Name: Larron David Murphy
Rank/Branch: O3/US Army
Unit: Troop F, 8th Cavalry, 123rd
Aviation Battalion, 16th Aviation Group,
23rd
Infantry Division (Americal), Chu Lai,
South Vietnam
Date of Birth: 05 October 1944 (Atlanta
GA)
Home City of Record: Dalton GA
Date of Loss: 23 April 1970
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 153607N 1075801E
(ZC180270)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: AH1G
Other Personnel in Incident: Dennis K.
Eads (missing)
SYNOPSIS: On April 23, 1970, Capt.
Larron D. Murphy, aircraft commander;
and WO Dennis K. Eads, pilot; were
flying an AH1G (serial #67-15612) in the
wingman position in a flight of four
aircraft conducting an emergency night
mission to extract a long-range
reconnaissance patrol (LRRP). The
aircraft crashed in the vicinity while
en route to recover the patrol.
The two UH1H helicopters on the flight
aborted the mission because of adverse
weather conditions. However, the two
AH1G aircraft continued in order to
provide fire support for the patrol to
allow them to break contact with the
enemy. The aircraft flew north until
they were sighted by the patrol. The
lead ship made several radio contacts
with Capt. Murphy.The last transmission
instructed him to turn to a heading of
90 degrees.
About 30 seconds later, Capt. Murphy
called, "20, this is 28. I'm crashing."
This is the last contact or
communication with Capt. Murphy. Members
of the patrol reported that they had
observed a very bright flash to the
southwest, which was presumed to have
been one of the aircraft. The remaining
helicopter returned to Chu Lai, unable
to search for the downed aircraft
because of the inclement weather.
The following morning, members of the
patrol were flown to inspect the crash
site where they conducted a detailed
serach of the area, but there was no
trace of either the downed aircraft or
the crew. The presumed site of the crash
was about 10 miles southwest of the city
of An Hoa in Quang Nam Province, South
Vietnam.
When Dennis Eads' mother died in 1976,
she died believing that her son survived
the crash. The rest of his family is not
so sure, but there is always the
question, "Was there enough time for him
to get out?"
There are several reasons why "MIA's"
from the war in Vietnam cannot be
thought of, as in other wars, "ashes on
the mountainside"; tragically
irrecoverable losses of humanity. The
most compelling is the nearly 10,000
reports that have been received by the
U.S. Government since the end of the war
relating to Americans missing in
Southeast Asia.
Some critics say the families of the
missing want to believe their man is
alive because of "false hopes" that
won't die. Others say it is because we
"didn't win" the war. According to many
government officials who have no "false
hopes", the evidence is overwhelming
that there are, indeed, Americans still
held against their will in Southeast
Asia. The real question is, "When and
how will we bring these men home?
I got interested in this subject a while
ago, and began writing letters, but no
one wrote back. Maybe when I send the
U.S. Senate this page, it will get my
point across. If you want to join in the
cause to get our fellow Americans back
home, please adopt a POW/MIA:
I got all of these beautiful grapics
from Doc Gecko--a true American
Patriot:
He also has an interesting page on the
history of the POW/MIA flag:
POW/MIA Flag
The song playing is called Aerith's
Theme---From Final Fantasy 7---yeah I
know, it's a video game but the music
fits my page.