Name: Armando Ramirez
Rank/Branch: E5/US Army
Unit: 155th Assault Helicopter Company, 10th Aviation Battalion, 17th
Aviation
Group, 1st Aviation Brigade
Date of Birth: 01 February 1949 (Benson AZ)
Home City of Record: Willcox AZ
Date of Loss: 23 May 1969
Country of Loss: Cambodia
Loss Coordinates: 122419N 106163E (YU693870)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1H

Other Personnel in Incident: Crew of UH1H: Richard Menzel; Jerome Green
(both survived); Santiago V.E. Quintana (died of injuries/wounds); 5th Special
Forces Group team: Philip W. Strout; Howard S. Hill (both died of
injuries/wounds); Arthur Dolph; Mark Schneider (both survived)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 April 1990 from one or more
of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence
with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: SP5 Armando Ramirez was stationed at Ban Me Thuot in South
Vietnam as a member of the 155th Assault Helicopter company. He was crew chief
onboard a UH1H helicopter -- the Huey -- that performed a wide variety of duties
in Vietnam. When the word "Huey" was mentioned, it always meant "move."

On May 23, 1969, Ramirez' helicopter crew was called on to insert a 5th
Special Forces team into Cambodia for a classified mission. The chopper was hit
by ground fire and crashed near Highway 13 in Kracheh Province, some 75
miles into Cambodia. Ramirez was trapped beneath the wreckage. The rest of the crew
and passengers were pinned down by continuous heavy enemy fire and could not
reach the wreckage to help or extract Ramirez. Quintana, Strout and Hill were
mortally wounded in the fire fight that ensued.

A rescue team of Vietnamese commanded by an American was inserted a
short distance away from the trapped men, and arrived at the site just before
dusk. there was still gunfire heard, but the men were no longer under direct
fire. It was decided to evacuate the surviving crew and team members and the
bodies of the dead. The helicopter could not be moved to extract Ramirez' body
without heavy equipment, so the men were forced to leave him behind.

Two days later, a search and recovery team arrived at the site to find
that not only was there no sign of Ramirez, but also that a road had been cleared
and the chopper was gone.

Ramirez is one of nearly 2500 Americans who did not return from Vietnam.
All the survivors of the crash on May 23, 1969 were certain Ramirez was dead,
and that his body had been taken by an enemy that would have little regard for
who or what he was. There can be no question, however, that the enemy could
tell us what happened to Armando Ramirez. The same is true for a very high
percentage of the missing.

Tragically, thousands of reports have been received that indicate
Americans are still being captive in Southeast Asia. While Ramirez may not be one of
them, the evidence suggests that hundreds of his comrades are alive, waiting for
their country to free them. One can imagine that Ramirez would be there if he
could, ready to help bring them to freedom.

Return to POW/MIA Index to read about another missing American.