lest we forget

WIEBERG, WILLIAM WARREN

Rank / Branch:

WARRANT OFFICER FIRST, U.S. ARMY

Date Of Birth:

1946-08-19

Country Of Loss:

SOUTH VIETNAM

Status:

NON-HOSTILE-CRASH HELO

Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground:

HELICOPTER UH1H

Other:

NOT MARRIED

Unit:

FIRST AVIATION BRIGADE

Date Of Loss:

1968-03-10

Loss Coordinates:

KHANH HOA

Catagory:

BODY RETURNED

Awards & Decorations:

SEE BIO

VETERAN HAGI0GRAPHY

WIEBERG, WILLIAM WARREN, WARRANT OFFICER ONE, U.S. ARMY, ODESSA, ECTOR TEXAS, TEXAS

AWARDS AND DECORATIONS

ARMY AVIATOR, WINGS, AIR MEDAL WITH 6 OAK LEAF CLUSTERS, GOOD CONDUCT MEDAL, NATIONAL DEFENSE SERVICE MEDAL, VIETNAM SERVICE MEDAL, VIETNAM MILITARY MERIT MEDAL, VIETNAM CROSS OF GALLANTRY WITH PALM, VIETNAM CAMPAIGN MEDAL Medal

BIOGRAPHY

William Warren Wieberg was born in Havana, Illinois. He was the oldest child of three children, a brother and a younger sister born to Donnie Craggs and Donald G. Wieburg. He spent most of his life in Roswell, New Mexico. He was a 1964 graduate of Roswell High School. After his graduation the family moved to Odessa where his father was a police officer with the City of Odessa. He attended the University of New Mexico for two years.
He joined the U.S. Army from Odessa, Texas for the Warrant Officer Rotary Wing Training. He completed basic training at Fort Polk, Louisiana and then started his rotary wing training at Fort Wolters, Texas near Mineral Wells. He was in Class 67-3. Upon completion of his basic rotary wing training, he was transferred to Fort Rucker, Alabama where he completed the secondary and advanced phases and was commissioned as Warrant Officer 1 to fly UH-1 Huey Helicopters.
He began his tour in Vietnam November 2, 1967, and was assigned the 61st Air Assault Company, 17th Aviation Group, First Aviation Brigade. On March 10, 1968, he was the aircraft commander of a UH-1H, tail number 66-16330. The crew was called out late that night for a flight to LZ Uplift. They, LZ Uplift, were taking sniper fire from the mountain side and had requested a flare mission flight. WO1 Wieburg reported the weather as a factor in declining the mission after arriving at the flight line. He was then "ordered" to make the flight, an order he could have but did not refuse, as it was his choice. The chopper was then loaded with 51 flares. On taking off the Huey hooked a skid on concertina wire and rolled into the ground, exploded and burnt. The additional heat from the 51 flares burning left little more than ashes of the aircraft. WO1 Wieburg, the co-pilot and two crew members died in the crash. The initial notification by the Army indicated that the aircraft had been shot down, however, the status was changed to non-hostile, accidental crash.
WO1 Wieburg was 21 years old, and he was buried with full military honors in the Laurel Hill Cemetery in Havana, Illinois. He was survived by his parents of Odessa, brother, Michael who was serving in the Marine Corp and his sister Patty Sue who was a student at Permian High School.
His mother passed away February 21, 1992, in Houston and his father on July 7, 2001, in Longview. They are buried next to him. His brother, Michael passed away in 1991 in Galveston. His sister, Patty Nichols lives in Longview, Texas.