Their Story
Remembering Maurice E. Garrett Jr..
On October 22, 1971, an AH-1G Cobra (tail number 67-15752) with a crew of two took off on an armed visual reconnaissance mission over Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam, in the vicinity of grid coordinates XD 9326. The Cobra was a part of a "hunter-killer" team along with four other aircraft.
The flight departed Quang Tri and proceeded west, and when it reached a ridgeline, this Cobra's pilot instructed the other aircraft to hold on the eastern side of the target area while he continued west to conduct a weather check. He encountered heavy overcast, then reported that he was in the clouds and would return to Quang Tri flying by instruments.
He instructed the other aircraft flying this mission to stay clear of his intended flight path. Shortly after this communication, the Cobra struck trees and crashed in the vicinity of Grid Coordinates YD 033 383. The Cobra exploded and burned on impact. A ground search was performed but only one of the two crew members' remains could be recovered from the wreckage.
Captain Maurice Edwin Garrett Jr. entered the U.S. Army from Pennsylvania and was a member of Troop A, 2nd Squadron, 17th Cavalry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division. He was the pilot of this Cobra when it went missing, and he was lost with the aircraft. His remains were not recovered. Today, Captain Garrett is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.