Raymond H. Cork was born on September 23, 1949. He was the son of Howard J. Cork and Florence V. McCarty Cork. He served in the Heavy Mortar Platoon, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment, as a Private First Class and Mortarman during Vietnam War era.

On August 18, 1971, a U.S. Army CH-47A Chinook (tail number 66-19023) transporting troops from Ludwigsburg to the Grafenwöhr training area crashed near Pegnitz, Germany, when a decommissioned rotor blade was mistakenly reinstalled and failed mid-flight. The aircraft broke apart in the air, killing all 37 aboard, including 33 soldiers and 4 crew members, marking the deadliest peacetime U.S. military accident in
West Germany since World War II.

PFC Cork was among the passengers on board and now rests at Churchtown United Methodist Church Cemetery, Churchtown, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, USA.

Source of information: www.chinook-helicopter.com, www.findagrave.com