17 Jan 2006 Chris "Kippy" Gray was my Crew Chief. He was truly a "Renaissance Man" and was liked and respected by everyone. The day I left for Christmas leave in 1969, he was shot down and killed along with Tad Yonika and Barry Kaletta while flying in an OH-6A. I didn't find out he was dead until I came back in January, and I never really got closure. I met his dad Wayne, brother Sandy and twin sister Kitty many years later and I think that has helped all of us. He is never out of my thoughts and is deeply missed. From a friend and fellow "A Trooper", Glen Senkowski "Apache 35", "Apache 22" glen.senkowski@ngc.com

 

19 Jan 2006 Rites Planned for Specialist C. J. Gray - Funeral services for specialist 5 Christopher James Gray will be at 1 P.M. tomorrow in Magnolia Congregational Church, with burial in Fort Lawton Cemetery. Specialist Gray, 20, was killed in action in Vietnam 21 Dec (1969) when the helicopter in which he was riding was hit by enemy ground fire. The craft crashed and burned, killing the crew. Specialist Gray enlisted in the Army after graduation from Queen Anne High School in 1967. He was sent to Vietnam in September, 1968, and volunteered last September for an additional six months of combat duty. Survivors include his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Wayne P. Gray; three brothers, Gary H., Cecil V. and Warren W. Gray, all of Seattle; a twin sister, Mrs. Christine L. Abbott, with the Navy in San Diego, and another sister, Mary Ann Gray, Seattle. The family suggested that remembrances be blood donations credited to patients at the Veterans Administration Hospital or contributions to the Shrine Burn Hospital, in care of Nile Temple, Seattle The Times, Seattle WA, 30 Dec 1969 Courtesy of Darilee Bednar faces@facesfromthewall.com Faces from the Wall

 

A Note from The Virtual Wall On 21 Dec 1969 OH-6A tail number 67-16142 was flying as "low man" on an armed recon mission. The aircraft was hit by enemy fire, crashed, and burned, killing the three crewmen: WO Thaddeus M. Yonika, West Middlesex, PA, pilot; SSG Christopher J. Gray, Seattle, WA, crew chief; and SGT Barry P. Kaletta, Cleveland, OH, observer. Staff Sergeant Gray was buried on 31 December 1969 in Site 154, Section 2, Fort Lawton Cemetery, Seattle, Washington.

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