Remains of Vietnam soldier from South Bend identified

[douglas9]

South Bend Tribune Staff Report

5:32 p.m. EDT, November 5, 2011
The remains of a U.S. serviceman from South Bend who went missing in action in Vietnam have been identified.

Spc. 4 Robin R. Yeakley, who was 23 when he disappeared June 11, 1972, with his helicopter crew during a reconnaissance mission in Thua Thien-Hue Province, South Vietnam, will be buried with full military honors Wednesday in Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, D.C., the Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office said.

Yeakley will be buried in a single casket representing the entire crew along with two others whose remains were identified, Army Capt. Arnold E. Holm Jr., of Waterford, Conn., and Pfc. Wayne Bibbs, of Chicago. Holm was 28 and Bibbs was 17.

Their OH-6A Cayuse helicopter was making a second pass over a ridge where enemy bunkers had been sighted when it exploded and crashed, a news release said. Crews of other U.S. aircraft involved in the mission reported receiving enemy ground fire as they flew over the crash site looking for survivors.

http://www.southbendtribune.com/news/sbt-remains-of-vietnam-soldier-identified-20111105,0,3725057.story

Comments:
old time worker at 10:46 AM November 06, 2011

For those who are Central High Grads of "66". Robin Yeakley will finally be laid to rest at 11:00 a.m. in Arlington on Tuesday at the Old Chapel. Please read the attached article. I spoke with Mom Yeakley and the Army is going to fly her to Arlinton Monday morning. She told me of all they are doing for her to get her their. They have put her up in a hotel, They are having a dinner at the Murphy Funeral Home in Fort Meyers at 6 p.m. on Tuesday. If anyone one would like to go I am sure she would love to see you, especially those who were very close to Robin and his family. I am unable to go because of work and the short notice. Mom will be 90 on her next Birthday. This has been a long time coming. Let us all pray for Mom Yeakley and the rest of the family.

[kestrel91316]

1. (sniff) Another victim of another war that ruined too many good people's lives.....

[douglas9]

2. After 39 Years, Arnie Holm Comes Home

After 39 years, Army Capt. Arnold "Arnie" Holm Jr., is coming home.

The Waterford native died in 1972, at the age of 28, serving in the Army in Vietnam. For 39 years, his body was never found, lost somewhere in the highlands of South Vietnam.

That changed in May, when Holm’s remains were positively identified, along with two other men, as part of a “group investigation.” His remains were found largely because of the dedication of his best friend, Bill Cavalieri, with help from Waterford High School students.

“There is still a lot of confusion to it but it is as close to closure as some of these people are going to get,” Cavalieri said. “Closure for some people, maybe not me. It’s as close as we are going to get.”

http://groton.patch.com/articles/after-39-years-arnie-holm-comes-home-56d013bb

[douglas9]

3. Remains of vet from Blue Island killed in 1972 to be shipped home

Nearly four decades after he disappeared in Vietnam, Pfc. Wayne Bibbs of Blue Island is finally coming home.

His family has been told his remains and those of two fellow crewman killed in a 1972 helicopter crash are expected to be buried later this year at Arlington National Cemetery.

That’s welcome news for relatives who have long waited for him to return to the United States.

“I wanted him back on American soil. Thank the Lord,” said Bibbs’ older brother, Homer, who lives on the South Side.

Wayne Bibbs was three days from his 18th birthday when his OH-6A helicopter was shot down on June 11, 1972 in Quang Tri Province near the demilitarized zone that then separated North and South Vietnam.

The U.S. Army initially told family members he was a prisoner of war, then declared him missing in action.

http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/5635590-418/remains-of-vietnam-vet-from-blue-island-killed-in-1972-to-be-shipped-home.html

[douglas9]

4. Waterford's Arnold Holm, crewmates laid to rest at Arlington

Arlington, Va. - As the single, flag-draped casket containing the remains of Army Capt. Arnold E. Holm Jr. and two crewmates left the post chapel, Holm's sister began to cry.

Two men tried to comfort her - one, Bill Smoot, was the last person Holm spoke to almost 40 years ago before his helicopter was shot down in Vietnam. The other, Tom Martin, was flying on Holm's wing and witnessed the crash. He tried to get to the crash site that day in June 1972, but he could not.

On Wednesday, honor guard soldiers outside the chapel placed the casket on a caisson drawn by a team of black horses. They led the procession into Arlington National Cemetery, past the rows of thousands of white headstones spreading in every direction.

More than a mile into the cemetery, the casket reached the site of its final resting place amid the rolling green hills. Leaves of all colors fluttered to the ground in a light breeze.

At the grave site, Chaplain Scott Kennaugh said the three men about to be buried "certainly earned their place among the patriots."

http://www.theday.com/article/20111110/NWS09/311109484/-1/NWS

[atreides1]

5. Welcome home.

"You may be lost, but you are not forgotten. For those who have travelled far, to fight in foreign lands, know that the soldier's greatest comfort is to have his friends close at hand. In the heat of battle it ceases to be an idea for which we fight. Or a flag. Rather we fight for the man on our left, and we fight for the man on our right. And when armies are scattered and the empires fall away, all that remains is the memory of those precious moments that we spent side by side."

The Four Feathers