A LIVING MEMORIAL FOR

SERGEANT WILLIAM E. DILLENDER

UNITED STATES ARMY

Information from the Wall

SGT - E5 - Army - Regular
19 year old Single, Caucasian, Male
Born on Oct 06, 1951
From NAPLES, FLORIDA
His tour of duty began on Mar 20, 1971
Casualty was on Mar 20, 1971
LAOS
Hostile, died while missing
HELICOPTER - CREW
AIR LOSS, CRASH ON LAND
Body was not recovered
Religion
BAPTIST

Panel 04W - - Line 60

DILLENDER, WILLIAM EDWARD
Name: William Edward Dillender
Rank/Branch: E4/US Army
Unit: Company B, 101st Aviation Battalion,
101st Airborne Division

 
Date of Birth: 06 November 1951 (Waltham MA)
Home City of Record: Naples FL
Date of Loss: 20 March 1971
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 163544N 1062513E (XD515352)

Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1H

Refno: 1731
Other Personnel in Incident: John J. Chubb; Jack L. Barker; John F. Dugan
(all missing)
Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 September 1990 from one or more
of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews.
Updated by the P.O.W. NETWORK 2003.
REMARKS: EXPLODED FIRE NO SEARCH - J
SYNOPSIS: LAM SON 719 was a large offensive operation against NVA
communications lines in Laos. The operation called for ARVN troops to drive
west from Khe Sanh, cut the Ho Chi Minh Trail, seize Tchpone and return to
Vietnam. The ARVN would provide and command the ground forces, while U.S.
Army and Air Force would furnish avaition airlift and supporting firepower.
The 101st Airborne Division commanded all U.S. Army aviation units in direct
support of the operation. Most of the first part of the operation, begun
January 30, 1971, was called Operation DEWEY CANYON II, and was conducted by
U.S. ground forces in Vietnam.
The ARVN were halfway on February 11 and positioned for the attack across
the Laotian border. On 8 February, ARVN began to push into Laos. The NVA
reacted fiercely, but the ARVN held its positions supported by U.S.
airstrikes and resupply runs by Army helicopters.
President Nguyen Van Thieu ordered a helicopter assault on Tchepone, and the
abandoned village was seized March 6. Two weeks of hard combat were
necessary for the ARVN task force to fight its way back to Vietnam. Towards
the end of the removal, a helicopter from Company B, 101st Aviation
Battalion was lost.
Flown by Maj. Jack L. Barker, the UH1H (serial #66-16185) was attempting to
land to extract ARVN troops about 20 miles west of Khe Sanh. During the
attempt, the aircraft came under enemy fire and was seen to spin, explode,
and catch fire, then to break up in the air. No signs of survivors were
seen. The crew aboard the aircraft were PCF John J. Chubb, Sgt. William E.
Dillender, and Capt. John F. Dugan. Because of the presence of enemy forces
in the area, no subsequent search could be made for survivors.
Losses were heavy in Lam Son 719. The ARVN lost almost 50% of their force.
U.S. aviation units lost 168 helicopters; another 618 were damaged.
Fifty-five aircrewmen were killed, 178 wounded, and 34 missing in action in
the entire operation, lasting until April 6, 1971.
In all, nearly 600 Americans were lost in Laos, but because we did not
negotiate with the Pathet Lao, no Americans held in Laos were released.
Since that time, over 10,000 reports have been received relating to
Americans prisoner, missing or unaccounted for in Southeast Asia. Although
many authorities are convinced that hundreds remain alive, the U.S. has not
secured the release of a single man.
=======================================
http://www.tennessean.com/local/archives/03/11/43292229.shtml?Element_ID=43292229
Saturday, November 29, 2003
Remains of 101st Airborne paratrooper elude author
By LEON ALLIGOOD
Staff Writer
Helicopter was shot down in Laotian jungle in 1971
In the fall of 1969, Bill and Ann Dillender said goodbye to their son,
Billy, who quit school to join the Army.
It was their final goodbye.
On March 20, 1971, the 19-year-old private, who spent several years of his
childhood in Cookeville and whose parents live there today, was a crew chief
aboard a UH-1H Huey helicopter that was blown from the sky by a deadly shot
