Rutherford James “Jim” Welsh was born on June 9, 1942, in Scarborough, Ontario, Canada. He was the son of Rutherford John Welsh and Lillian Rose Rivers Welsh. At the time of his death, Rutherford was serving in the 82nd Aviation Battalion, 173rd Airborne Brigade, as a Warrant Officer. He was Killed in Action on July 27, 1966, in Vietnam, in a non-hostile air crash.

On July 27, 1966, the U.S. Army helicopter UH-1D tail number 64-13571 from A Company, 82nd Aviation Battalion, was participating in a troop lift of members of C Company, 4/503rd, when the aircraft suffered a mechanical failure and crashed. The helicopter was the #8 aircraft in the middle of a formation when it suddenly went nose-up and inverted in a loop over the top of the flight. It was almost back to level when it exploded on impact into trees. Eyewitnesses claimed to have seen what looked like two people exit the aircraft just before impact. First responders on the ground were kept 30-50 meters away from the flaming wreckage by the heat and the rounds exploding in the jungle. Trees and brush were reportedly shredded by M60 ammo boxes cooking off. Mortar and M-79 rounds were also detonating. Four crewmen and six passengers were killed in the crash. The lost crewmen included aircraft commander WO1 Rutherford J. Welsh, pilot WO1 Joseph C. Sampson Jr., crew chief SP5 Harold W. Reinbott Jr., and gunner PFC James W. Collins. The lost passengers were SSGT Joseph F. Hunt, PFC Joe D. Kegley, PFC Melvin W. McDowell, PFC Carlos D. Moore, PFC Jerry L. Schemel, and PFC James L. McCrystal.

Source of information: coffeltdatabase.org, vhpa.org, www.vvmf.org, www.findagrave.com