Vietnam War casualty to be buried Saturday

Vietnam War casualty to be buried Saturday

(EXCERPT) By CHUCK CRUMBO Staff Writer

Air Force Staff Sgt. Elmer “Larry” Holden will be buried Saturday, 35
years after he died in the Vietnam War.

Holden, a flight engineer assigned to the 37th Air Rescue and Recovery
Squadron at Da Nang, Vietnam, died with three other crewmen when his
helicopter was shot down while searching for a missing U.S. pilot near
Hue.

The Oklahoma native will be buried in Hampton County because it’s the
home of his widow, Judy A. Holden Freeman, and two daughters Stephanie
H. DeLoach and Tina H. Joyner.

A graveside service with full military honors will be at 2 p.m.
Saturday at Johnson/St. Paul Cemetery in Hampton.Visitation will be at
the Peeples-Rhoden Funeral home from 10 a.m-1 p.m. Saturday.

Pentagon reports said Holden’s HH-3E “Jolly Green Giant” helicopter
exploded in a huge fireball after being struck by enemy fire on June
9, 1968.

U.S. soldiers tried to reach the crash site in Laos, just across the
Vietnamese border. Each time, they were driven back by North
Vietnamese units. An aerial search indicated there were no survivors
and the Pentagon listed the crew as “Killed In Action/Body Not
Recovered.”

Over the years, joint U.S.-Vietnamese teams have made several attempts
t...

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---------------------------
Otis Willie
Associate Librarian
The American War Library
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