TBS 2-67 Cruisebook_Updated_7Jan23

M‐75
Richard Laughlin O'Leary
The following is from Dave Marshall, LtCol USMC (ret)
Dave was the pilot that lew the mission that Richard O'Leary was killed on.
From: David Marshall <olddogdrool2003@yahoo.com>
Subject: 2nd Lt. Richard L. O'Leary Class of 1966 KIA Vietnam
To: Catherine.Hurst@comcast.net
Date: Tuesday, June 1, 2010, 11:12 AM
Ms. Hurst:
After a bit of searching on the Boston College Alumni website, I found that you are the class correspondent for the
class of 1966. I had also found that Richard L. O'Leary was a member of your class. I am going to give you more detail
than you need in this email. The reason for this is that I have met so many "Wannabee Vietnam Veterans" and
scammers, that I want to include details that can be checked since you have no idea who I am.
Yesterday was Memorial Day. For some reason my thoughts turned to 2nd Lt. O'Leary. By early September 1967 he
had been an artillery Forward Observer with the 26th Marines for 6 months fighting on the ground with the infantry
in Vietnam. He had also completed Airborne Observer (A/O) school prior to deploying to Vietnam. This was an
unusual combination of skill sets. The A/O's that we got when I was flying O-1's (Bird Dog: small two seater prop
observation aircraft) either had the field experience or the school, rarely both. He met me one day at Hue Phu Bai in
the middle of the day when my O-1 was parked next to the Staff/O'Club and I was having a sandwich. He approached
me and asked if I was the pilot of the O-1. I told him that I was. He told me his background and asked if I could help
him get into the A/O program for the 3rd Marine Division. I liked him immediately. During the course of our
conversation, he told me that he had graduated from Boston College. I said that he had unusual qualifications and
that the Chief A/O, Captain Pat Carlise was a friend and that I thought that I could help him. I took his personal info
and later that week I talked to Captain Carlise. Pat said he wanted him.
Three weeks later I flew into Dong Ha (a small forward operating base near the DMZ) to pick up an A/O. It was in 25
Sept. 1967 and I was flying an O-1G (Bureau #156682 - this is from my log book). About half the time I flew alone and
the other half with an A/O. They both had their advantages. Anyway, this day when I landed Lt. O'Leary walked out
to fly his first mission and, by coincidence it was with me. We flew all along the DMZ and briefly into North Vietnam
controlling some Air Force F-4's. We had been flying about 3 hours and I could see that already Richard's situational
awareness was superior to most of the A/O's that I flew with. We were about half way between Gia Lin and Con Thien
and about 2 kilometers north of the fire break near grid coordinates YD-1375 (again from my log book). We got hit 3