Warren H. Bahlke

Warren disappeared in the Gulf of Mexico in Oct of 1993 while flying for Petroleum
Helicopters, Inc.

Michael B. "Mike" Van Biene

Peter Brown

Gary E. Davis aka "Old Man Davis or OMD"

Carl Cortez told me he died of lung cancer. I'm not sure but it
seems he was around Ft. Rucker at the time. OMD is fondly remembered by
a few of us young Warrants as a guiding beacon. We were 19-20-21 years
old and OMD was prior service who swore he was under 29 to make it
through flight school. He was a good man with a lot of balls.  ~Bobby 

Anthony D. (Tony) DiCamillo 1944 - 2003

Anthony D. "Tony" DiCamillo, age 59 years, died August 15, at the Lowell General Hospital in Lowell. Tony was born on Saturday, April 1, 1944, in Watertown, the son of Maria (Inglese) DiCamillo of Watertown and the late Gandelino DiCamillo. He served in the United States Army during the Vietnam Conflict and prior to retirement, was employed as a Mail Handler for the United States Postal Service. Aside from his mother, Mr. DiCamillo is survived by his beloved wife Ellen J. "Jean" (Bradley) DiCamillo; his daughters Kristine Thomas and her husband Scott of Wilmington and Karen Rose of Ashland, KY and her fiance Robert Rhodes of Flatwoods, KY; his grandchildren Nichole Rose of Ashland, KY; Zachary and Megan Thomas both of Wilmington; his sisters and brothers Irma Alberico and her husband Charlie of Fryeburg, ME, Susan Schultz of Waltham, Rita Pensyl and her husband Dennis of Waltham, Joseph DiCamillo and his companion Marion Colby of Billerica and John DiCamillo and his wife Anne Walsh of Newton; his brother-in-law Harold Bradley and his wife Linda of FL; his sister-in-law Beverly Roberts and her husband Dan of NY and several nieces and nephews. Mr. DiCamillo was the son of the late Gandelino DiCamillo; the grandfather of the late Jillian Thomas of Wilmington and the brother-in-law of the late Robert Schultz of Waltham. 

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Anthony D. (Tony) Di Camillo was laid to rest in Pine Ridge Cemetery, Chelmsford Massachusetts on August 19, 2003. Both my wife and I attended the wake and funeral. Tony and I met in Fort Benning in 1965 when the 48th was formed.  We became instant friends and served together with the 48th in Vietnam. We both went to Fort Eustis after Nam and I lost touch with Tony when I got out of the Army in 1967.  Tony stayed in the Army after his tour with the 48th and wound up serving a second tour with  "A" Troop 3/17 Cav. as a crew chief. During his return from that tour he was diagnosed with diabetes (agent orange related) and was released from the Army.

We resumed our friendship in the early 80's and remained close friends up until his death. I would go with my family to visit him in Massachusetts and he would come to Jersey to vacation with us.

  Tony retired from the U.S. Post Office because his health was starting to deteriorate.   With the diabetes and the fact that he had a heart attack,  he thought it was time to slow down. He had heart bypass surgery, diabetes, and was going for dialysis three  times a week for the past few years.  With all that was physically wrong with Tony he was always upbeat and in good spirits. You would never know  he had any health problems.

  He was always proud of his military service and the fact that he was a crew chief.  I performed a formal Vietnam Veteran's ceremony at the wake and spoke about the times Tony and I shared as friends in the Army and in the States.  This was one of the hardest things I ever had to do as I really loved this guy. The family received the flowers from the 48th AHC along with all the e-mails that the Bluestars  sent to the funeral home web site.  They were printed and displayed along with pictures of Tony. It was also nice to see fellow Bluestar Charlie Tuttle and his wife attend and pay their respects.  I cannot express how much it meant to Tony's family to receive the flower arrangement and more importantly to see the outpouring of love and camaraderie shown from Tony's fellow Bluestars.

Tony  was buried with an Honor Guard flag draped coffin, Taps was played, and the flag was folded and given to his wife, Jean.  His gravestone will have an etching of the Huey helicopter.   I wore my veteran's cap with my Bluestar pin and saluted a Vietnam Veteran, a brother and a friend.  I placed a flower on his coffin and said goodbye to someone I will miss for the rest of my life as a part of me died on August 15th.

  Joe Kochanski

J. V. Dobbs

Lt. Col. Charles "Ace" Drummond Jr.

Lt. Col. Charles "Ace" Drummond Jr., died in Monterey, California of a stroke shortly after surgery.  He was 78.  Lt. Col. Drummond was a member of the Tuskegee Airman black pilot corps that served during World War II and commanded the 48th AHC in Vietnam during parts of 1965 - 1966.

Ace, who was trained as a B-25 bomber pilot, was preparing for action in Southeast Asia when WWII ended.  He was recalled to active duty in 1951 for the Korean War.  He retired from the Army in 1970 after a 30 year career.  Ace founded the Summer Flight Academy, a program in the San Francisco Bay area that trains underprivileged young people to fly airplanes.

Thomas A. Fichter

P. Frain

Carl R. Jones

Carl Jones, Joker 1, was the beginning of long a line of Joker gunship pilots.

Carl served three combat tours, one in Korea and two in Vietnam.

