John Albert Broadus Dillard, Jr. – Major General, United States Army

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  • Full Name: JOHN ALBERT B JR DILLARD
  • Date of Birth: 9/1/1919
  • Date of Casualty: 5/12/1970
  • Home of Record: LAKE CHARLES, LOUISIANA
  • Branch of Service: ARMY
  • Rank: MGEN
  • Casualty Country: SOUTH VIETNAM
  • Casualty Province: PLEIKU

Major General John A. B. Dillard, the U.S. Army, Vietnam, Engineer and senior Army engineer in Vietnam, was killed when his helicopter was shot down while he was reconnoitering Highway 509 about ten miles southwest of Pleiku. Colonel Carroll E. Adams, Jr., Commanding Officer, 937th Engineer Group; Lieutenant Colonel Fred V. Cole, Commanding Officer, 20th Engineer Battalion; Captain William D. Booth, Aide-de-Camp; Command Sergeant Major Griffith A. Jones of U.S. Army Engineer Command, Vietnam; and five others also perished in the crash. Command Sergeant Major Robert W. Elkey was the sole survivor.

Born in Louisiana, he was Chief of Army Engineers in Vietnam and was killed on May 12, 1970 when his helicopter was shot down in the Central Highlands of Vietnam.

He is buried in Section 5 of Arlington National Cemetery. His wife, Bette Lorraine Dillard (May 2, 1921-February 26, 1991) is buried with him.

6TH U. S. GENERAL KILLED IN WAR
COPTER SHOT DOWN DEAR PLEIKU

SAIGON, South Vietnam –May 13, 1970 – Major General John A. B. Dillard, head of the United States Army Engineer Command in South Vietnam, was killed yesterday when the helicopter in which he was flying was shot down, the United States Command announced today.

General Dillard was the sixth American General killed in action in the Vietnam War and the second in little more than a month.

General Dillard, 50 years old, of Corte Madera, California, and nine other Americans including other officers were aboard the UH-1 hit by enemy fire in the Central Highlands, 10 miles southwest of Pleiku and 220 miles northwest of Saigon.  One American survived, but was seriously injured.

Assigned to Vietnam in November 1969, as Chief of the Engineer Command, General Dillard at his death was a veteran of 28 years’ Army service. He served as a Platoon Leader and Company Commander in Europe during World War II. From July 1952 until July 1943, he served as a Battalion Operations Officer with the 25th Infantry Division in Korea.

He is survived by his wife, the former Betty L. Hawkins, and their three children, John A. B. 3rd, Gerry and Revalee.

On April 1, Brigadier General William R. Bond, commander of the 199th Light Infantry Brigade, was killed by ground fire.

The other American Generals killed in Vietnam were:

Major General William J. Crumm of the Air Force, commander of the Strategic Air Command’s Third Division, killed July 8, 1967.

Major General Bruno A. Hochmuth of the Marine Corps, commander of the Third Marine Division, killed November 14, 1967.

Major General Robert F. Worley of the Air Force, vice commander of the Seventh Air Force, killed July 23, 1968.

Major General Keith L. Ware of the Army, commander of the First Infantry Division, killed September 13, 1968.

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