Jack Columbus
Rittichier was born on August 17, 1933, at Akron, Ohio, and
received his B.F.A. degree from Kent State University in March
1957. He received his U.S. Air Force pilot wings in December 1958
and then served as a B-47 jet bomber pilot with Strategic Air
Command. In September 1963 he accepted a commission in the U.S.
Coast Guard.
He subsequently served with the
Coast Guard at Elizabeth City, North Carolina, and Selfridge AFB.
He later volunteered for exchange duty with the U.S. Air Force
37th Aerospace Rescue Recovery Squadron in Da Nang,
Vietnam.
Of the 8,000 Coast Guardsmen
who served in Vietnam between 1965 and 1975, 12 were helicopter
and fixed-wing pilots who flew with the Air Force out of Tuy Hoa
and Da Nang, Vietnam, as well as from Thailand and the
Philippines.
On June 9, 1968, 37 miles west
of Hue, a Marine Corps fighter pilot lay on the ground with a
broken arm and leg. The marine pilot also had the further
misfortune of having parachuted into a North Vietnamese Army
bivouacking area. The enemy used the injured pilot as bait to
lure the Jolly Green Giant rescue helicopters within killing
range. Air strikes pounded the site around the downed pilot. The
first helicopter made three attempts to reach the Marine pilot
before breaking off to refuel. LT Rittichier dove his aircraft in
for the pickup. Heavy enemy fire forced him off. He swung around
to let the gunships clear the area and followed them in for
another pickup attempt. As he hovered over the pilot, bullets
punched his aircraft and it began to burn. He tried to pull away,
but the Jolly Green Giant would not rise. The helicopter settled
to the ground and exploded. Within 30 seconds a ball of fire
consumed his aircraft.
LT. Rittichier's awards include
the Silver Star, the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Purple
Heart, Air Medal with third oak leaf cluster, and the Coast Guard
Unit Commendation.
His widow, the former Carol Ann
Laux, remarried several years after his death to another Coast
Guard Aviator, John Wypick, who retired as a commander in 1980.
They currently live in Fountain Valley, California.
Source : the "Above and
Beyond" Section of the Spring 1991 edition of
Foundation