A soldier from Alexandria, VA, who went Missing In Action (MIA) during the Vietnam War when his helicopter was downed by enemy fire, got a special tribute today.
First Lieutenant Lawrence Eugene Lilly was honored at the Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial at the Mount Vernon Recreation Center in Alexandria during a ceremony at 10 am this morning. His name was inscribed on the wall at the Rocky Versace Plaza and Vietnam Veterans Memorial, which now honors the service and supreme sacrifice of 67 soldiers from Alexandria who were killed or MIA in the Vietnam War.
On March 17, 1971, when Lilly was just 25 years old, he was the co-pilot of an AH-1G Cobra helicopter in Kratie Province, Cambodia, on a visual reconnaissance mission with pilot Captain David P. Schweitzer. The two were searching for the crew of a Huey helicopter which had been shot down earlier that day when their Cobra was also downed by Viet Cong enemy fire.
