David Wayne Stover was born on December 4, 1948, in Hagerstown, Washington County, Maryland. He was the son of Henry Franklin Stover and Marie Snyder Stover. He graduated from North Hagerstown High School in 1966 and went on to work for Potomac Edison Co. before entering the Army in 1970. Since January 1971, he had been stationed near Stuttgart. He was also an assistant scoutmaster of Troop No. 2 and a member of the Antietam Fire Company. He served in the Heavy Mortar Platoon, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment, as a Private First Class and Mortarman during the 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 Stover, who was among the passengers on board and is now buried in the Rest Haven Cemetery, Hagerstown, Washington County, Maryland, USA.

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