SPECIALIST FOURTH CLASS ISAIAH ANTHONY DOBBINS was born on January 29, 1944 to Mr. and Mrs. Isaiah Dobbins. Known to friends and family as "Pete", he grew up in Magnolia NJ, and graduated from Sterling High School in 1963, where he played center on the varsity football team. He enlisted in the Army and trained as am aircraft mechanic. Isaiah Dobbins planned for a career in aircraft maintenance when he finished his enlistment.

Specialist Fourth Class Dobbins began his tour of duty in Vietnam on April 26, 1966, one week after his wedding. On February 7th, UH-1C helicopter #(64-14153) lost power and crashed into a river on take off from a refueling pad 30 miles southwest of Saigon. Specialist Fifth Class Willard A. Godfrey, the crew chief, and Specialist Fourth Class Dobbins, the gunner on this mission, were killed. The pilots, Captain J. L. Hill and Lieutenant William Robertson escaped without major injuries.

Isaiah Dobbins was brought home and buried at Beverly National Cemetery. He was survived by his parents, then of Somerdale NJ, his wife, Lois L. Dobbins of 724 Primas Court, Camden NJ, and two stepchildren. He also left two brothers, Wallace K. and Jerome Dobbins, both of whom were then on active duty, in Hawaii and Japan respectively; and three sisters.

Isaiah Dobbins and Willard Godfrey are forever linked, appearing next to each other on the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington DC. 

"Pete", as he was fondly known as, was a loving and wonderful husband and stepfather who brought about many great changes in my children and my life.  We loved him dearly.

Written by Lois L. Dobbins, Wife
May 14, 2004

ISAIAH ANTHONY DOBBINS
is honored on Panel 15E Line 004 of
the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

Helicopter UH-1C 64-14153

Information on U.S. Army helicopter UH-1C tail number 64-14153
The Army purchased this helicopter 1165
Total flight hours at this point: 00000589
Date: 02/07/1967
Incident number: 670207091ACD Accident case number: 670207091 Total loss or fatality Accident
Unit: 162 AHC
South Vietnam
Number killed in accident = 2 . . Injured = 2 . . Passengers = 0
costing 217679
Original source(s) and document(s) from which the incident was created or updated: Defense Intelligence Agency Helicopter Loss database. Army Aviation Safety Center database. Also: OPERA (Operations Report. )

Crew Members:
AC O2 ROBERTSON NW
P O3 HILL JL
CE SP4 DOBBINS ISAIAH ANTHONY KIA
G SP5 GODFREY WILLARD ANSEL KIA

Accident Summary:

The aircraft crashed into the river on take-off

War Story:
Although this helicopter was written off from this incident, it was later rebuilt and returned to service

This record was last updated on 05/25/1998

The following is crew member information for this incident:

Name: SP4 Isaiah Anthony Dobbins
Status: Killed In Action from an incident on 02/07/1967 while performing the duty of Crew Chief.
Age at death: 23.0
Date of Birth: 01/29/1944
Home City: Magnolia, NJ
Service: regular component of the U.S. Army.
Unit: 162 AHC
Major organization: other
Service: U.S. Army.
The Wall location: 15E-004
Aircraft: UH-1C tail number 64-14153
Service number: 12730818
Country: South Vietnam
MOS: 67B20 = O-1/U-6 Airplane Repairman
Major attributing cause: aircraft connected not at sea
Compliment cause: drowning
Vehicle involved: helicopter
Position in vehicle: door gunner
Started Tour: 04/26/1966
"Official" listing: helicopter air casualty - other aircrew
Length of service: 01
Location: Unknown Province
Reason: aircraft lost or crashed
Casualty type: Non-hostile - died while missing
married male U.S. citizen
Race: Negro
Relgion: Methodist (Evangelical United Brethren)
The following information is secondary, but may help in explaining this incident.
Category of casualty as defined by the Army: non-battle dead Category of personnel: active duty Army Military class: enlisted personnel
This record was last updated on 08/27/1997

Name: SP5 Willard Ansel Godfrey
Status: Killed In Action from an incident on 02/07/1967 while performing the duty of Gunner.
Age at death: 29.3
Date of Birth: 10/26/1937
Home City: Milton Junction, WI
Service: regular component of the U.S. Army.
Unit: 162 AHC
Major organization: other
Service: U.S. Army.
The Wall location: 15E-004
Aircraft: UH-1C tail number 64-14153
Service number: 16512108
Country: South Vietnam
MOS: 11B10 = Infantryman
Major attributing cause: aircraft connected not at sea
Compliment cause: drowning
Vehicle involved: helicopter
Position in vehicle: crew chief
Started Tour: 04/30/1966
"Official" listing: helicopter air casualty - other aircrew
Length of service: 01
Location: Unknown Province
Reason: aircraft lost or crashed
Casualty type: Non-hostile - died while missing
single male U.S. citizen
Race: Caucasian
Relgion: Protestant - no denominational preference
The following information is secondary, but may help in explaining this incident.
Category of casualty as defined by the Army: non-battle dead Category of personnel: active duty Army Military class: enlisted personnel
This record was last updated on 08/27/1997

Information on U.S. Army helicopter UH-1C tail number 64-14153
Date: 10/31/1968
South Vietnam
UTM grid coordinates: YS679912
Original source(s) and document(s) from which the incident was created or updated: Defense Intelligence Agency Helicopter Loss database. Also: OPERA (Operations Report. )
Loss to Inventory