LTC Garland Bryan King, Jr
1927 - 1969

LTC Garland Bryan King Jr. of the U. S. Army, was born 7 Sep 1927 to Garland B King, Sr Iris Irene Gibson King. He was married to Betty Jean Ledgerwood King. He died 19 Jun 1969 (aged 41) in Vietnam. He is buried in Fort Smith National Cemetery, Ft. Smith, Ar. LTC Garland Bryan King served 22 years. His tour in Vietnam began on Jul 14, 1968 and ended with the casualty Jun 19, 1969 in Long An, South Vietnam from a non-hostile ground casualty. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ http://www.virtualwall.org/dk/KingGB01a.htm My Hero, My Dad Dad flew helicopters and fixed wing aircraft in the US Army. His career spanned 23 years, including two full tours and an earlier advisory tour in Viet Nam. Some time after his death, I joined the US Army and also began a military flying career that spanned 20 years. My greatest love of all the aircraft I flew was the AH-1F Cobra. My greatest wish would have been for dad and I to fly together. I miss you, dad. Your loving son, Garland Bryan King III A Note from The Virtual Wall The VHPA database contains the following note regarding LTC King: "King was on TDY in country on a classified mission when he was killed. This kind of mix up often occurred when different headquarters were involved. He was under DOD orders working as an Army Item Project Officer assisting Navy SEALS and Marines on their Air Cushion Vehicles. It seems that at the end of a mission while everyone was off loading at dockside a crewman dropped his M-16 which was not on safe. It discharged and stitched King with four rounds across his chest. We were both Signal Corps assigned as Project Officers to the Communications and Electronics Branch of the Army Concept Team in Vietnam (ACTIV). We flew the UH-1B assigned on various projects. King had the DECCA Navigation System which he tested in use on operational missions. I had the Heliborne Command Post ... Our initial tour was in 1963-64 with both King and I returning on TDY several occasions." Wilmer L. Preston LTC US Army (Ret) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ WWII Draft Registration Card He also served during WWII beginning Mar 23, 1946, enlisting at Camp Chaffee, Ft. Smith, Ar.