lest we forget

NIELSEN, ROLAND ALBERT

Rank / Branch:

  • SPECIALIST 5, U.S. ARMY

Date Of Birth:

  • 1944-09-04

Country Of Loss:

  • SOUTH VIETNAM

Status:

  • NON-HOSTILE HELICOPTER CRASH

Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground:​

  • UH-1D

Other:

  • NOT MARRIED

Unit:

  • 44TH MEDICAL BRIGADE

Date Of Loss:

  • 1967-10-04

Loss Coordinates:

  • PHU YEN

Catagory:

  • BODY RETURNED

Awards & Decorations:

  • SEE BIO

VETERAN HAGI0GRAPHY

  • NEILSEN, ROLAND ALBERT, SPECIALIST 5TH CLASS, U.S. ARMY, MONAHANS, WARD COUNTY, TEXAS

AWARDS AND DECORATIONS

  • ARMY AVIATOR CREWMAN WINGS, COMBAT MEDIC BADGE, BRONZE STAR WITH OAK LEAF CLUSTSER, PURPLE HEART, ARMY COMMENDATIONS MEDAL, AIR MEDAL WITH V DEVICE, GOOD CONDUCT MEDAL, NATIONAL DEFENSE SERVICE MEDAL, VIETNAM SERVICE MEDAL, VIETNAM MILTIARY MERIT MEDAL, VIETNAM CROSS OF GALLANTRY WITH PALM, VIETNAM CAMPAIGN MEDAL

BIOGRAPHY

  • Roland A. Nielsen was born in LaGrange, Texas, the son of Dorothy Marie Austin and Albert Nielsen. His mother moved to Portland, Oregon, where she worked in defense plants while Roland was young during the waning days of World War II, as Roland's father was in the military and overseas. When Mr. Nielsen returned, the marriage failed within a couple of years. His mother married Herbert Smith and a son; Gary was born to this union. Roland attended schools in Portland, attending Beaverton and Washington High Schools. After his junior year, he moved to live with relatives in Monahans, Texas and worked in the oilfields. He did not return to school and enlisted in the Army, November 1, 1961, at age 17 with his mother's permission and used Monahans as his home of record.
  • He entered the service at Fort Campbell, Kentucky and was processed, then transferred to Fort Ord, California where he completed his basic training and medic training at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. He had done a tour in Germany and then re-enlisted and had served at Fort Sill, Oklahoma with the 19th Artillery.
  • He began his tour as a medic in Vietnam on September 24, 1966, when he was assigned and mobilized with the 2nd Battalion, 94th Artillery from Fort Sill, Oklahoma as they mobilized from Fort Lewis, Washington. While with this unit, he was wounded by rocket fire and had been medevac'd and underwent surgery in Japan, before he returned to complete his tour. When he completed this tour in September 1967, he extended for six months and volunteered to serve as a dust-off medic. He was assigned to 254th Medical Detachment, 498th Medical Company, 43rd Medical Group, 44th Medical Brigade.
  • He was killed on October 4, 1967, when he was a part of a dust-off mission flying in a night mission. The Huey Helicopter 1-D, tail number 65-12848 was flying at a low altitude in a rainstorm. The pilot requested lighting when the helicopter made its first attempt at landing and were coming in for the second landing when the helicopter crashed into the trees, killing all aboard. It is conjectured that the pilot may have developed vertigo as the helicopter was lost from radar. The crash site was found the next day.
  • Specialist Nielsen was buried with full military honors at the Wilmette National Cemetery in Portland, Oregon. He was posthumously presented the Bronze Star and the Air Medal with "V" device, he had also been awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart for his first tour.
  • BEAVERTON HIGH SCHOOL, PORTLAND, OREGON, PHOTO 1962
  • WILLAMETTE NATIONAL CEMETERY, PORTLAND, OREGON
  • UH-1D MEDEVAC HELICOPTER