn’t burn his draft card. He answered his country’s call and served with honor, a trait commonly found in the Sandhills. It makes me very proud to know this family and honor their sacrifice to the country.
Please contact my office with any comments, questions, or concerns. Email me at tbrewer@leg.ne.gov, mail a letter to Sen. Tom Brewer, Room #1423, P.O. Box 94604, Lincoln, NE 68509, or call us at (402) 471-2628.
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