Oct. 10, 1963 - Helicopters brought out today the bodies of 12 U.S. servicemen from a rugged mountain area near the Laotian border where two Marine helicopters crashed Tuesday while on a rescue mission. There were no survivors. The dead consisted of nine Marines and three Navy medical men. The helicopters had been searching for the American pilot and Vietnamese observer from a jet fighter-trainer that crashed in the same area west of Danang. The two missing men, who were on a bombing mission against Viet Cong guerrillas, are presumed dead. The toll of Americans in the two helicopters was the largest since the U.S. began a major program of assistance to South Vietnam two years ago. Sixty of the Americans who are in Vietnam as military advisers have been killed in operations connected with combat. The nine Marines who lost their lives were Cpl. Charles P. Tuthill, Capt. William T. Harris, First Lieut. Daniel K. Lessig, First Lieut. Arthur G. Richardson, Warrant Officer Charles F. Whitehead Jr., Sgt. Larry D. Jamison, Cpl. Ronald F. Skoviak, Cpl. Donald F. Davidson, and Cpl. Luther E. Ritchey. The Navy men were Lieut. Bruce C. Farrell, Hospitalman Manuel R. Denton, and Hospitalman Claude Rice. The missing pilot was identified as Capt. Dean A. Wadsworth of Cotulla, Texas.
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