Dean, from Saunemin, IL, served in the Maintenance Department of the 48th Assault Helicopter Company, 10 Batt., 1st Aviation Brigade in Vietnam. He was assigned to "Blue Star" 773, a UH1D Huey. He was a crew chief on the UH1D Huey.

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Dean states "I performed maintenance and kept the aircraft logbooks. When the Huey left the ground I was the left door gunner. We provided air combat support to the 101st Airborne as they conducted search and destroy missions and transported troops into hot landing zones. In 1967, we participated in Operation Junction City near Tay Ninh. I was wounded on February 22nd, 1967, and sent to a field hospital in Saigon. I spent the rest of 1967 in Ireland Army Hospital at Fort Knox, KY. I am retired from the Army with a disability."