Killed in Action - Body Not Recovered (Only Coast Guard MIA)

NOTE: It is with great pleasure that I inform you that, in November 2002, the Jolly Green 23 crash site was located. Excavation began in January of 2003, and on 14 February 2003, the remains of the crew were repatriated. On 11 August 2003, the military called Dave and Maggie to confirm that Jack's remains have been ID'd ! Jack is buried at Coast Guard Hill in Arlington National Cemetery; a Commandant gave up his spot for Jack. The funeral was on 06 Oct 2003 at 1300 hours.
 

RITTICHIER, JACK C.

Name: Jack C.
Rittichier
Branch/Rank:  US Coast Guard/O3
Unit: CG 37 ARRS
Date of Birth: 17 August 1933
Home City of Record: BARBERTON OH
Date of Loss: 09 June 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 162144 North  1070534 East
Status (in 1973): Killed In Action/Body Not Recovered
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: HU3E #6714710
Missions:  Other Personnel in Incident: Elmer Holden, James Locker, Richard Yeend,
all KIA/BNRRefno: 1206

Source: Compiled by P.O.W. NETWORK from one or more of
the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with POW/MIA
families, published sources, interviews and CACCF = Combined Action
Combat Casualty File.

REMARKS: R/R CONTACT LOST OVER WATER  -  SAR NEG Border Laos, Thuan Thien 22 miles NW of A Shau ATTEMPT RESCUE DOWNED PILOT, GROUND FIRE, EXPLD/BURN
 

U.S. Coast Guard Historical Reference:
 

Lieutenant Jack Rittichier was one of the first three Coast Guard exchange pilots to fly combat search and rescue missions with the Air Force's 37th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron in the Republic of Vietnam during the Vietnam conflict. Within three weeks of his arrival in Vietnam he demonstrated his courage above and beyond the call of duty. Flying through heavy enemy fire to save four Army fliers, he earned the Distinguished Flying Cross. A couple of weeks later, under the faint light of illumination flares, he pulled nine men from the side of a mountain, five of whom were badly wounded.On 9 June 1968, 37 miles west of Hue, a downed Marine Corps fighter pilot lay on the ground with a broken arm and leg. To his further misfortune he had parachuted into a North Vietnamese Army bivouac area. The enemy used him for bait to lure rescue helicopters within killing range. Air strikes pounded the site around the survivor. The first helicopter made three attempts to reach the Marine before breaking off to refuel. Lieutenant Rittichier dived his aircraft in for the pickup. Heavy fire, however, drove him away. He swung around to let the gunships sweep the terrain and then, followed them back into the area. As he hovered over the pilot, bullets punched his aircraft and set it afire. He tried to pull away, but his aircraft would not respond. The helicopter settled to the ground and exploded. Within 30 seconds a ball of fire consumed the aircraft. Lieutenant Rittichier lost his life in nobly trying to save that of another. While the Air Force carries Rittichier on its rolls as "Missing in Action," the Coast Guard lists him as "Killed in Action, Body Not Recovered."
 

Nov 14.98  Air Force Looks for Missing Copter
The Associated Press HURLBURT FIELD, Fla. (AP)

The Air Force is hoping flight simulations can help solve the disappearance 30 years ago of a rescue helicopter in Vietnam. The project may lead to similar efforts to find other aircraft that vanished during the Vietnam War, former flight engineer Bob Baldwin said Wednesday as the nation marked Veterans Day. Baldwin is part of a team of veterans teaming up with the Air Force to find an HH-3E Jolly Green Giant and its four-man crew. The helicopter named Jolly Green 23 vanished June 9, 1968, while searching for a downed attack pilot, who also remains unaccounted for. Baldwin was part of the wartime effort to find the helicopter. Thirty years later, he's helping with a new search despite being thousands of miles away from the scene. Black and white aerial photos taken in the late 1960s were converted into digital photos and matched with current maps to recreate the wartime landscape near the Vietnam-Laos border. Baldwin then used a computer joy stick to fly through the scene displayed on a console. ``I just closed my eyes and when I opened them up, it was like stepping back 30 years,'' Baldwin said. ``The only thing missing is that the tracers aren't coming at you'' from antiaircraft guns. The simulations at the Hurlburt base in the Florida Panhandle allowed Baldwin and another former pilot to pick out three spots where the helicopter may have crashed. A military team in Vietnam searched for four days before the monsoon season forced them to stop. They plan to resume when the rains end next year, said Maj.  Mike Vaughn, who helps supervise computer mapping and flight simulator work at Hurlburt. The team found no sign of Jolly Green 23, but did find wreckage of a Marine helicopter that had been forced down. All but one of the crew members had escaped.
 

