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| Name: | Melvin Carnils Dye |
| Rank/Branch: | E5/US Army |
| Unit: | 57th Assault Helicopter Co., 52nd Aviation Battalion |
| Date of Birth (DOB): | 22 May 1947 |
| Home City of Record: | Carleton, MI |
| Loss Date: | 19 February 1968 |
| Country of Loss: | Laos |
| Loss Coordinates: | 145430N 1072800E (YB665498) |
| Status (in 1973): | Missing In Action |
| Category: | 4 |
| Acft/Vehicle/Ground: | UH1H |
| Refno: | 1054 |
| Other Personnel in Incident: | Douglas J. Glover; Robert S. Griffith (still missing) |
| Source: | Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 April 1991 from one or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Updated by the P.O.W. NETWORK 1998. |
| Remarks: | |
| Synopsis: | |
| Melvin Dye was the engineer and Robert Griffith the door gunner aboard a UH1H helicopter performing an emergency extraction mission in Laos. They were extracting a reconnaissance patrol team consisting of three U.S. Army Special Forces personnel and 3 indigenous personnel. The aircraft carried a crew of four. Douglas Glover was one of the Special Forces personnel aboard.
As the helicopter picked up the team 4 miles inside Laos west of Dak Sut, it received a heavy volume of small arms fire. It is not known whether the aircraft was hit by hostile fire or hit a tree, but it nosed over, impacted the ground and exploded, bursting into flames. The pilot, co-pilot and one passenger managed to leave the aircraft. Because of the fire and exploding small arms ammunition, rescue attempts for the others were futile. There were six U.S. and 3 indigenous personnel aboard the helicopter. When search teams reached the site the same day, they could not account for the other U.S. personnel. Five were accounted for, but could not be recovered because of intense heat. Dye, Glover and Griffith were classified as Missing In Action. They did not return when the general prisoner release occurred in 1973. Since the war ended, evidence mounts that Americans were left behind in enemy prison camps and that hundreds of them could be alive today. They deserve better than the abandonment they received from the country they proudly served. |
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All Biographical and loss information on POWs provided by OpJC have been supplied by Chuck and Mary Schantag of POWNET. Please check with POWNET regularly for updates. |
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| MELVIN CARNILLS DYE SSGT - E6 - Army - Regular USARV 30 year old Single, Caucasian, Male Date of Birth - May 22, 1947 From CARLETON, MICHIGAN His tour of duty began on Feb 19, 1968 Casualty was on Oct 28, 1977 in LAOS Hostile, died while missing HELICOPTER - CREW AIR LOSS, CRASH ON LAND Body was not recovered Religion - PROTESTANT Panel 40E - - Line 19 |
Source: The VietNam Veterans' Memorial Wall Page. |
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