Maurice E. Garrett Jr. entered the U.S. Army in May, 1966. Initially trained as a Military Policeman, he later completed OCS at Ft. Benning, Georgia. Commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in August 1967, Garrett was in Vietnam by November for his first tour of duty. During this tour, Garrett was a paratrooper. He was wounded three times during this tour and received three purple hearts, a Silver Star, and other decorations. He was also promoted to 1st Lieutenant. Upon completion of his tour, Garrett was selected for flight training, qualifying in the the AH-1G Cobra gunship. Now a Captain, he returned to Vietnam in December 1970 as commander of A Troop, 2nd Squadron, 17th Cavalry, 101st Airborne Division. On October 22, 1971, CPT Garrett (pilot) and 1LT Danny A. Cowan (co-pilot/gunner) were aboard an AH-1G helicopter (serial #67-15752) as part of a "Hunter-Killer" team consisting of two AH-1G helicopters, one OH-6A and one UH-1H. The team departed Quang Tri and proceeded west on an armed visual reconnaissance mission. CPT Garrett instructed the flight to hold on the eastern side of a ridge line while he continued westward into a valley to check weather that appeared marginal for team operations. About one minute after entering the valley, Garrett reported the weather to be about 200 feet overcast, and continued his weather assessment flight. About 5 minutes from the time he was last seen, Garrett reported that he was in the cloud and would return to Quang Tri on instruments. He gave instructions for the rest of the flight to stay clear of his intended flight path. Shortly afterwards, the aircraft apparently struck trees and continued for a short distance before crashing. The aircraft impacted and exploded with such force that the only large identifiable aircraft part that was found was a vertical fin with part of the serial number. Some parts of the cockpit section could be identified, but all were badly burned, smashed and scattered by the explosion. Ground searchers recovered 1LT Cowan's remains but no trace of CPT Garrett was found. The search team concluded that he was killed in the crash and his body completely destroyed upon impact and explosion.

 

A memorial from Kim & Mary Clare Biery critter@nccoast.net  25 Dec 1998

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