In Memory of…... Capt. Albert Henry Gates, Jr.
*** Captain Gates was a member of the Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 263, Marine Air Group 15, 9th Marine Amphibious Brigade. On March 7, 1970, he was aircraft commander of a Boeing Sea Knight Cargo Helicopter (CH-46D) flying near Da Nang, South Vietnam, when the aircraft crashed into the water killing him. His remains were not recovered. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.
You may be gone, no longer living on this earth; but you will live on - in the memories of your family and friends. There will always be a part of you living in those who knew you. You will live on because we remember you!
ALBERT HENRY GATES, JR. - Marine Corps - CAPT - O3
Age: 26
Race: Caucasian
Date of Birth Sep 1, 1943
From: EAST GREENBUSH, NY
Religion: PROTESTANT
Marital Status: Married - Parents: Father, Albert Henry Gates, Sr., Born est. 1919 and Mother, Shirley T Gadding Gates (1926 - 1990).
* Paternal Grandparents: Charles W. Gates, Born in New York est. 1886-1887 and Emoline/Emaline/Emmelina A Gates , Born in New York est. 1900-1901.
***** United States Census, 1930
Name: Albert H Gates
Event Type: Census
Event Year: 1930
Event Place: Hoosick, Rensselaer, New York, US
Gender: Male
Age: 11
Marital Status: Single
Race: White
Relationship to Head of Household: Son
Birth Year: 1919
Birthplace: Massachusetts
Father's Birthplace: New York
Mother's Birthplace: New York
Household Role Gender Age Birthplace
Charles W Gates Head M 43 New York - YOUR GRANDFATHER
Emoline/Emaline/Emmelina A Gates Wife F 29 New York - GRANDMOTHER
Albert H Gates Son M 11 Massachusetts - YOUR DAD.....
William F Gates Son M 9 New York
Lillian M Gates Daughter F 7 New York
***** United States Census, 1940
Name: Albert Gates
Event Type: Census
Event Date: 1940
Event Place: Green Island, Albany, New York, US
Gender: Male
Age: 21
Marital Status: Single
Race: White
Relationship to Head of Household: Son
Birthplace: Massachusetts
Birth Year (Estimated): 1919
Last Place of Residence: Rural, New York
Household Role Gender Age Birthplace
Charles Gates Head M 52 New York
Emmelina Gates Wife F 39 New York
Albert Gates Son M 21 Massachusetts - At 21 yrs your Dad is still not married.
William Gates Son M 19 New York
Lillian Gates Daughter F 17 New York
CAPT - O3 - Marine Corps - Reserve
Length of service 3 years
His tour began on Mar 7, 1970
Casualty was on Mar 7, 1970
In THUA THIEN, SOUTH VIETNAM
NON-HOSTILE, HELICOPTER - PILOT
AIR LOSS, CRASH ON LAND
Body was not recovered
Panel 13W - Line 92
Other Personnel in Incident:Four of the five crewmen aboard died in the crash:
1. CAPT Albert Henry Gates Jr., pilot, died, body not recovered
2. 1stLT Kay Kazu Kimura, copilot, died, body recovered
3. SGT Andrew William Smith, gunner, died, body recovered
4. CPL Glenn Frederic Austin, crew chief, died, body recovered
5. Gunner, name unknown, survived
On March 7, 1970, he was aircraft commander of a Boeing Sea Knight Cargo Helicopter (CH-46D) flying near Da Nang, South Vietnam, when the aircraft crashed into the water killing him.
Comments on Incident:
Originally I was scheduled to fly co-pilot with Al Gates that day. The frag order was for a 46 to chase a Huey that was coming down from up north. The Huey was carrying a heavy who was attending some sort of change of command
ceremony in the DaNang area. K.K. Kimura had only recently reported in and was a very junior co-pilot. He was scheduled to fly co-pilot with Paul Sniffin who had the Recon mission.
The WX was really bad that morning, almost zero/zero, and all launches were holding. K.K. and I played a little Acey-Deucey while waiting for things to clear up a bit.
While we sat at the A-Doo board, the Ops Officer, Maj. Toben came in, looked at the schedules board and directed the ODO to switch K.K. and me. Since I was the more experienced co-pilot, he thought I should be on Recon instead of what was basically a milk-run VIP chase.
After several hours, the WX improved somewhat and the Recon package launched out. After an uneventful day of routine inserts and extracts, we recovered back at Marble around 1700-1800. While I was post-flighting the a/c one of the crew chiefs came up and asked me if I had heard that his bird had gone down in the water, killing the entire crew. When I asked who was flying it he said it was Capt. Gates and Lt. Kimura.
