DALTON, RANDALL DAVID
Name: Randall David Dalton
Rank/Branch: E4/US Army
Unit: Troop A, 3rd Squadron, 17th Cavalry (Air Cavalry), 12th Aviation Group
Date of Birth: 05 December 1950 (Alton IL)
Home City of Record: Collinsville IL
Date of Loss: 24 July 1971
Country of Loss: Cambodia
Loss Coordinates: 120327N 1063522E (XU730333)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: OH6A
Refno: 1762
Other Personnel in Incident: Gregory A. Antunano (missing); Timothy G.
Wiltrout (rescued)
Source: Compiled 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 in 1998.
REMARKS:
SYNOPSIS: The 3rd Squadron, 17th Cavalry was part of the 12th Aviation Group
during its service in Vietnam. It was responsible for air cavalry support in
the western part of III Corps Tactical Zone. In late 1970 it was placed
under the operational control of the 1st Cavalry Division to form a highly
successful ad hoc air cavalry brigade.
On July 24, 1971, WO1 Timothy G. Wiltrout, pilot; Sgt. Gregory A. Antunano,
observer; and SP4 Randall D. Dalton, door gunner; were crew members on an
OH6A "Loach" observation helicopter (serial #17-257) which was shot down by
enemy fire while on a reconnaissance mission in Cambodia. The aircraft went
down about 5 miles inside Cambodia, in Kracheh Province, just a few miles
southeast of the city of Snuol.
When rescuers arrived at the crash site, they found the pilot outside the
downed aircraft. He suffered a broken leg in the incident, but was otherwise
unhurt. The other two crew members were still strapped in their seats inside
the wreckage. Both were taken out of the helicopter and at that time, SP4
Dalton was still alive. Sgt. Antunano was believed to be dead.
A short time later, SP4 Dalton stopped breathing. Efforts to revive him were
unsuccessful. The medic checked both Dalton and Antunano several times, and
told other rescuers that they were dead.
As enemy soldiers began moving into the area, search and rescue aircraft
evacuated the rescue team and Wiltrout, the pilot. Because of enemy
presence, no attempt was made to extract the two bodies. They were left
lying near the downed helicopter.
The following day, several SAR aircraft returned to the location in an
attempt to recover Antunano and Dalton, but noted that the aircraft had been
stripped and moved several feet. Personal effects of the crew, such as their
helmets, weapons and the aircraft radio had also been removed. Sgt. Antunano
and SP4 Dalton's bodies were gone. A search of the area from the air did not
reveal fresh graves or any sign of the two men.
Antunano and Dalton's bodies were never found. They are listed with honor
among the missing because their remains are still on enemy soil. For other
missing Americans, simple resolution is not possible. Some were in radio
contact with would-be rescuers - some simply did not return from missions.
Others were known prisoners who disappeared from prison systems and were not
released at the end of the war.
"Several million documents" and 250,000 interviews have convinced many
officials that Americans were left behind in Vietnam and that some remain
alive today. Some number those alive in the hundreds. While Dalton and
Antunano may not be among them, if there is even one American left alive, we
must do everything possible to bring him home.
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