Captain Dana Allen Dilley
Captain Dana Allen Dilley's name is inscribed on The VietNam Memorial Wall in Washington, DC. The following picture is a simulated pencil rubbing of his entry, which is located on Panel 13W, Line 126.
Knife/Dusty NKP RTAFB; China Post #1, AL, In Exile
ACA L2850; VHCMA 1117; VVA 168776
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Capt Dana Dilley was assigned to the 20th Special Operations Squadron, "The Green Hornets". He flew a Bell UH-1P helicopter, which was an improved version of the UH-1F with ordinance hardpointsadded, improved avionics equipment, and armored seats. The tail number of the helicopter was 64-15491 which indicates it was built by Bell Helicopter in 1964. These helicopters were used in two different missions which were either as a SLICK (troop carrier) or as a gunship. Pilots assigned to this unit often lived in Special Forces Camps, where they parked their helicopters inside the compound. Crewmembers lived in wooden shacks at best or in tents at worst, sharing a common primitive latrine, and most likely ate alot of A-Rations (boxed meal for a group of people that was warmed up in field kitchens), C-Rations (individual meals in a small box that held the content in several cans), and K-Rations (make up unknown). Given where Capt Dilley was shot down, odds are that this was typical of his living conditions. Capt Dilley was Regular Air Force at the time of his death. He entered South Viet Nam on Thursday, 20 November 1969 and was Killed In Action on Saturday, 14 March 1970 in the Duc Lap area of the Quang Duc Province of South Viet Nam , while piloting his helicopter, supporting a Long Range Reconnassiance Patrol(LRRP) involved in a combat situation. Quang Duc province was northwest of Saigon adjoining the border with Cambodia. (Click here to see map) His name is located at Panel 13W-Row126 on The Wall. Initial opinion after looking at maps of Viet Nam and where our Air Bases were, is that he probably performed rescue missions trying to get to downed aircrews before they were captured by the enemy as well as troop insertion and recovery for combat patrols. For those that were wondering, officers had one of two status's, Regular force or Reserve force. All officers I knew never seemed to relax until they got Regular status. As a reserve officer you could get cut from the force more easily if they were decreasing the manning. Any one that has more information on Captain Dilley please let Teddy Noye or me (Bob Dilley) know, as given the area he was in and the branch of service he was from, it has become more of a mystery to me. Some intial reading I have done indicates the LRRP patrols were going into Cambodia at the time where massive buildups of North Vietnamese Army units was occurring. These missions were not being acknowledged as occurring by the United States government.
24 March 1970
By Deron Mikal, TR Staff Reporter
Muskingum County's 14th casualty of the Vietnam conflict will be buried Thursday.
Air Force Captain Dana A. Dilley, 29, a native of Duncan Falls, was killed Saturday (March 14) when the helicopter he was piloting was shot down in a jungle in South Vietnam.
He was on an operational flight at the time of the crash and was reportedly killed instantly when enemy ground fire disabled his craft.
Services for the career officer will be held at 1:30 pm Thursday at Trinity Episcopal Church in Coshocton and burial will follow in Coshocton County Memory Gardens.
Dawson Funeral Home in Coshocton is in charge of arrangements. Friends may call from 2:30 to 4 and 7 to 9 pm Wednesday.
Capt. Dilley was a 1958 graduate of Philo High school and a student of his father, Herbert Dilley, who has taught chemistry, physics and conservation at Philo since 1942.
Young Dilley followed in his father's footsteps in the study of biology, his undergraduate major at Capital University in Columbus. He went on to study microbiology at Ohio State University where he earned his master's degree in 1964.
While at Philo High school, Capt. Dilley lettered in football and basketball and was on the starting teams in both sports. He also played in the concert band.
He was a member of Duncan Falls Presbyterian Church.
Capt. Dilley took RFOTC training at Capital University where he received flying lessons. He had flown 93 combat missions in Vietnam, piloting the large B-52 bomber jets.
He returned to the United States last year for additional training as a helicopter pilot and was reassigned to the war zone in November.
He was born Aug. 22, 1940, in Duncan Falls, a son of Herbert and Lois Torbert Dilley of Duncan Falls.
Surviving in addition to his parents are his widow, the former Theresa Wisenburg of Coshocton; two sons, Todd, 7, and Dana Scott, nine months; a sister, Miss Margaret Ann Dilley of 217 Eastwood Drive, Greenlawn Trailer Court; a great-aunt, Mrs. J.H. Frame of Wilmington; and a great-uncle, Finley Revenaugh of Chandlersville.
