Charles Lee Peddy
Private First Class
HMM-364, MAG-16, 1ST MAW, III MAF
United States Marine Corps
Fresno, California
August 23, 1948 to January 26, 1969
CHARLES L PEDDY is on the Wall at Panel W34, Line 88

Combat Aircrew
 
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Charles L Peddy
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22 Jul 2003

At about 3 AM on the morning of 26 Jan 1969 two CH-46s launched from Marble Mountain on an emergency medevac mission. The pick-up aircraft, CH-46D BuNo 153997, was crewed by

There was no moon and visibility was limited by haze. As the flight proceeded to the west at an altitude of 3,000 feet, Meyer's aircraft ran directly into the side of Ba Na Mountain, the only terrain feature in the area that extended above 3,000 feet. While it couldn't be proven, it was postulated that Meyer probably was flying instruments and depending on the Danang TACAN for navigational purposes. Other aircrews had experienced Danang TACAN errors of 40 degrees or so in the vicinity of Ba Na Mountain, and post-crash reconstructions of the flight route indicated that a 40 degree lock-off would place the aircraft exactly at the point of impact on Ba Na.

The chase aircraft, piloted by 1st Lt Don Robbins, attempted to lower crewman LCpl Curtis P. Knox to the crash site to check for survivors, but when the jungle penetrator cable was fully extended Knox was still 50 feet above the ground. Robbins abandoned the attempt, only to find that the hoist retract was inoperable and Knox could not be hoisted aboard. Knox dangled below the CH-46D while Robbins flew six miles to the nearest secure landing zone, where he gently lowered his aircraft until Knox was safely on the ground.

PFC Peddy, who was scheduled to leave Vietnam the next day, had volunteered for the flight in order to assist two new crewmen - LCpl Dolan, who had just arrived in country, and LCpl Hannibal, who had recently transferred from the H&MS-16 avionics shop. The photo, poor as it is, is the last one taken of PFC Peddy - on 25 Jan, the day before his death.

These seven men, and the other Purple Foxes who served in Vietnam, are remembered by the women who waited at home, whether mothers, sisters, wives, daughters, or friends. Those women, the

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Purple Foxy Ladies

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