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Remember...John Robert Ball
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John Robert Ball was born on January 12, 1939, in Fayette County, West Virginia, the son of Willie Hilliard and Maude R. Crawford Ball. His sibling, Wanda Jean Ball, passed away when he was at the young age of four. He had four other siblings: a sister Betty Irene and three brothers: Kenneth, Willie Jr., and Gilbert. At some point John's family moved to Charleston, West Virginia, where he graduated from Charleston High School and went on to further his education at West Virginia University. John married Bonnie Carol Phillips on September 3, 1960, and settled in South Charleston, West Virginia. Bonnie gave birth to two children not long after: one daughter, Terri Lynn, and a son, John Robert II.
Although West Virginia is known as a mining state, it has a rich history of its citizens serving in the military in times of war. A total of 57 West Virginia veterans have earned the highest military honor, the Congressional Medal of Honor, nine of which were earned during the Vietnam War. West Virginians played a big role in the Vietnam War as more West Virginians served in Vietnam than any other state per capita. ("5 Facts about the Vietnam War & West Virginia," West Virginia Public Broadcasting, 19 July 2017, accessed March 2021, https://www.wvpublic.org/news/2017-07-19/5-facts-about-the-vietnam-war-west-virginia.)
Even though the United States had been sending over supplies and advisory personnel beginning in 1954 to South Vietnam, no troops were deployed until 1965. The Gulf of Tonkin incident served as a catalyst for the Americans sending troops over to Vietnam. The USS Maddox was shelled by Vietnam torpedo boats on August 2, 1964. Shortly after this event, the American government started directly sending its troops into combat in the Vietnam conflict. The initial soldiers who were sent into Vietnam had enlisted into service prior to the war. While the military draft had existed for most of the 1900s, it changed in 1969, giving way to a lottery system.
Of the 8.7 million troops who served in the Vietnam War, only 1.8 million were drafted. (Blake Stilwell, "17 Wild Facts about the Vietnam War," Business Insider, 23 July 2015, accessed March 2021, https://www.businessinsider.com/17-wild-facts-about-the-vietnam-war-2015-7.)
| John Robert Ball was one of the 6.9 million who voluntarily joined the military before the start of the Vietnam War. John was commissioned as a second lieutenant through the U.S. Army Reserves with a military occupation skill (MOS) 1542 -- Infantry Unit Commander. At some point he was at Ft. Benning, Georgia, for training, which ended February 25, 1963. He was sent to serve in the United States Army as a member of Alpha Company, 1st Battalion (Wolfhounds), 27th Infantry, 25th Infantry Division, during the Vietnam War. |  Courtesy Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund |
John volunteered to go to Vietnam as a Shotgun Platoon Leader. These were the men who manned the machine guns on the slicks [otherwise unarmed Huey UH-1B helicopters]. He began his tour of duty on June 1, 1965, as a first lieutenant; however, he was attached/assigned to the 119th Aviation Company, 52nd Aviation Battalion, 17th Aviation Group.
The 119th Aviation Company was located at Camp Holloway near the town Pleiku, Vietnam. Pleiku is located near the center of the rugged Central Highlands of Vietnam and is the site of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) Second Corps Headquarters. Camp Holloway was one of the oldest helicopter bases in Vietnam. It was opened in August 1962 and had the distinction of being the highest permanent helicopter base in Vietnam with an elevation of 2,460 feet mean sea level (MSL).
The year 1965 brought many changes to the 119th Aviation Company. During the year, the scope of the Vietnam War grew tremendously. In January, only 21,000 U.S. troops were involved in the war, but by December the number had grown to 130,000, including some of the Army's front-line combat divisions. At the start of 1965, the war was confined to South Vietnam, but the night of February 7, 1965, ended that confinement. It was on that night at 0200 hours that a Viet Cong mortar attack hit Camp Holloway and the 119th Aviation Company. The casualties included eight dead and more than 100 wounded, including the company commander who died two months later. The next day, President Johnson ordered retaliatory strikes on North Vietnam and the "escalation" began.
Throughout the year, the 119th Aviation Company had proven itself as one of the hardest working aviation companies in Vietnam. They had been part of operations all over the ARVN Second Corps Area of Operation which was equal to the size of Florida. They had flown every type of mission conceivable, from transporting combat troops, conducting combat assaults, carrying VIPS and cargo, performing route reconnaissance and medical evacuations (Medevac).
On June 19, 1965, two slick helicopters, Hueys (UH-1B), escorted by two gunships were carrying cargo from Kontum to Dak Sut. One of the UH-1Bs with tail number 63-08604 was piloted by Captain Roberto Samaniego (unit commander and pilot), who manned the helicopter along with Chief Warrant Officer 2 James Leavell Purser (co-pilot), Specialist 5 Harold Allen Atcher (helicopter repairman, who was the crew chief), and First Lieutenant Ball (gunner). Approximately 16 kilometers from Dak To, the aircraft entered the Dak Sut Valley; they were the lead helicopter, and they came under intense automatic weapons fire. Their aircraft was hit and caught fire on the left side near the tail boom. The aircraft entered into an auto-rotation causing the tail boom to separate 300 feet above the ground. This caused the aircraft to become inverted and crash into the ground, exploding on impact and killing all crewmembers on board. ("Helicopter UH - 1B 63 - 08604," Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association, 13 November 2003, accessed March 2021, https://www.vhpa.org/KIA/incident/65061900KIA.HTM.)
First Lieutenant John Robert Ball was first reported missing in action (MIA) and later declared killed in action (KIA) on July 2, 1965. His remains were eventually recovered and returned to the United States and to his hometown of Charleston, West Virginia.
Even though John's life was short lived, he still left a great impact on people's lives. According to William Specht, as posted on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund Wall of Faces, "He was a thin lively guy with a wonderful, sometimes irreverent sense of humor. Even the top brass went out of their way to pick on him to see what he was going to say next. One of his famous lines was ‘you know Colonel if it wasn't for us US's [reserve officers], you West Pointers would have to work for a living.'"
 Courtesy Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund |
As recognition for his services, Ball was awarded the following: the Air Medal, Purple Heart, Combat Infantry Badge, National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Campaign Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, Army Presidential Unit Citation, Vietnam Gallantry Cross, and the Army Good Conduct Medal. ("John Robert Ball," HonorStates.org, accessed March 2021, https://www.honorstates.org/index.php?id=321608.) He was the first man from Kanawha County to be lost in the Vietnam War. He is memorialized at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., on Panel 2E, Line 14, as well as on the West Virginia Veterans Memorial located in Charleston, West Virginia, at the Capitol Complex. He is buried in Grandview Memorial Park in Dunbar, Kanawha County, West Virginia. |
Article prepared by Abbi Reynolds, Elena Launi, and MAJ (Ret) Brad McGee, George Washington High School JROTC
March 2021
West Virginia Archives and History welcomes any additional information that can be provided about these veterans, including photographs, family names, letters and other relevant personal history.
