Harold James Hellbach
Sex: M
Individual Information
Birth Date: 21 Sep 1942 - New Orleans, Orleans, Louisiana, USA
Christening:
Death: 19 May 1967 - , Quang Tri, North Vietnam
Burial: 16 Jul 1998 - Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Arlington, Virginia, United States
Cause of Death:
Find A Grave ID: 14521282
Parents
Father: Harold Hellbach
Mother: Delia Carmilette Barrios
Spouses and Children
Notes
General:
Per Article in the Times-Picayune (New Orleans, LA) May 24, 1967
Jeff Marine Who Was to Leave Virt for Home Is Killed in Action
A Jefferson Parish Marine captain who was scheduled to have left Vietnam Monday to return home has been killed in action, according to notification received by his family.
Capt. Harold James Hellbach, married and the father of a son, was fatally wounded somewhere in Vietnam May 19, according to a U.S. Marines major who visited the family.
Capt. Hellbach's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Harold Hellbach, 116 Newman ave, Jefferson, said they were told that full details of their son's death would be contained in an official telegram.
The 24-year-old fighter pilot, who was ending a 13-month tour of duty in the war-torn country, was a graduate of East Jefferson High School and had attended Louisiana State University in New Orleans. He entered the Marines three years ago.
Following a leave here upon his return, Capt. Hellbach was to have traveled to Cherry Point, N. C. with his family for reassignment. His last duty station before going to Vietnam was in South Carolina.
Other than his parents, Capt. Hellbach is survived by his widow, the former Miss Betty Gail Anderson; his son, Harold James Hellbach Jr.; and a sister, Mrs. Carol Schlottmann.
Per Article with pictures in the Times-Picayune (New Orleans, LA) June 8, 1998 Page 17-18
Missing Vietnam vet found 30 years later by Petula Dvorak
For Betty Hellbach Patureau, a single shovelful of dirt, scooped last August from a Vietnamese farm, ended 30 years of waiting.
Case 0697, a missing Marine captain whose F-8E Crusader was shot down in 1967, is closed.
The recovery of New Orleanian Harold J. Hellbach's remains can be credited largely to another New Orleanian: an archaeologist who sifted through mountains of soil to unearth cockpit glass, fabric from Hellbach's seat, pieces of his helmet and, finally a tooth.
Ken Ashworth, who works for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, was one of six U.S. Archaeologists chosen this past year for a mission to find the remains of servicemen listed as missing in action in the Vietnam War.
It was perhaps the most emotional assignment he had ever been given.
VETERAN: Teeth offer positive proof of Marine's identity
"I was standing in the excavation site, breaking down the soil when I happened to look down and I saw a tooth," Ashworth said "He's been laying over here for 31 years," I thought. I was looking at the ultimate sacrifice.
Hellbach's remains, identified by Army Workers in Hawaii, will be given to his family for burial.
On May 19, 1967, three days before he was to meet his 3-month-old son for the first time, Hellbach radioed his wingman that his aircraft had been hit by enemy fire. The wingman watched as the aircraft rolled, inverted and crashed with no signs of a parachute and no emergency beeper signals, military officials said.
"When I heard the wingman's report, and that there wasn't even a parachute, I guess I always knew he was dead," Patureau said.
But, until the 24-year-old's remains were found, she lacked a sense of closure, she said.
"I was always wondering," said Patureau, who remarried eight years later.
Though she occasionally received letters from the government assuring her that the effort to recover the more than 2,000 missing Americans had not ended. Patureau was skeptical.
"I didn't think they would ever find everyone or try to find everyone." she said.
But, in January 1994, archaeologists from the corps joined the effort to help the Central Identification Lab in Hawaii and began dispatching their talent to Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam, Ashworth said.
Ashworth was one of six selected in 1997. After receiving numerous vaccinations and studying case files, he went to Vietnam with a team of about a dozen Americans and was joined by an equal number of Vietnamese.
In 1993 researchers used photographs in Vietnam military museums to identify wreckage that looked like Hellbach's aircraft. This past year, officials interviewed villagers, who led them to the farm where Hellbach
crashed.
Ashworth's crew was brought in to excavate the area.
About 150 workers - bomb technicians, medics, communications specialist and veterans - were hired to help at the site.
The effort was herculean in cost and manpower, Ashworth said.
With careful attention to the texture of the war-era soil, Ashworth identified an approximate crash site that measured more than 350 square meters, he said.
The plane, flying at 500 mph and loaded with munitions, had exploded on impact. All metal of significant size was salvaged by villagers, Ashbworth said.
Using small tools, picks and shovels, dozens of people sifted the soil. Every shovelful of dirt was examined by an American before it was discarded,Ashworth said.
They found shards of parachute hardware and metal bits from the plane. They even found two intact eyelets from a Marine's combat boot But the case was not closed until they found a piece of Hellbach's remains that could be identified: initially, one tooth, then more.
The remains were sent to Hanoi for identification, then returned to U.S. officials, who brought them back to the lab in Hawaii for testing.
