U. S. Army Warrant Officer (W-1) Mark Clotfelter began his tour in Vietnam on September 25, 1968 and assigned to the 361st Aviation Company Escort "The Pink Panthers" at Camp Holloway in the Central Highlands. He flew AH-1G Cobra helicopters and was fatally shot down on June 16, 1969, while serving as aircraft commander. He was 22 years old and was the 22nd military Killed In Action from our hometown of Hialeah, FL.

A memorial site for Mark is at http://www.virtualwall.org/dc/ClotfelterMD01a.htm

From http://www.flyarmy.org/K10395.HTM

CLOTFELTER MARK DENNIS

Name: WO1 Mark Dennis Clotfelter (posthumously promoted)
Status: Killed In Action from an incident on 06/16/1969 while performing the duty of Aircraft Commander.
Age at death: 22.2 - Date of Birth: 04/04/1947 - Home City: Hialeah, FL
Service: AV branch of the reserve component of the U.S. Army.
Unit: 361 AVN, (ESCORT)- Major organization: 1st Aviation Brigade
Flight class: 68-9 - Service: AV branch of the U.S. Army - The Wall location: 22W-057
Short Summary: Hit by small arms fire and crashed on a bunker killing 2 NVA on road clearing patrol with WO1 Michael Allen Mahowald co-pilot/gunner.
Aircraft: AH-1G tail number 67-15763 - Call sign: Panther 18 - Service number: W3161105
Country: South Vietnam - MOS: 100B - Utility/Observation Helicopter Pilot
Primary cause: Hostile Fire - Major attributing cause: aircraft connected not at sea
Compliment cause: fire or burns - Vehicle involved: helicopter - Position in vehicle: aircraft commander
Started Tour: 09/25/1968
"Official" listing: helicopter air casualty - other aircrew
Location: Kontum Province II Corps
Reason: aircraft lost or crashed - Casualty type: Hostile - killed
Single male U.S. citizen - Race: Caucasian - Religion: Protestant - no denominational preference
Category of casualty as defined by the Army: battle dead Category of personnel: active duty Army Military class: Warrant Officer
This record was last updated on 08/10/1997