Soph photo Christopher James "Kippy" Gray, '67 SSGT Army Died Dec. 21, 1969 Tay Ninh Province       Back

In the book Acceptable Loss, An Infantry Soldier's Perspective, by Kregg Jorgenson, a Seattle boy who went to Vietnam as a 19-year-old, there are several references to a helicopter gunner named Chris Gray, whom we take to be Kippy Gray of Queen Anne High School. Two weeks before Christmas, 1969, Jorgenson, who had just won a Silver Star as a member of a Ranger LRRP (Long Range Reconnaisance Patrol), transferred to A Troop, a company of the 1st of the 9th Cavalry, stationed in Tay Ninh Province, bordering Cambodia, where his infantry platoon's tasks include attacking enemy forces discovered by 3-man scout helicopters, and rescuing downed helicopter crews. As Jorgenson transfers to the new unit, he catches a ride on one of the scout helicopters, which is making a mail run. The gunner is a young Staff Sergeant named Chris Gray. Jorgenson is assigned the observer's seat and the pilot, CWO Tad Yanika, suggests that Jorgenson join the scouts. Here's Jorgenson's take on the helicopter in which Chris Gray flies and fights. "For all the glamorous notions, the small helicopters were little more than fiberglass and paper-thin metal. Their mission was to fly at tree-top level and draw enemy fire for the gunships circling above. The system worked well when things went according to plan, but the Loaches [the small LOH copters] frequently took hits and fell in flames to the jungle below. I'd heard their casualty rate was high, and sitting in the front of the helicopter, it was easy to see why... "A few minutes later, Chris Gray, the doorgunner, came running back, carrying another mailbag and a small cardboard box... "Hey, Chris [said Yanika], Jorgenson here may be interested in coming over to the scouts." "Is that right?" Chris asked when I told him I was considering it. "I don't really have any flight time," I said. "No sweat, GI," he said, laughing. "After a few months with us, you'll be an ace aviator, courtesy of Apache Troop." After a stomach-wrenching take-off, CWO Yanika forces Jorgenson to try the controls, and soon Jorgenson is relieved to give them back. However, Gray, without formal flight training, knows how to fly the chopper, since scout pilots often taught their crewmen to fly in case they, the pilots, were hit. Not long after Jorgenson joins his new outfit, a siren at the base sends them scrambling for the Huey "lift" helicopters. Cobra gunship helicopters provide protection. A scout helicopter has been shot down near the Cambodian border. After frantic action to drive away any lurking enemy forces, the Hueys land and Jorgenson and the others rush 100 yards through the jungle to the burning scout helicopter. The three crewmen are dead: Yanika, Kaletta, and Gray.   Acceptable Loss, pp. 79-98