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The Official Version
Date of Loss:
03 November 1970 Other Personnel
In Incident: Dennis I. Day; David L. Ginn; Arlie R. Mangus; Jerry D.
Martin; Calvin A. Norris; James R. Pantall; John D. Shewmake; David
W. Woods (all classified Killed/Body Not Recovered); Perry C. Kitchens;
Billy H. Peeples (remains recovered) Synopsis: The 5th Transportation Command (Terminal) had the duty of running the extensive Qui Nhon port and served under the U.S. Army Support Command, Qui Nhon. The 5th Transportation Command was later deployed to Da Nang, and had Battalions serving Vung Tau and Cat Lai. Among its duties were support of amphibious operation and supplying ammunition and ordnance to operational units, primarily by heavy boat. On the afternoon of November 2, 1970, Sgt. Dennis I. Day, Sgt. Richard C. Dority, Sgt. David L. Ginn, Sgt. Perry C. Kitchens, Sgt. Arlie R. Mangus, Sgt. Jerry D. Martin, SSgt. Calvin A. Norris, Sgt. James R. Pantall, SFC John D. Shewmake, Sgt. David W. Woods, and PFC Billie Hammond Peeples were the crew of a landing craft, LCU #63, which departed Da Nang en route to Tan My, South Vietnam, on a resupply mission. The LCU was a heavy craft able to carry large loads of ammunition. At 1010 hours on November 3, 1970, helicopter pilots sighted the craft capsized about 5 nautical miles south of Tan My port. In an initial search by air/sea rescue, however, no sign of the crew of the LCU were observed. There was no apparent hostile action, and the reason for the incident is unknown. On November 6, the remains of Billy H. Peoples were recovered near Cu Loi Island, fully rigged in a life jacket. During the period of December 4-20, attempts were made to salvage the craft and locate the crew. Divers gained access to all compartments and voids of the craft, but no survivors or evidence of remains were found. Pieces of clothing, small arms ammo, cans and a radio were recovered. On March 16, 1977, the body of Perry Kitchens was returned to U.S. control and subsequently positively identified. There has been no word of the rest of the crew. The missing eight men were all presumed to have drowned, and the U.S. Army believes there is no chance to ever recover the eight men missing from LCU-63. There are several descrepancies in the case of LCU-63 which should be noted. First of all, the U.S. Army, the State Department and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Directory lists all the crew except Peeples as Sergeant, Staff Sergeant, or Sergeant First Class, which are ranks one grade above those listed by Defense Department and Joint Casualty Resolution Center records... Secondly, the Memorial Directory lists the entire crew with the exceptions of Peeples and Kitchens as missing on 4 November 1971 (a year and a day later than all other records). Third, the military occupational specialties of all 10 men on whom information can be gathered are classified... The Real Story We had an incredible time out on Sebec Lake," recalls Norm Hill, a childhood buddy of Richard Dority. "I spent summers up there from the time I was 12, so Richard and I grew up together. His family had a camp on one side, I had one on the other. We all used to hang out down at the marina. "It was right by the roller rink, kind of the social place for us. They had skating weeknights and on Saturday they had dancing. "We spent more time down at that landing than we did at home. The guy who owned it, Johnny Weymouth, I don’t know how he put up with all of us. I used to work there, selling gas, making burgers, like that. "Every once in a while he’d get his hands on his parents’ boat, powered by a big 40- horsepower Johnson, something you could actually pull a skier on. Whenever we could we’d get that boat and take it for a joy ride. "We had a surfboard his father rigged up. The idea was somebody’d stand on it while it was towed behind the boat. You had to keep the nose up and it would hydroplane along," Hill remembers. "One time Dicky and me had some kid on it. He didn’t really have the hang of keeping the nose up. It got caught in the water and he fell flat, but he was hanging on for dear life so it took him right under. It took him all the way to the bottom, then the rope snapped. We waited for him to come up, hoping he would. It’s not really funny at all, but we couldn’t help laughing. Me and [Dick] nearly busted our sides laughing." Hill pauses, "His favorite song was ‘Summer in the City’ by the Lovin’ Spoonful. We’d play that song over and over on the jukebox. It’s a wonder we didn’t wear the grooves out. "He was like a class clown, always cracking jokes. "I don’t think he finished high school. He got permission to enlist early; his parents must have signed something. He was kind of devil-may-care when he left [for boot camp], but when he came back he was a lot more somber, more mature I guess. "I got in touch with his mother [after I learned of his disappearance]. I contacted her and asked for a picture – I never even had a picture – so she sent me that military portrait. You know, his dad still lives up in Dover-Foxcroft. I don’t know where his older sister is. "Me and Charley [Bouley] picked Dicky up from boot camp. He was in uniform, and his haircut was all squared away. Me and Charley still cracked jokes, but he just wasn’t quite the same." Dority is survived by his father, also Richard Dority, who still lives in Dover-Foxcroft, and by an older sister. –Julian Marks
Colin Sargent, Editor & Publisher |
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DORITY,
RICHARD CLAIR / Reference No. 1672