As it turned out, one of the gunners survived. Basically, all we found out came from his account. He told us that they were flying in "really bad" WX, chasing the Huey when they went inadvertent IFR and crashed into the water about 500 yards off the beach.
I don't recall the exact location, but it seems to me that it was north of DaNang. He also told us that even though he couldn't be sure, he thought he remembered a loud noise coming from the rear of the a/c and both pilots looking back into the cabin just before impact.
The surviving gunner was picked up by a Vietnamese fisherman, who took him to the beach, dropped him off and then just left, apparently unconcerned with helping him any further.
About a week later, KK's remains washed up on the beach down by Chu Lai. To the best of my knowledge, the other three were never recovered.
I was appointed to the investigating board and tasked with looking into contributing factors. My comments indicated that the most significant factor was sending an inexperienced crew (Gates had only recently made HAC with
very little in-country H2P time) out in unsatisfactory weather to fly an unnecessary mission.
Submitted by Jerry Martin, HMM-263 squadron mate,
member of Accident Board
*************************************************
.
*** Captain Gates was a member of the Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 263, Marine Air Group 15, 9th Marine Amphibious Brigade. On March 7, 1970, he was aircraft commander of a Boeing Sea Knight Cargo Helicopter (CH-46D) flying near Da Nang, South Vietnam, when the aircraft crashed into the water killing him. His remains were not recovered. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.
You may be gone, no longer living on this earth; but you will live on - in the memories of your family and friends. There will always be a part of you living in those who knew you. You will live on because we remember you!
ALBERT HENRY GATES, JR. - Marine Corps - CAPT - O3
Age: 26
Race: Caucasian
Date of Birth Sep 1, 1943
From: EAST GREENBUSH, NY
Religion: PROTESTANT
Marital Status: Married - Parents: Father, Albert Henry Gates, Sr., Born est. 1919 and Mother, Shirley T Gadding Gates (1926 - 1990).
* Paternal Grandparents: Charles W. Gates, Born in New York est. 1886-1887 and Emoline/Emaline/Emmelina A Gates , Born in New York est. 1900-1901.
***** United States Census, 1930
Name: Albert H Gates
Event Type: Census
Event Year: 1930
Event Place: Hoosick, Rensselaer, New York, US
Gender: Male
Age: 11
Marital Status: Single
Race: White
Relationship to Head of Household: Son
Birth Year: 1919
Birthplace: Massachusetts
Father's Birthplace: New York
Mother's Birthplace: New York
Household Role Gender Age Birthplace
Charles W Gates Head M 43 New York - YOUR GRANDFATHER
Emoline/Emaline/Emmelina A Gates Wife F 29 New York - GRANDMOTHER
Albert H Gates Son M 11 Massachusetts - YOUR DAD.....
William F Gates Son M 9 New York
Lillian M Gates Daughter F 7 New York
***** United States Census, 1940
Name: Albert Gates
Event Type: Census
Event Date: 1940
Event Place: Green Island, Albany, New York, US
Gender: Male
Age: 21
Marital Status: Single
Race: White
Relationship to Head of Household: Son
Birthplace: Massachusetts
Birth Year (Estimated): 1919
Last Place of Residence: Rural, New York
Household Role Gender Age Birthplace
Charles Gates Head M 52 New York
Emmelina Gates Wife F 39 New York
Albert Gates Son M 21 Massachusetts - At 21 yrs your Dad is still not married.
William Gates Son M 19 New York
Lillian Gates Daughter F 17 New York
CAPT - O3 - Marine Corps - Reserve
Length of service 3 years
His tour began on Mar 7, 1970
Casualty was on Mar 7, 1970
In THUA THIEN, SOUTH VIETNAM
NON-HOSTILE, HELICOPTER - PILOT
AIR LOSS, CRASH ON LAND
Body was not recovered
Panel 13W - Line 92
Other Personnel in Incident:Four of the five crewmen aboard died in the crash:
1. CAPT Albert Henry Gates Jr., pilot, died, body not recovered
2. 1stLT Kay Kazu Kimura, copilot, died, body recovered
3. SGT Andrew William Smith, gunner, died, body recovered
4. CPL Glenn Frederic Austin, crew chief, died, body recovered
5. Gunner, name unknown, survived
On March 7, 1970, he was aircraft commander of a Boeing Sea Knight Cargo Helicopter (CH-46D) flying near Da Nang, South Vietnam, when the aircraft crashed into the water killing him.
