Memorial Day 2004 Never forgotten by the ACHS CLASS OF 1959 The guys at the VENTNOR YARD E-mail address is not available.

 

11 Jun 2004 Snooty, I think of you always, you were my brother. I'll never forget you. Your pal, Georgie K From his best friend, George Kleiner 17238 Spates Hill Rd, Poolesville, Md 20837 03 May 2006 Your memorial at NYU on 5/1/06 was great. Your daughter Karen, sister Marilyn, and nephew Mike along with your classmates and fraternity brothers were very touched by the memories. The University dedicated the mezzanine of the Kimmel Center in your honor. Our hearts and minds remembered the good times we all enjoyed with you. Your Pal, Georgie K George Kleiner gkleiner.bretco@verizon.net

 

21 Dec 2004 The 24th Special Tactical Zone (24 STZ) comprised Pleiku and Kontum provinces (in II Corps), athwart the tri-border area of South Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. Our U.S. Air Force and Army units supported South Vietnamese forces in opposing both local Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army infiltration via the Ho Chi Minh Trail to our west. Art Abramoff joined us at Kontum, capital city of the largest province in South Vietnam, in November 1966. His Forward Air Controller (FAC) callsign was Cagey 86. On his last mission, Art was marking a target for an air strike in the Dak Na valley (north of Dak To) when he was hit by ground fire and crashed. A lot of people converged on the area to attempt rescue. A Vietnamese CH-34 helicopter was driven off by ground fire. 1st Lt E. DeVere Henderson took over as FAC-on-the-scene, Lt Cols Gibson and Bradbury (in another O-1) flew backup, and Capt Lee Goettsche (in our last remaining O-1) controlled air strikes in an adjacent area; CPT Kobylarz (in an Army O-1) flew high to provide radio relay; I was in our FAC radio shack back at our military compound, coordinating fighter support with headquarters at Pleiku. An Army UH-1 "Huey" helicopter, Black Cat 606 (piloted by LT "Hank" Rost and WO-1 Tom Woehl), picked up Art's injured Army observer (1LT G. D. Hull), who was medevacked to Pleiku (and soon back to the U.S.). Another "Huey", Mardi Gras 730 (piloted by CPT Robert "Tom" Hooker and WO-1 Ken Wilson), carried FAC Maj Vance Leuthold to the crashed O-1G, where he confirmed Art was dead. An Air Force H-43 "Dust Off" rescue chopper (supported by gunships) retrieved Art's body later that day. The above summary combines recollections primarily from DeVere Henderson, three of the four named Army "Huey" pilots (located during the past few years), the combat journal of Vance Leuthold (d. 1994), plus my own letters home at the time. January 20th of 1967 was the saddest day of my Vietnam tour. I commemorated Art's tragic loss and its aftermath in a 1999 ballad entitled "A Death in the Dak Na Valley." When our memorial to the (now) 220 FACs KIA in the Southeast Asia War was dedicated at Hurlburt Air Force Base, Florida, at our first Slow FACs' Reunion in September 2000, "Arthur J. Abramoff" was the first name read. From a fellow Forward Air Controller, Jonathan Myer O-1 "Bird Dog" FAC, Cagey 82 (and Covey 75) Kontum Province (and the DMZ) April 1966 thru February 1967 j-bmyer-alexva@erols.com

 

17 Jan 2006 Snooty... It'll be 39 years on January 20 since we lost you. Your commitment to our nation will never be forgotten. I'm proud to call you my uncle, and proud of your defense of our freedom. I'll never forget you, and will always honor you in my every day life. Love, your nephew, Mike Lamberti 10 Feb 2007 On the 40th anniversary of your final mission in Vietnam, just a note that you have never been forgotten by your family, or friends. We dedicated a terrace in your memory on May 1, 2006 and it was overwhelming to see the amount of people who came back to pay honor to your sacrifice. We love you, we miss you and we'll never forget you. Love, Mike Lamberti mike051893@aol.com

 

01 May 2006 I never got the chance to know you yet I am here because of you. I never got to call you Dad or play ball with you. But reading all of your friends' comments make me feel like I knew you just a little bit more. I hope you can see and like the man that I have become. I am proud of you in a way that I hope you are proud of me. From his son, William J. Abramoff Walsh hunchbackdad@aol.com

 

29 May 2006 Never forgotten. Mike C 29 May 2007 Never forgotten. Mike C E-mail address is not available.

 

A Note from The Virtual Wall On 20 Jan 1967 an O-1G (tail number 51-4851) from Kontum was shot down by small arms fire while on a Forward Air Control mission 20 miles north of Dak To. 1st Lt Abramoff managed to fly his stricken aircraft out of the target area but was killed in the crash. The observer, 1LT G. D. Hull, survived the crash. The photo at the top of the page was extracted from the one below, taken at the time 2nd Lt Abramoff was promoted to First Lieutenant in 1966. The photo was provided by his nephew, Contact Us Mike Lamberti.

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