"When they first called me, I thought "How would they ever know it was him?" Patureau said. But they found the evidence In the teeth. He had a bridge with two false teeth that was very distinctive, and they
matched perfectly."
The Hellbachs will at last hear taps in Arlington Cemetery on July 16, when a handful of remains will be placed in a large, flag-draped casket, along with a Marine Corps uniform and the the fallen captain's assemblage of medals.
"So many people are still wondering," Patureau said, "At least I finally know."
Per Article with pictures in the Times-Picayune (New Orleans, LA) July 17, 1998 Page 1, 12
Thirty-one years after Marine Capt. Harold J. Hellbach was shot down over Vietnam, the New Orleanian's remains were buried Thursday at Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors.
"It was the most beautiful thing I've ever experienced," said Hellbach's widow, Betty Patureau, a River Ridge resident who remarried eight years after Hellbach, 24, disappeared.
With her at the ceremony was Jimmy Hellbach, who was 3 months old \emdash and three days from meeting
his father for the first time - when death intervened on May 19, 1967.
Hellbach radioed his wingman that his aircraft had been hit by enemy fire. The wingman watched as the aircraft rolled and crashed with no signs of a parachute and no emergency beeper signals, military officials said.
"When I heard the wingman's report, and that there wasn't even a parachute, I guess I always knew he was dead," Patureau said after her husband's remains were recovered.
A single shovelful of dirt, scooped last August from a Vietnamese farm, and efforts by archaeologist Ken Ashworth, also of New Orleans, led to Thursday's burial.
In 1993, researchers used photographs in Vietnam military museums to identify wreckage that Iooked like Hellbach's aircraft. Last year, officials interviewed villagers, who led them to the farm where he crashed.
About 150 workers were hired to excavate the area. They found shards of parachute hardware and metal bits from the plane. They also found two combat boot eyelets. But the case was not closed until Ashworth, an Army Corps of Engineers employee, found a tooth that matched HelIbach's dental records.
For his widow and son, and the small group of friends and relatives who joined them Thursday, closure was a gift. "After so many years of nothing, this is just wonderful," Patureau said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Per Findagrave [Current]
Capt Harold James Hellbach
BIRTH21 Sep 1942 New Orleans, Orleans Parish, Louisiana, USA
DEATH19 May 1967 (aged 24) Vietnam
BURIALArlington National Cemetery Arlington, Arlington County, Virginia, USA
PLOTSection 66, Grave 3667
MEMORIAL ID14521282
Per Findagrave [prior to recovery of remains]
CPT Harold J Hellbach
BIRTHunknown
DEATHunknown
MEMORIAL SITE*
Honolulu Memorial
Honolulu, Honolulu County, Hawaii, USA
* A structure erected in honor of someone whose remains lie elsewhere.
PLOTTablets of the Missing - USMC - Vietnam
MEMORIAL ID155950288 · View Source
Per U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014
Name:Harold Hellbach
Social Security Number:436-60-6231
Birth Date:21 Sep 1942
Issue Year:1958
Issue State:Louisiana
Death Date:May 1967
Per U.S., Vietnam War Military Casualties, 1956-1998
Name:Harold James Hellbach
Birth Date:21 Sep 1942
Death Date: 19 May 1967 Age:24
Home City:New Orleans
Home State:Louisiana
SSN/Service #:436606231
Death Date:19 May 1967
Casualty Country:North Vietnam
Tour Start Date:19 May 1967
Service Branch:United States Marine Corps
Component:Reserve (USAR, USNR, USAFR, USMCR, USCGR)
Rank:Captain
Military Grade:Captain
Pay Grade:Captain (U.S. Army, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Marine Corps) or Lieutenant (U.S. Navy, U.S. Coast Guard)
Province:Military Region 1 - Quang Tri
Decoration:Not Available
CN:North Vietnam
Unit:VMF 232 MAG 11 1ST MARINE AIR WING
Service Occupation:7532
Data Source:Coffelt Database
Per U.S., Vietnam War Military Casualties, 1956-1998
Name:Harold James Hellbach
Birth Date:21 Sep 1942
Death Date:19 May 1967
Gender:Male
Age:24
Race:Caucasian (White)
Home City:New Orleans
Home State:Louisiana
Religion:Protestant- No Denominational Preference
Marital status:Married (Spouse Listed) (Married)
SSN/Service #:436606231
Citizen Status:U.S.
Death Date:19 May 1967
Processed Date:Jun 1998
Casualty Country:North Vietnam
Casualty Type:Hostile - Killed
Casualty Reason:Aircraft Loss/Crash Not at Sea
Casualty Air:Fixed Wing Air Casualty - Pilot
Body Status:Body Recovered
Service Branch:United States Marine Corps
Component:Reserve (USAR, USNR, USAFR, USMCR, USCGR)
Military Grade:Captain
Pay Grade:Captain (U.S. Army, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Marine Corps) or Lieutenant (U.S. Navy, U.S. Coast Guard)
Province:Military Region 1 - Quang Tri
Length of Service :04
Data Source:Combat Area Casualties Current File