Comments on Incident:
Originally I was scheduled to fly co-pilot with Al Gates that day. The frag order was for a 46 to chase a Huey that was coming down from up north. The Huey was carrying a heavy who was attending some sort of change of command
ceremony in the DaNang area. K.K. Kimura had only recently reported in and was a very junior co-pilot. He was scheduled to fly co-pilot with Paul Sniffin who had the Recon mission.
The WX was really bad that morning, almost zero/zero, and all launches were holding. K.K. and I played a little Acey-Deucey while waiting for things to clear up a bit.
While we sat at the A-Doo board, the Ops Officer, Maj. Toben came in, looked at the schedules board and directed the ODO to switch K.K. and me. Since I was the more experienced co-pilot, he thought I should be on Recon instead of what was basically a milk-run VIP chase.
After several hours, the WX improved somewhat and the Recon package launched out. After an uneventful day of routine inserts and extracts, we recovered back at Marble around 1700-1800. While I was post-flighting the a/c one of the crew chiefs came up and asked me if I had heard that his bird had gone down in the water, killing the entire crew. When I asked who was flying it he said it was Capt. Gates and Lt. Kimura.
As it turned out, one of the gunners survived. Basically, all we found out came from his account. He told us that they were flying in "really bad" WX, chasing the Huey when they went inadvertent IFR and crashed into the water about 500 yards off the beach.
I don't recall the exact location, but it seems to me that it was north of DaNang. He also told us that even though he couldn't be sure, he thought he remembered a loud noise coming from the rear of the a/c and both pilots looking back into the cabin just before impact.
The surviving gunner was picked up by a Vietnamese fisherman, who took him to the beach, dropped him off and then just left, apparently unconcerned with helping him any further.
About a week later, KK's remains washed up on the beach down by Chu Lai. To the best of my knowledge, the other three were never recovered.
I was appointed to the investigating board and tasked with looking into contributing factors. My comments indicated that the most significant factor was sending an inexperienced crew (Gates had only recently made HAC with
very little in-country H2P time) out in unsatisfactory weather to fly an unnecessary mission.
Submitted by Jerry Martin, HMM-263 squadron mate,
member of Accident Board
*************************************************
.
In Memory of…... Capt. Albert Henry Gates, Jr.
*** Captain Gates was a member of the Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 263, Marine Air Group 15, 9th Marine Amphibious Brigade. On March 7, 1970, he was aircraft commander of a Boeing Sea Knight Cargo Helicopter (CH-46D) flying near Da Nang, South Vietnam, when the aircraft crashed into the water killing him. His remains were not recovered. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.
You may be gone, no longer living on this earth; but you will live on - in the memories of your family and friends. There will always be a part of you living in those who knew you. You will live on because we remember you!
ALBERT HENRY GATES, JR. - Marine Corps - CAPT - O3
Age: 26
Race: Caucasian
Date of Birth Sep 1, 1943
From: EAST GREENBUSH, NY
Religion: PROTESTANT
Marital Status: Married - Parents: Father, Albert Henry Gates, Sr., Born est. 1919 and Mother, Shirley T Gadding Gates (1926 - 1990).
* Paternal Grandparents: Charles W. Gates, Born in New York est. 1886-1887 and Emoline/Emaline/Emmelina A Gates , Born in New York est. 1900-1901.
***** United States Census, 1930
Name: Albert H Gates
Event Type: Census
Event Year: 1930
Event Place: Hoosick, Rensselaer, New York, US
Gender: Male
Age: 11
Marital Status: Single
Race: White
Relationship to Head of Household: Son
Birth Year: 1919
Birthplace: Massachusetts
Father's Birthplace: New York
Mother's Birthplace: New York
Household Role Gender Age Birthplace
Charles W Gates Head M 43 New York - YOUR GRANDFATHER
Emoline/Emaline/Emmelina A Gates Wife F 29 New York - GRANDMOTHER
Albert H Gates Son M 11 Massachusetts - YOUR DAD.....
William F Gates Son M 9 New York
Lillian M Gates Daughter F 7 New York
***** United States Census, 1940
Name: Albert Gates
Event Type: Census
Event Date: 1940
Event Place: Green Island, Albany, New York, US
Gender: Male
Age: 21
Marital Status: Single
Race: White
Relationship to Head of Household: Son
Birthplace: Massachusetts
Birth Year (Estimated): 1919
Last Place of Residence: Rural, New York
Household Role Gender Age Birthplace
Charles Gates Head M 52 New York
Emmelina Gates Wife F 39 New York
Albert Gates Son M 21 Massachusetts - At 21 yrs your Dad is still not married.
