Clarence Clayton West was born on September 15, 1952. He was the son of Ethel Biggs West. 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 West, who was among the passengers on board and is now buried in the Long Island National Cemetery, East Farmingdale, Suffolk County, New York, USA.

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