Randolph Jefferson Ard

Vietnam War
Unit1st Brigade, 5th Infantry Division
RankWarrant Officer Second Class U.S. Army
Entered Service FromWest Pensacola Florida
Date of DeathMarch 7 1971
StatusRecovered
Memorialized
Courts of the Missing
Court
B
Notes
Warrant Officer, Second Class Ard was a member of Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Brigade, 5th Infantry Division. On March 7, 1971, he was the pilot of a Bell Kiowa Observation Helicopter on a flight to take Lieutenant Colonel Sheldon Burnett to a northwest corner of South Vietnam. He accidentally flew into Laos and was shot down. His remains were recovered on October 4, 2004 and identified on December 9, 2004. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.
rosetta medal
When an individual’s remains have been accounted for by the U.S. Department of Defense, a rosette is placed next to the name on the Wall/Tablet/Court of the Missing to mark that the person now rests in a known gravesite.