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HARRISON, WILLIAM MILAM
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Casualty
Record
Name:
HARRISON, WILLIAM MILAM
Rank / Branch:
CW2, U.S. ARMY
Unit:
FIRST AVIATION BRIG
Date of Birth:
1943-11-15
Country
of Loss:
SOUTH VIETNAM
Loss
Coordinates:
NINH THUAN
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground:
AIRCRAFT UH-1H-GROUN
Awards & Decorations:
SEE BIO
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Veteran
Hagiography
WILLIAM MILAM HARRISON, CHIEF WARRANT OFFICER TWO, U.S. ARMY, PECOS, REEVES COUNTY, TEXAS
AWARDS AND DECORATIONS
Army Aviation Pilot Wings, Distinguished Flying Cross with Oak Leaf Cluster, Purple Heart, Air Medal with 18 Oak Leaf Clusters, Army Commendation's Medal with "V" Device, Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, Vietnam Campaign Medal
BIOGRAPHY
William Milam Harrison was born in Alpine, Texas, the second child of Mary Knight Harrison and Byrl E. Harrison. He had an older sister, Brylene. He grew up in Pecos, Texas. He was a 1962 graduate of Pecos High School. He attended Sul Ross State University in Alpine for two years. He married Brenda Dozier of Pecos. He entered the U.S. Army in 1965, completed basic training at Fort Hood, Texas and was trained as a radar technician in the Air Defense Artillery branch. He was stationed in Germany when he decided to volunteer to train as a helicopter pilot. He then entered the Warrant Officer Rotary Wing Flight Program at Fort Wolters, Texas. After the primary phase, he completed flight training at Fort Rucker, Alabama. He was commissioned a Warrant Officer One in January 1968, recieved his aviator wings and he began his tour in Vietnam on March 2, 1968.
 As a PFC in Germany, 1966
He was assigned as a pilot with the 134th Assault Helicopter Company, 268th Aviation Battalion, 17th Aviation Group, First Aviation Brigade.
On February 6, 1969, twenty four days before the completion of his tour and shortly after being promoted to Chief Warrant Officer Two, he volunteered to be a part of a combat assault with Korean units near Phan Rang. He was the pilot of a UH-1H helicopter, tail number 66-16326. The mission involved ferrying Korean troops into a hot landing zone. At the landing zone, the VC were entrenched in spider holes and were waiting for the incoming aircraft. The lead ship was hit by ground fire and crashed into the LZ. The Huey, piloted by CW2 Harrison, landed in the LZ and was offloading the Korean troops when the left front side was hit by a B-40 rocket. CW2 Harrison was killed by shrapnel from the rocket. The remainder of the crew were able to get off the aircraft. The crewchief was also hit with numerous pieces of shrapnel and also took a hit in his leg, that later resulted in the loss of the limb. The last aircraft into the LZ went around the crashed or destroyed helicopters and it was hit by a hail of ground fire, a round hit the door gunner and he was killed instantly. That aircraft despite being heavily damaged was able to make it back to the Phan Rang Airbase.
Chief Warrant Harrison was buried with full military honors in the Evergreen Cemetery in his home town of Pecos, Texas
Commissioned Warrant Officer Pilot
His parents are now deceased and his sister, Brylene Paulson lives in Odessa.
 Flight School Class- 1968, Fort Wolters, Texas
Evergreen Cemetery, Pecos, Texas VIRTUAL WALL
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