DOB/DOD: April 13, 1944 (Detroit, MI) – November 30, 1967; 23 years old
MARITAL STATUS: Unmarried
ENLISTMENT: October 18, 1966
MILITARY OCCUPATIONAL SPECIALTY: 3443 = Operating Room Nurse
SERVICE NUMBER: N5520732
TOUR START DATE: January 27, 1967
UNIT: 67th Evacuation Hospital, 55th Medical Group, 44th Medical Brigade
CASUALTY LOCATION: Binh Dinh Province, South Vietnam
THE WALL: Panel 31E, Line 15
FAMILY: Born to Bronislaw (1913-1988) and Zuzanna Orlowski (1922-1997). One sister, Barbara M. Orlowski Bookwalter (1950-2019). One brother, Jerry (1955-).
CIRCUMSTANCES: C-7, she was a passenger on, crashed into a mountain during low visibility.
A C-7 Caribou crashed during a routine air transport flight in South Vietnam. As the aircraft approached Qui Nhon, the pilot was advised that the weather at the airfield had fallen below safety minima. He replied that he would proceed to Nha Trang, where the weather was better, but the aircraft hit a mountain at 1,850 feet about five miles south of Qui Nhon. The weather at the time consisted of low cloud and rain that reduced visibility to about two miles. The four crew and 20 passengers, including two US civilians, were killed in this accident. [Coffelt Database of Vietnam Casualties].
From The Traverse City (MI) Record on December 9, 1967
NURSE KILLED IN VIETNAM
DETROIT (UPI) – An Army nurse from Detroit died last week in a military aircraft crash in Vietnam, the third nurse killed since the war started. Lt Hedwig Diana Orlowski, 23, was listed as missing in action until the wreckage of the aircraft was found. The Defense Department gave little information on the crash. Lt. Orlowski was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Bronislaw Orlowski. She was born in Tel Aviv, Israel, and received her nursing training at Hurley Hospital in Flint. Lt Orlowski entered the U.S. Army Nurse Corps in September 1965 and went to Vietnam last June, where she was assigned to the 55th Medical Battalion.
Buried in Mount Olivet Cemetery, 17100 Van Dyke Ave, Detroit, Michigan; plot number Section L, Lot 545, Space 6. Photo from FindAGrave.com and contributor Margarite McLeod.
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