Robert Leslie Runkle
Lieutenant Colonel
HHC, 1ST BN, 5TH CAVALRY, 1ST CAV DIV, USARV Army of the United States Fort Scott, Kansas March 20, 1926 to April 04, 1968 ROBERT L RUNKLE is on the Wall at Panel 48E, Line 10 |
|
|
I took this image on a color slide at LZ Stud 3 April, 1968 the day before LTC Robert Leslie Runkle, Commander, 1st Bn of the 5th Cavalry Regiment, died as a result of enemy action in the initial stage of Operation Pegasus.
From a fellow soldier, |
A Note from The Virtual WallOperation Pegasus was directed at lifting the siege of the Marine combat base at Khe Sanh in western Quang Tri Province. The 1st Cavalry Division was tasked with conducting the operation, and CG 1st Cav received operational control of the 1st Marines, the 26th Marines, and the ARVN 3rd Airborne Task Force as well as holding command over his own divisional forces. The operational plan involved thrusts along Highway 9 from Ca Lu, east of Khe Sanh, and air assaults by three battalions of the 2nd Brigade, 1st Cav Division, on the high ground north and south of Hwy 9.The command helo for a 1/5 Cav troop insertion on 4 April came from the HQ&HQ Company, 2nd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division. Six men were aboard the UH-1H (tail number 66-16952) when it was shot down:
"[Captain Joe] Lyttle was C Company commander (1/5 Cav) the summer and fall of 67. Then he served on LTC Runkle's Bn staff until the day Runkle was killed. Lyttle was selected by Runkle to replace a wounded Co CO and he was on the flight that was shot down with Runkle. Lyttle survived the crash, but was partly under the helicopter. The NVA executed all others, including Runkle, but thought Lyttle was dead. He was later rescued but was permanently paralyzed from the waist down. Lyttle worked many years at Warm Springs, GA as a supervisor in rehab with other paralyzed persons, but left there last fall to retire to Virginia knowing that he was terminal with cancer."While neither The Virtual Wall nor the Vietnam Helicopter Pilots' Association can positively confirm Captain Lyttle's presence aboard the command helo, there is no reason to think that he was not. Captain Lyttle was injured in a helo incident in April 1968; he was medically retired due to paralysis; he did serve at Warm Springns for many years; and he did pass away in 2004. |
Contact Us | © Copyright 1997-2019 www.VirtualWall.org, Ltd ®(TM) | Last update 08/15/2019. |