Lloyd Steven Rainey

The database page for Lloyd Steven Rainey

31 Aug 1998 On the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Lloid's first name is spelled "Lloyd" But he spelled it with an "i" (Lloid) as he wrote it. In the following memorial I have used "i" as that is how I knew him. This page was requested by Lloid's best friend who understood where he was coming from and where he was going. One of his favorite books was Mary Shelly's "Frankenstein". It seemed to portray his life as he felt and saw it before he died in Cambodia. In it I found a message from him to us who are left to mourn his death. I quote: It is so long before the mind can persuade itself that he whom we saw every day and whose very existence appeared a part of our own can have departed forever - that the brightness of a beloved eye can have been extinguished and the sound of a voice so familiar and dear to the ear can be hushed, never more to be heard... One only consolation have we; his friends mourn and weep, but he is at rest. Lloid was a very dear friend and his death was a great shock to me. Even today, thirty years later, it still brings tears to my eyes as I remember him the way he was then. We both served in the army together during the Vietnam War, so I experienced many of the same feelings that he must have had before his tragic end. I would like to find anyone who knew him -- military, friends, family and especially his mother. I still have his letters filled with a son's praise for his dear mother. I would like to share them with her. My name is Charlotte Kinney Geer and I can be reached through my email: chargeer@principia.edu

A Note from The Virtual Wall Very little is known regarding the loss of CWO Rainey, other than he was flying an O-1G Birddog on a visual/handheld photography mission into Cambodia. At the time, the 74th Aviation Company had a detachment at Quan Loi, near An Loc, which conducted missions in support of MACV-SOG's CCS headquarters. Marine Master Sergeant Bernard J. Moran of Philadelphia, PA, was his observer on the flight. Another pilot who served in the same detachment at the same time described the mission as follows: "Our mission was to insert six man recon teams into Cambodia to monitor enemy activity. We also had a mission where we would fly at tree top level with a SOG "backseater" taking pictures, and an 0-2 flying cover for us and trying to keep us out of trouble. Needless to say, we came back with numerous bullet holes on many occasions."

The point-of-contact for this memorial is a friend, Charlotte Geer CGeer58008@aol.com  31 Aug 1998

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With all respect
Jim Schueckler, former CW2, US Army
Ken Davis, Commander, United States Navy (Ret)
Channing Prothro, former CAP Marine
Last updated 06/28/2004