Our Queen
Anne Classmates
Who Gave Their Lives In Vietnam
Christopher James "Kippy" Gray
SSGT - US Army
Class of 1967
Died: December 21, 1969
Tay Ninh Province
In the book Acceptable Loss, An Infantry
Soldier's Perspective, by Kregg Jorgenson, a Seattle boy who went to Vietnam as
a 19-year-old, there are several references to a helicopter gunner named Chris
Gray, whom we take to be Kippy Gray of Queen Anne High School. Two weeks before
Christmas, 1969, Jorgenson, who had just won a Silver Star as a member of a
Ranger LRRP (Long Range Reconnaisance Patrol), transferred to A Troop, a company
of the 1st of the 9th Cavalry, stationed in Tay Ninh Province, bordering
Cambodia, where his infantry platoon's tasks include attacking enemy forces
discovered by 3-man scout helicopters, and rescuing downed helicopter crews. As
Jorgenson transfers to the new unit, he catches a ride on one of the scout
helicopters, which is making a mail run. The gunner is a young Staff Sergeant
named Chris Gray. Jorgenson is assigned the observer's seat and the pilot, CWO
Tad Yanika, suggests that Jorgenson join the scouts. Here's Jorgenson's take on
the helicopter in which Chris Gray flies and fights.
"For all the glamorous notions, the small helicopters were little more than
fiberglass and paper-thin metal. Their mission was to fly at tree-top level and
draw enemy fire for the gunships circling above. The system worked well when
things went according to plan, but the Loaches [the small LOH copters]
frequently took hits and fell in flames to the jungle below. I'd heard their
casualty rate was high, and sitting in the front of the helicopter, it was easy
to see why...
"A few minutes later, Chris Gray, the doorgunner, came running back, carrying
another mailbag and a small cardboard box...
"Hey, Chris [said Yanika], Jorgenson here may be interested in coming over to
the scouts."
"Is that right?" Chris asked when I told him I was considering it.
"I don't really have any flight time," I said.
"No sweat, GI," he said, laughing. "After a few months with us, you'll be an ace
aviator, courtesy of Apache Troop." After a stomach-wrenching take-off, CWO
Yanika forces Jorgenson to try the controls, and soon Jorgenson is relieved to
give them back. However, Gray, without formal flight training, knows how to fly
the chopper, since scout pilots often taught their crewmen to fly in case they,
the pilots, were hit.
Not long after Jorgenson joins his new outfit, a siren at the base sends them
scrambling for the Huey "lift" helicopters. Cobra gunship helicopters provide
protection. A scout helicopter has been shot down near the Cambodian border.
After frantic action to drive away any lurking enemy forces, the Hueys land and
Jorgenson and the others rush 100 yards through the jungle to the burning scout
helicopter. The three crewmen are dead: Yanika, Kaletta, and Gray.
Kippy is buried at Ft. Lawton Military Cemetery in Seattle.
Acceptable Loss, pp. 79-98