William Gates Son M 19 New York
Lillian Gates Daughter F 17 New York
CAPT - O3 - Marine Corps - Reserve
Length of service 3 years
His tour began on Mar 7, 1970
Casualty was on Mar 7, 1970
In THUA THIEN, SOUTH VIETNAM
NON-HOSTILE, HELICOPTER - PILOT
AIR LOSS, CRASH ON LAND
Body was not recovered
Panel 13W - Line 92
Other Personnel in Incident:Four of the five crewmen aboard died in the crash:
1. CAPT Albert Henry Gates Jr., pilot, died, body not recovered
2. 1stLT Kay Kazu Kimura, copilot, died, body recovered
3. SGT Andrew William Smith, gunner, died, body recovered
4. CPL Glenn Frederic Austin, crew chief, died, body recovered
5. Gunner, name unknown, survived
On March 7, 1970, he was aircraft commander of a Boeing Sea Knight Cargo Helicopter (CH-46D) flying near Da Nang, South Vietnam, when the aircraft crashed into the water killing him.
Comments on Incident:
Originally I was scheduled to fly co-pilot with Al Gates that day. The frag order was for a 46 to chase a Huey that was coming down from up north. The Huey was carrying a heavy who was attending some sort of change of command
ceremony in the DaNang area. K.K. Kimura had only recently reported in and was a very junior co-pilot. He was scheduled to fly co-pilot with Paul Sniffin who had the Recon mission.
The WX was really bad that morning, almost zero/zero, and all launches were holding. K.K. and I played a little Acey-Deucey while waiting for things to clear up a bit.
While we sat at the A-Doo board, the Ops Officer, Maj. Toben came in, looked at the schedules board and directed the ODO to switch K.K. and me. Since I was the more experienced co-pilot, he thought I should be on Recon instead of what was basically a milk-run VIP chase.
After several hours, the WX improved somewhat and the Recon package launched out. After an uneventful day of routine inserts and extracts, we recovered back at Marble around 1700-1800. While I was post-flighting the a/c one of the crew chiefs came up and asked me if I had heard that his bird had gone down in the water, killing the entire crew. When I asked who was flying it he said it was Capt. Gates and Lt. Kimura.
As it turned out, one of the gunners survived. Basically, all we found out came from his account. He told us that they were flying in "really bad" WX, chasing the Huey when they went inadvertent IFR and crashed into the water about 500 yards off the beach.
I don't recall the exact location, but it seems to me that it was north of DaNang. He also told us that even though he couldn't be sure, he thought he remembered a loud noise coming from the rear of the a/c and both pilots looking back into the cabin just before impact.
The surviving gunner was picked up by a Vietnamese fisherman, who took him to the beach, dropped him off and then just left, apparently unconcerned with helping him any further.
About a week later, KK's remains washed up on the beach down by Chu Lai. To the best of my knowledge, the other three were never recovered.
I was appointed to the investigating board and tasked with looking into contributing factors. My comments indicated that the most significant factor was sending an inexperienced crew (Gates had only recently made HAC with
very little in-country H2P time) out in unsatisfactory weather to fly an unnecessary mission.
Submitted by Jerry Martin, HMM-263 squadron mate,
member of Accident Board
*************************************************
.
*** Captain Gates was a member of the Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 263, Marine Air Group 15, 9th Marine Amphibious Brigade. On March 7, 1970, he was aircraft commander of a Boeing Sea Knight Cargo Helicopter (CH-46D) flying near Da Nang, South Vietnam, when the aircraft crashed into the water killing him. His remains were not recovered. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.
You may be gone, no longer living on this earth; but you will live on - in the memories of your family and friends. There will always be a part of you living in those who knew you. You will live on because we remember you!
ALBERT HENRY GATES, JR. - Marine Corps - CAPT - O3
Age: 26
Race: Caucasian
Date of Birth Sep 1, 1943
From: EAST GREENBUSH, NY
Religion: PROTESTANT
Marital Status: Married - Parents: Father, Albert Henry Gates, Sr., Born est. 1919 and Mother, Shirley T Gadding Gates (1926 - 1990).
* Paternal Grandparents: Charles W. Gates, Born in New York est. 1886-1887 and Emoline/Emaline/Emmelina A Gates , Born in New York est. 1900-1901.