from a North Vietnamese missile. The aircraft was part of what was, at the
time, the largest airborne assault ever attempted. The goal was to close the
Ho Chi Minh Trail, a supply route for the North Vietnamese.
The 101st Airborne Division soldier was declared dead. His body, and the
bodies of other crew members, were eventually consumed by the thick jungle
of Laos.
But the lanky kid with a mischievous smile wasn't forgotten, not by his
parents, nor by the American government.
In 2001, a team of civilian and military anthropologists entered Laos,
hoping to find the remains of Dillender and his crewmates, two officers and
another enlisted man. Accompanying the scientific recovery team was Earl
Swift, a reporter for the Virginian Pilot-Ledger, who has written a book
about the expedition.
His book, Where They Lay, details the excruciatingly demanding work of
reclaiming lost remains after three decades, and is interwoven with
portraits of Dillender and the three other servicemen on that chopper who
died far from home.
Unfortunately for the Dillender family, the final resting place of their son
will probably never be found.
''We were really hoping they would find something. I just need a closing,
especially at times,'' Ann Dillender said.
Pvt. Dillender and his crewmates are but four of about 2,500 American
soldiers whose place of final rest is a jungle in Southeast Asia. In the
1980s the U.S. government began sending teams of scientists to the area to
look for remains. Supervising the work is the Central Identification
Laboratory in Hawaii, one of the largest forensic facilities in the world.
In addition to the physical nature of the work, it's dangerous. Before Swift
left for his dig, seven recovery workers had died in the line of duty. Among
the dangers: vipers, monsoons and land mines.
The work is also expensive, up to $100 million a year, paid for by the
Department of Defense.
But for the families of the lost, the work is invaluable. Recently the
result of such anthropological efforts was in the news when remains believed
to be those of Charlie Dean, late brother of former Vermont governor and
presidential candidate Howard Dean, were located. Charlie Dean went missing
while on a backpacking trip in Laos in 1974.
In Dillender's case, however, the expedition was a crapshoot from the
beginning. ''Imagine mountains drawn by a kid,'' Swift said, describing the
terrain. ''They look like gumdrops, no sloping foothills, just sheer rises.
''It's a place that in many ways is still in the Iron Age,'' said Swift, who
has made three trips to Southeast Asia during his research.
''There's no electricity, no running water, no phone and no modern
amenities. The people there eat what they can grow and what they can kill
with a crossbow. It's a mean existence.''
According to the author, the team spent 25 days trying to find the remains
of those on the same chopper with Dillender. ''It was immensely frustrating.
Everybody wanted to find something,'' he said.
No one more than Ann Dillender in Cookeville.
''Billy was a good son, full of life. He was always up to something, but not
in a bad way, just kind of always looking to liven things up,'' she
recalled.
''When he joined the Army, we thought it would be good for him. I don't know
if he knew what he was getting into.''
The mother said she enjoyed the long talks with Swift, recalling events from
her son's past so that the book could adequately portray him. ''I think it's
a great book. I really enjoyed it,'' she added.
All the events of the war in Iraq have brought back many bitter memories of
times when waiting for news, any news, was unbearable, Dillender said.
Surprisingly, the recent decision of a grandson, son of Billy's younger
brother, has helped her cope. ''He went into the Army. He's got a few more
weeks in training,'' she said. ''He said he did it to honor his uncle.''
Book signing
Earl Swift, author of Where They Lay, will sign copies of his book at
Davis-Kidd Booksellers, 4007 Hillsboro Road, at 6 p.m. Monday.
Leon Alligood covers Tennessee for The Tennessean. Contact him at
615-259-8279 or by e-mail at lalligood@tennessean.com.