Christopher J. Childs III
Specialist Five, U.S. Army

On 9 May 1970, Specialist Five Christopher J. Childs III was serving with 221st Signal Company (Pictorial), 69th Signal Battalion, 160th Signal Group, 1st Signal Brigade, in Pleiku Province, South Vietnam.

On that day, U.S. Army helicopter UH-1D (tail number 65-10079) “Ghostrider” from the 189th Assault Helicopter Company was shot down near LZ Gypsy in Pleiku Province, RVN, eight miles west of Pleiku City. A camera crew from the 221st Signal Company, including SP5 Childs, was on board. The shootdown occurred as the cameramen were covering the Cambodian incursion underway at that time. There were no survivors.

A U.S. Army CH-47 Chinook helicopter operating in the area set down and personnel aboard recovered all the remains from the crash site and took them to 71st Evacuation Hospital in Pleiku.

A total of 9 men were lost in the incident. The four crewmen included aircraft commander WO1 John D. McCluskey, pilot 1LT Colin P. Hurd, crew chief SP4 Johnny L. Fulton, and gunner PFC David J. Corpus. The five passengers comprised SP5 Christopher J. Childs III, SP5 Douglas J. Itri, SP4 Ronald S. Lowe, PFC Raymond L. Paradis, and SP4 Larry C. Young.

[Crash information taken from vhpa.org and 221stsignal.com and furnished by Brandon O'Rear, FindAGrave member (48115948)]

Medals and Awards

Bronze Star Medal with Valor Device
Purple Heart
Air Medal
Good Conduct Medal
National Defense Service Medal
Vietnam Service Medal
Vietnam Campaign Medal

Honors

The name Christopher J Childs III is located on Panel W10 Line 4 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall.

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/95497658/christopher-j_-childs