***** United States Census, 1930
Name: Albert H Gates
Event Type: Census
Event Year: 1930
Event Place: Hoosick, Rensselaer, New York, US
Gender: Male
Age: 11
Marital Status: Single
Race: White
Relationship to Head of Household: Son
Birth Year: 1919
Birthplace: Massachusetts
Father's Birthplace: New York
Mother's Birthplace: New York
Household Role Gender Age Birthplace
Charles W Gates Head M 43 New York - YOUR GRANDFATHER
Emoline/Emaline/Emmelina A Gates Wife F 29 New York - GRANDMOTHER
Albert H Gates Son M 11 Massachusetts - YOUR DAD.....
William F Gates Son M 9 New York
Lillian M Gates Daughter F 7 New York
***** United States Census, 1940
Name: Albert Gates
Event Type: Census
Event Date: 1940
Event Place: Green Island, Albany, New York, US
Gender: Male
Age: 21
Marital Status: Single
Race: White
Relationship to Head of Household: Son
Birthplace: Massachusetts
Birth Year (Estimated): 1919
Last Place of Residence: Rural, New York
Household Role Gender Age Birthplace
Charles Gates Head M 52 New York
Emmelina Gates Wife F 39 New York
Albert Gates Son M 21 Massachusetts - At 21 yrs your Dad is still not married.
William Gates Son M 19 New York
Lillian Gates Daughter F 17 New York
CAPT - O3 - Marine Corps - Reserve
Length of service 3 years
His tour began on Mar 7, 1970
Casualty was on Mar 7, 1970
In THUA THIEN, SOUTH VIETNAM
NON-HOSTILE, HELICOPTER - PILOT
AIR LOSS, CRASH ON LAND
Body was not recovered
Panel 13W - Line 92
Other Personnel in Incident:Four of the five crewmen aboard died in the crash:
1. CAPT Albert Henry Gates Jr., pilot, died, body not recovered
2. 1stLT Kay Kazu Kimura, copilot, died, body recovered
3. SGT Andrew William Smith, gunner, died, body recovered
4. CPL Glenn Frederic Austin, crew chief, died, body recovered
5. Gunner, name unknown, survived
On March 7, 1970, he was aircraft commander of a Boeing Sea Knight Cargo Helicopter (CH-46D) flying near Da Nang, South Vietnam, when the aircraft crashed into the water killing him.
Comments on Incident:
Originally I was scheduled to fly co-pilot with Al Gates that day. The frag order was for a 46 to chase a Huey that was coming down from up north. The Huey was carrying a heavy who was attending some sort of change of command
ceremony in the DaNang area. K.K. Kimura had only recently reported in and was a very junior co-pilot. He was scheduled to fly co-pilot with Paul Sniffin who had the Recon mission.
The WX was really bad that morning, almost zero/zero, and all launches were holding. K.K. and I played a little Acey-Deucey while waiting for things to clear up a bit.
While we sat at the A-Doo board, the Ops Officer, Maj. Toben came in, looked at the schedules board and directed the ODO to switch K.K. and me. Since I was the more experienced co-pilot, he thought I should be on Recon instead of what was basically a milk-run VIP chase.
After several hours, the WX improved somewhat and the Recon package launched out. After an uneventful day of routine inserts and extracts, we recovered back at Marble around 1700-1800. While I was post-flighting the a/c one of the crew chiefs came up and asked me if I had heard that his bird had gone down in the water, killing the entire crew. When I asked who was flying it he said it was Capt. Gates and Lt. Kimura.
As it turned out, one of the gunners survived. Basically, all we found out came from his account. He told us that they were flying in "really bad" WX, chasing the Huey when they went inadvertent IFR and crashed into the water about 500 yards off the beach.
I don't recall the exact location, but it seems to me that it was north of DaNang. He also told us that even though he couldn't be sure, he thought he remembered a loud noise coming from the rear of the a/c and both pilots looking back into the cabin just before impact.
The surviving gunner was picked up by a Vietnamese fisherman, who took him to the beach, dropped him off and then just left, apparently unconcerned with helping him any further.
About a week later, KK's remains washed up on the beach down by Chu Lai. To the best of my knowledge, the other three were never recovered.
I was appointed to the investigating board and tasked with looking into contributing factors. My comments indicated that the most significant factor was sending an inexperienced crew (Gates had only recently made HAC with
very little in-country H2P time) out in unsatisfactory weather to fly an unnecessary mission.
Submitted by Jerry Martin, HMM-263 squadron mate,
member of Accident Board
*************************************************
.
Inscription
Capt. Albert Henry Gates Jr.
US Marine Corps
Vietnam Veteran
Gravesite Details
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