Frank Aguan Sablan – Specialist 4, United States Army

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Full Name: FRANK AGUAN SABLAN
Wall Name: FRANK A SABLAN
Date of Birth: 8/3/1950
Date of Casualty: 3/1/1971
Home of Record: PHENIX CITY, ALABAMA
Branch of Service: ARMY
Rank: SP4
Casualty Country: CAMBODIA

Troops’ Remains From Vietnam Era Buried

Thursday Nov 6, 2003

More than three decades after Army Warrant Officer Paul Black’s helicopter was shot down by the Viet Cong, his remains were buried with those of three wartime comrades Thursday at Arlington National Cemetery.

About 50 mourners gathered under a drizzling rain with their hands over their hearts as a horse-drawn caisson carried the flag-draped casket. It contained the recently identified remains of Black, along with those from three other men who were on the Huey helicopter with him when it crashed and burned in Cambodia on March, 1, 1971.

Black, Warrant Officer Robert Uhl of San Mateo, California, Specialist Gary David from Pottstown, Pennsylvania, and Specialist Frank Sablan of Phenix City, Alabama, were on an aerial reconnaissance mission at the time. Black, 22, was from Central Valley, California.

Black’s remains were recovered by the military’s Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command in 1995, and then identified in early January, according to Gina Jackson with the Hawaii-based command.

His comrades’ remains were recovered and identified in 1971, she said.

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Thirty-two years after their U.S. Army helicopter was shot down over Cambodia, the remains of four soldiers are carried by a horse-drawn caisson to their burial site during a military funeral at Arlington National Cemetery, Thursday, November 6, 2003. Warrant Officer 1st Class Paul Vernon Black, Sergeant First Class Gary Charles David, Specialist Frank Sablan, and Warrant Officer 1st Class Robert D. Uhl died while flying a combat mission near Kampong Cham, Cambodia, March 1, 1971. Their remains were identified through DNA analysis
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Thirty-two years after Warrant Officer Paul Black’s U.S. Army helicopter was shot down over Cambodia, his remains are carried by a casket team during a military funeral at Arlington National Cemetery November 6, 2003. Paul Black’s remains, found with others in his helicopter, were identified through DNA analysis earlier this year.
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Thirty-two years after Warrant Officer Paul Black’s U.S. Army helicopter was shot down over Cambodia, his father, Jim Black of Port Orford, Oregon, center, is comforted at a military funeral for his son at Arlington National Cemetery Thursday, November 6, 2003. Paul Black’s remains, found with others in his helicopter, were identified through DNA analysis earlier this year.

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