03/23/2002Interesting background on USCG Lt Rittichier.  Source is Vietnam
Helicopter Pilots Assoc and 37th AARS documents. Bruce Swander.

BACKGROUND:

LT Jack C. Rittichier was commissioned as an officer in the USAir Force in August 1957. He was discharged from the Air Force as a Captain (O-3) to accept a commission as a Lieutenant (Junior Grade) in the Coast Guard Reserve on 16 September 1963 and was assigned to Coast Guard Air Base Elizabeth City, NC. He was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant and integrated into the Regular Coast Guard on 28 March 1966.  While flying search and rescue missions from Air Station Detroit, LT Rittichier was awarded the Air Medal for his role as the Copilot of a helicopter that flew 150 miles from Detroit, in blinding snow and ice conditions, to rescue eight seaman from the grounded West German motor vessel NORDMEER just minutes before it broke up. While at Detroit, he volunteered for exchange duty with the Air Force's 37th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron at Da Nang Air Base, Vietnam.On 21 April 1968, less than two weeks after arriving in Vietnam, LT Rittichier was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for rescuing, in the face of hostile ground fire, four crew members of a U.S. Army Helicopter gunship that had been shot down.On 12 May 1968, LT Rittichier, serving as the Rescue Commander of an HH-3E, twice entered an extremely hostile area to rescue four survivors of a downed helicopter and its five seriously wounded personnel. The survivors were located in an extremely small landing zone, surrounded by trees on the side of a steep mountain slope. LT Rittichier made the second approach and departed by flare light because the sight was obscured by smoke clouds. For this, he was awarded a second Distinguished Flying Cross. Less than a month later, on 9 June 1968, 37 miles west of Hue, a Marine Corps fighter pilot (1LT Walter R Schmidt) lay on the ground in a North Vietnamese army bivouacking area with a broken arm and leg. The enemy used him as bait to lure the rescue helicopters within killing range. Air strikes pounded the area around the marine pilot. The first helicopter made three attempts to reach him but was seriously damaged in the process and had to break off. LT Rittichier dove his HH-3 with three Air Force crewmen aboard in for the pickup. Heavy enemy fire forced him off. He swung around to let the gunships clean the area again and followed them in for another pickup attempt. As he hovered over the injured pilot, bullets punched the aircraft and it began to burn. He pulled away, but the helicopter would not rise. It fell to the ground and exploded. Within thirty seconds a ball of fire consumed the aircraft.

LT Rittichier's remains were never recovered and he is still officially listed as "Missing in Action" (MIA). He is the only Coast Guard MIA from the Vietnam War and was also the first Coast Guard casualty in Vietnam caused by enemy action. LT Jack Rittichier gave his life for the proudest Coast Guard mission of all -- Saving Lives. For his courage and heroism he was posthumously awarded the Silver Star and Purple Heart. He exemplified the highest traditions of the Coast Guard and also the valor shown by other Coast Guardsmen in Vietnam. The Administration/ESU building at ISC Portsmouth was named in honor of LT Rittichier on November 10, 1998.ISC Portsmouth welcomes all who wish to take a moment to recognize Roger D. Gibson, Commander, USCG, Executive Officer, ISC Portsmouth, (757)