Remains of Illinoisian returned from Vietnam after 40 years

Story by Spc. Dan LoGrasso, 139th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

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The remains of Spec. 4 Randy Dalton are laid to rest by an Illinois Guard Military Funeral and Honors team in front of his family and about 500 supporters at Sunset Hill Memorial Estate Cemetery.

GLEN CARBON, IL (07/25/2011)(readMedia)-- July 24, 1971, Spec. 4 Randy Dalton was killed in action while serving as a helicopter door gunner during the Vietnam War. Exactly 40 years later, his remains were laid to rest by a team of Illinois National Guard Soldiers.

Dalton's remains were flown into St. Louis' Lambert International Airport July 22, honorably transferred by the Illinois National Guard Military Funeral and Honors detail and escorted to Sunset Hill Funeral Home in Glen Carbon by a Patriot Guard motorcade of approximately 300 motorcycles.

"This is special," said Dave Stout, a Vietnam veteran who spent 22 years in the Air Force and formerly commanded the 12th District of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. "This is going to bring a tear to my eye. You hear those stories about how the Vietnam guys were treated [coming home] and maybe this will ease the heartache for some of those guys."

After 40 years of waiting and a brief ceremony inside the funeral home, Dalton was escorted outside to a burial plot next to his parents by a team of Soldiers with the Illinois National Guard Funeral and Honors Program. Full military honors were given to Dalton with a six-Soldier flag fold, a flag presentation to each of his three sisters, a three-rifle volley salute performed by the 12th District of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and Taps performed by a bugler from Buglers Across America.

"The coordination and joint effort of the Military Funeral Honors team with the Patriot Riders and VFW members of the 12th District served to remind everyone in attendance of the bond between the Illinois Army National Guard and the community," said Staff Sgt. (Ret.) Patrick Jockisch of Concord, the Illinois Military Funeral and Honors Program coordinator and flag presenter. "This service was a unique opportunity for the current generation of Soldiers to work side-by-side with those who came before us and standing there surrounded by hundreds of Veterans presenting the flag to the family was truly an honor."

Despite the 94-degree temperature and intense humidity, a crowd of about 500 people came to show their support.

"When we planned this, we thought 75 to 100 people would come," said Dalton's middle sister Gayle Vecchetti. "When we saw the Patriot Guard and all the others who did so much for us without expecting a thing in return... It's a pretty humbling experience."

Linda Kruse, Dalton's oldest sister, said when they heard the news that Randy was missing back in 1971, they felt like the war had finally caught up to them and getting their brother back now brings closure.

"I felt really good seeing his casket in the cemetery, ready to go into the ground next to [our] parents," said Kruse.

Dalton's helicopter, an OH-6A "Loach", was conducting a reconnaissance patrol over Cambodia when it was shot down by small-arms fire. Dalton, who was only a few weeks away from the end of his tour, was killed during or shortly after the crash along with Sgt. Gregory Antuanano. A search-and-rescue team rushed to the site, but was only able to recover the surviving pilot, Timothy Wiltrout, before enemy forces converged on the area. When they returned the next day, the helicopter had been stripped of its equipment and the bodies were gone.

The United States did not establish stable relations with Cambodia until 1992, and in October of the same year a team was sent to Cambodia to begin searching for Dalton's remains. After roughly nine years of searching and investigating the crash site, the remains were rediscovered. The Dalton family was alerted that an investigation was underway, but they didn't have official confirmation that their brother had been found until January 2011.

Even though she knew the moment was coming, actually hearing the confirmation that Randy was finally coming home was the most significant, said Vecchetti.

Kruse was the primary contact during the investigation and sent in the DNA sample that was eventually used to identify Dalton. She said the investigative team would send her reports about every six months.

"It was kind of like reading a detective novel because they were going into the cities [in Cambodia]

and looking for remains," said Kruse, "We've had constant assistance on this the whole time."

"I've heard a lot of people say that the government is not trying hard enough to bring soldiers home, but I am very satisfied with all of the hard work that has been done," said Vecchetti.

After the service concluded, Stout said he thought the unforgiving heat and humidity was kind of appropriate "because it felt like Vietnam" perhaps implying that, after 40 years, two drastically different worlds had managed to find some harmony.

U.S. Army photo by Spc. Daniel LoGrasso, 139th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment/ The Illinois National Guard Military Funeral and Honors team carries Spec. 4 Randy Dalton into Sunset Hill Funeral Home in Glen Carbon, July 24. Dalton was killed in Vietnam during a helicopter crash July 24, 1971 and his remains have been rediscovered and returned to his family for burial exactly 40 years after his death.

U.S. Army photo by Spc. Daniel LoGrasso, 139th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment/ The remains of Spec. 4 Randy Dalton are laid to rest by an Illinois National Guard Military Funeral and Honors team in front of his family and roughly 500 supporters and mourners at Sunset Hill Memorial Estate Cemetery in Glen Carbon, July 24. Dalton was killed in Vietnam during a helicopter crash July 24, 1971 and his remains have been rediscovered and returned to his family for burial exactly 40 years after his death.

U.S. Army photo by Spc. Daniel LoGrasso, 139th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment/ (Left to right) Staff Sgt. (Ret.) Patrick Jockisch of Concord, the Illinois Military Funeral and Honor Program coordinator, presents (left to right) Karen Kloster, Linda Kruse, and Gayle Vecchetti a flag during the burial of their brother, Spec. 4 Randy Dalton Sunset Hill Memorial Estate Cemetery, July 24. Dalton was killed in Vietnam during a helicopter crash July 24, 1971 and his remains have been rediscovered and returned to his family for burial exactly 40 years after his death.