lest we forget

DYER, IRBY LLOYD CORKY

Rank / Branch:

  • STAFF SERGEANT, U.S. ARMY

Date Of Birth:

  • 1943-06-12

Country Of Loss:

  • LAOS

Status:

  • HOSTILE-DIED MISSING

Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground:​

  • GROUND

Other:

  • MARRIED

Unit:

  • 5TH SPECIAL FORCES

Date Of Loss:

  • 1966-12-02

Loss Coordinates:

  • 165049N 1063159E (XD

Catagory:

  • BODY NOT RETURNED

Awards & Decorations:

  • SEE BIO

VETERAN HAGI0GRAPHY

  • DYER, IRBY LLOYD CORKY III

AWARDS AND DECORATIONS

  • COMBAT MEDICS BADGE, PARACHUTE WINGS, SPECIAL FORCES BADGE, BRONZE STAR WITH V DEVICE, PURPLE HEART, GOOD CONDUCT MEDAL, NATIONAL DEFENSE SERVICE MEDAL, VIETMAN SERVICE MEDAL, VIETNAM CROSS OF GALLANTRY WITH PALM, VIETNAM CIVIC ACTIONS MEDAL, VIETNAM CAMPAIGN MEDAL

BIOGRAPHY

  • Dyer was a Special Force medic and had served ten months in Vietnam and Laos when he was killed. According to the book Green Berets at War, he was killed during the second phase of an operation in the Khe Sanh which began October 15, and resulted in the discovery of a large storage area just south of the DMZ. A patrol was attacked by North Vietnamese and Dyer was on a helicopter which came to extract the patrol members. The helicopter was shot down resulting in his death. Two others were listed as M.I.A. from that patrol.
  • Dyer was born in Sweetwater and was raised in Midland. He was the son of Jonnie Bellomy Dyer and Irby Lloyd Dyer II. He was the oldest of three children. He had a younger sister, Debra Francis and a younger brother, Daniel Ernest. Daniel was born in 1952 and died in 1954 at the age of 2. Dyer attended Midland public schools, graduated from Schreiner Institute in Kerrville, Texas with the Class of 1961. He attended Odessa College and the University of Texas. He married Bonnie K. Little of Midland on May 25, 1965.
  • Corky greatly enjoyed poker, opera music, books, his friends and family, and fishing. Two incidents related by his family show different facets of his character. "The day he brought his daughter, Dee Dee (born December 14, 1965, Fort Bragg, North Carolina), home from the hospital, he pulled into the driveway and said, ˜Wait here, I've got to start our baby out right'. He went into the house and turned on the stereo. We walked in and Mario Lanza was singing ˜The Great Caruso' as loud as if the entire orchestra were present".
  • During the last few weeks of medical training at Fort Bragg, NC, trainees were required to select a small puppy that had been critically injured. "Each medic had to nurse his own puppy for six weeks. If the puppy died, they failed that part of training. At the end of the six weeks, these puppies were given to the Humane Society for disposal. Corky couldn't stand the thought of his "Samantha" being put to sleep after all she had been through during those six weeks. He brought her home and we all called her "Sam".
  • POW/MIA INFORMATION: Name: Irby Dyer III Rank/Branch: E6/US Army Special Forces Unit: Detatchment B-52 DELTA, 5th Special Forces Group Date of Birth: 12 June 1943 (Sweetwater TX) Home City of Record: Midland TX Date of Loss: 02 December 1966 Country of Loss: Laos Loss Coordinates: 165049N 1063159E (XD633631) Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered Category: 2 Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1D Other Personnel In Incident: Russell P. Bott; Willie E. Stark (both missing); Daniel Sulander; (missing from UH1D exfiltration aircraft)
  • SYNOPSIS: In late November 1966, Russell Bott and Willie Stark were inserted about 1 1/2 miles into Laos west of the DMZ along with a number of Vietnamese Special Forces (LLDB) "strikers". The team, a long-range reconnaissance patrol (LRRP), was soon discovered by a superior North Vietnamese force, members of the 325B NVA Division. A two-day running battle ensued. Near the end, Bott radioed that he was down to one grenade and one magazine of ammunition. He also stated that several of the Vietnamese members of his team were dead or wounded. Willie Stark was wounded in the chest and leg but was alive. Bott requested exfiltration at that time. He refused to leave his wounded teammate to seek safety, and in his last radio message, Bott indicated that he was going to destroy his radio, that he felt capture was imminent.
  • The exfiltration helicopter sent from the 281st Assault Helicopter Company and two gunships working the exfiltration site were hit. The exfiltration helicopter crashed and burned, killing the flight crew of four and Irby Dyer, a medic from Det. B-52 Delta who had gone in to help treat the wounded. The wreckage of the craft and all five remains were found in searches conducted soon after the incident, however, the remains were left at the site. When a team returned to recover the remains, they discovered that subsequent bombing and strafing activities had destroyed most of them. The identifiable remains of three of the crew were recovered, but those of Daniel Sulander and Irby Dyer were not.
  • Dyer was survived by his wife, Bonnie and his daughter Deborah Denise, his parents and his sister. His wife Bonnie is remarried and lives in Midland, Texas.
  • POW/MIA FLAG
  • SCHREINER INSTITUTE, KERRVILE, TEXAS 1961
  • MEMORIAL HEADSTONE-FORT SAM HOUSTON, TEXAS