Carl joined the Army in February of 1951.  At the time, the Army needed black officers, and Carl was sent to the Armor Officer's Candidate School in Fort Knox, Kentucky.  He was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant, Armor Branch, where he was a tank platoon leader and paratrooper.  (The Army also wanted him for his skill as a football player!)  But tanks were not his thing.... he wanted to fly!

He was able to attend the Fixed Wing Aviation Course in Fort Sill, Oklahoma.  His class was told, outright, that one black would graduate from the class to become a pilot.  Luckily for Carl, the top black in the class (an experienced World War II warrant office) had an emergency appendectomy, so Carl became the one black pilot.

Carl was in the Army on Desegregation Day......  Seems so long ago, doesn't it?

While home on leave after flight school, the Armistice was declared in Korea, although it was still considered combat duty when he arrived. 

He left the Army in 1954 as a 1st Lieutenant.  He rose to Captain in the National Guard and Reserves, while working as a policeman in the Columbus, Ohio, Police Department, and playing football for Woody Hayes at Ohio State University.

It was in the Reserves that he met his true love ...... helicopters!

Carl returned to active duty in the Army in 1962, rising to Captain.  He served with the 2nd Artillery in Baumholder, Germany, from July, 1964, to October, 1965. 

His first tour in Vietnam was from November of 1965 to October of 1966, where he served in the 48th as the Gun Platoon Leader, Joker 1.

From October of 1966 to April of 1968, he was Assistant Division Aviation Officer for the Hqs. 8th Infantry Division in BAD Kreusnach, Germany, rising to the rank of Major.

His second tour in Vietnam was from May of 1968 to May of 1969, when he served as Commanding Officer of the 170th Assault Helicopter Company. 

Carl left the service in 1973 to attended law school earning his Juris Doctor degree at age 52.

Donald Kelsey

John Kemp

It is my sad duty to report that former pilot John Kemp has passed on.  John and I worked together at the PO these last 16 years.  He was a true friend.  I know that John was very happy to finally go to your last reunion in Colorado.  He was planning to go this year to say goodbye.  The Docs gave him 9 months, but he didn't even get 9 weeks from the time he learned he had cancer.   That @#$%& Agent Orange finally took its toll.  John died in Vietnam and didn't even know it.  I know that he had a buddy that he was to meet or had met in Las Vegas last year (I'm not sure).    From a former Marine Semper Fi  Thom Towell  RVN 66-67

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I served with John in 1970 with the 48th in Ninh Hoa.

I worked with him when we had an IG inspection.  In addition to being a pilot, he was the OIC for the units chemical/ gas masks.  He and I cleaned and repaired all the masks for the inspection.  He was an inspiration in my life.  Wish I had kept in contact.  My condolence to all of his family. 

Donnie Whitfield

Marion L. "Skip" Mark

Joseph B. Pearsey

SP/5 Pearsey was the first enlisted man to join the 48th when it was formed at Ft. Benning, Georgia in 1965.   Joe passed away in November 1997 at the age of 67.

Tom Pember

Al Ratta

Passed away on 11/29/99 in Scottsdale, AZ. He was from New Hyde Park, NY and was probably the most unmilitary guy most of us ever met. Maybe you remember him...most who met him did...he ran the maintenance operations...(in real life that is) he just had that knack combined with his NY instincts to be able to get the important things done (conventionally or otherwise- - -more often otherwise). As a totally naive 18 year old kid form the sticks...he made quite an impression on me. He was older... I think 22 at the time. We became lifelong friends. Anyway....His name is still listed on the member list but he can't answer his e-mails....although if anyone could...it would be him! If you would be so kind...and feel it's appropriate...leave his name on the list in it's own box and put c/o Bill Hamnett. Insert my e-mail address. I'd be happy to correspond with anyone who's looking for him. I just know there are a lot of guys out there who remember him and don't have a clue who I am.  .I'm sure there are lot of guys who wonder "Whatever happened to Al Ratta?" He was such a memorable character. 

J. W. Rodgers

David Spies

I have thought and thought about my brother and I have finally decided that the thing that was best about David was this.  No matter where you wanted to go, no matter what you wanted to do, David always made people feel like there was nowhere else he would rather be--nothing else he would rather do.  His disposition was sunny and every day spent with him was a treasure.

As you can see, we still miss him terribly.

Sylvia Parrish

David passed away on 30 September 2001

Pat Toal

WO1 Pat Toal flew guns and was with the first group of Cobras that arrived at DongHa,  He used the call sign Joker 50, however it was probably Joker 150 and we just shortened it.  Pat flew lead quite a bit during his tour with the 48th in 71 - 72.  He drowned on a  rafting trip back in the States sometime after his tour, possibly later in 1972.  Pat definately belongs in a place of honor with the 48th as he was a hell of a pilot and truly held up the Joker tradition of excellence, a good friend, and was never far from the action. 

Manuel "Manny" Fernandez-Silva

As far as some personnel thoughts about Pat, he was a really fun loving guy who enjoyed life to the fullest.  We became pretty good friends after we moved from Dong Ha to Marble Mountain.  Whenever I wasn't flying with 1st Platoon or working the night shift in operations I used to fly Pat's front seat whenever I got the chance.  We had a lot of fun!!

Curt Oldroyd

(John's leading the parade)

John Wallace