Vietnam Casualty:
Name: Dilley, Dana Allen
Service Number: 294366612
Date of Birth :08/22/40
Date of Death: 03/14/70
City of Record: Duncan Falls
State of Record: Ohio
Service Branch: Air Force
Rank: CAPT
Length of Service :06
Tour Begin :691120
Casualty Type: Hostile - Killed
Race :Caucasian
Religion: Presbyterian
Marital Status: Married
Sex :Male
Posthumous Promotion: No
The following information on Captain Dilley was supplied by:
43 Overbrook Road
Painted Post, NY 14870
Copyright © 1998 and 1999 Vietnam
Helicopter Pilots Association
Information on U.S. Air Force helicopter UH-1F tail number 64-15491
Date: 03/14/70
Incident number: 70031415.KIA
Unit: 20 SOS
South Vietnam
UTM grid coordinates: YU825887
Casualties = 01 KIA, 03 WIA . .
Original source(s) and document(s) from which the incident was created or updated: Defense Intelligence Agency Helicopter Loss database. Also: OPERA, Unit History 14 SOW on film (Operations Report.)
Summary: Crashed in the jungle and destroyed while support LRRP mission. Suspect enemy ground fire caused the crash.
Loss to Inventory
Crew Members:
FP CPT DILLEY DANA ALLEN KIA
IP CPT MR LEPER
AG SSG JA THORBURN
AG A1C DA CARPENTER
War Story:
The 14th SOW and 20th SOS unit history state that they were flying
in support of a LRRP mission in the Duc Lap area when they crashed
in the jungle due to suspected enemy ground fire. The aircraft
was destroyed. The pilot, CPT Dana A. Dilley, was a fatality.
The IP, CPT Marvin R. Leper, received boken bones in one foot
and cuts. Both gunners, SSGT John A. Thorburn and A1C David A.
Carpenter, sustained major injuries. An Army helicopter on the
same operation landed near the crash, retrieved the ground crew
and transported them to Cam Ranh Bay where after treatment they
were evacuated to the U.S.
This record was last updated on 07/28/98
The following is crew member information for this incident:
Name: CPT Dana Allen Dilley
Status: Killed In Action from an incident on 03/14/70 while performing the duty of Pilot.
Age at death: 29.6
Date of Birth: 08/22/40
Home City: Duncan Falls, OH
Service: regular component of the U.S. Air Force.
Unit: 20 SOS
Service: U.S. Air Force.
The Wall location: 13W-126
Short Summary: Ground fire caused gunship to crash land in jungle while supporting Special Forces long range reconnaissance patrol.
Aircraft: UH-1P tail number 64-15491
SSN: 294-36-6612
Country: South Vietnam
MOS: *
Primary cause: Hostile Fire
Started Tour: 11/20/69
"Official" listing: helicopter air casualty - pilot
Length of service: 06
Location: Quang Duc Province II Corps.
Reason: aircraft lost or crashed
Casualty type: Hostile - killed
Married, male U.S. citizen
Race: Caucasian
Relgion: Presbyterian
This record was last updated on 02/21/94
-Captain Dilley was married and had two sons at the time of his death. He was the son of Herbert A. Dilley (7 Oct. 1905-19 Aug. 1988) and Lois (Torbert) Dilley. Dana had a sister, Margaret Ann.
-Herbert A. was the son of Benjamin Albert Dilley & Mary Belle Revenaugh. Herbert had two brothers, Paul Ewart and Marion A.
-Benjamin Albert was the son of Tobian Azores Dilley & Harriet Ann Gander.
-Tobian was the son of Abraham Dilley and Isabel Shaw.
-Abraham was the son of Joseph G. Dilley & Sarah Buckley
-Joseph G. was the son of Ephraim Dilley, Sr. & Lucy Uiss Ayres.
Ancestry of Captain Dana Dilley was supplied by Sandra, who is Dana's 5th cousin.
The following was supplied by Renee Linscott of the Muskingum County Rootsweb mail list:
Mr. Dilley grew up in Duncan Falls Ohio where his father was a well respected teacher and scout leader. He has a brother who has written a history of Duncan Falls ohio and the family was well known for their community involvement. The Times Recorder 34 South Fourth Street Zanesville, Ohio 43701 should have his obituary on file. Chuck Martin is the historian. Mr. Dilley's parents are buried in Duncan Falls Cemetary to my knowledge. They resided on Mill St. in Duncan Falls Ohio until Mr Herbert Dilleys death. A scholarship has been set up in Mr. Herbert Dilley's name at Philo High School. 200 East Broad St. Philo Ohio.
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