The White Falcon - 08.05.1965, Síða 1

AFWL’s Eighth Ranked Sea Service Newspaper - 1964
THE WHITE
U.S. NAVAL STATION, KEFLAVIK INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, ICELAND
Volume IV, Number 17 Saturday, May 8, 1965
Capt Robert R. Sparks Dies
In Helicopter Disaster
En Route To Naval Station
Capt Robert R. Sparks
Lt. Col. Arthur E. House, Jr.
Colonel House Among Five Killed
In Flight From Hvalf jordur
A Sikorsky SH-34-J helicopter crashed and burned seven miles east of the Naval
Station about 7 p.m. May 1, taking the life of the Naval Station’s commanding officer,
Capt Robert R. Sparks.
Also killed were: Lt. Col. Arthur E. House, Jr., commanding officer of the Marine Bar-
racks; John M. Brink, an American civilian and Special Services officer for the Naval
Station; Lt Clinton L. Tuttle, pilot of the helicopter and the naval station’s personnel
officer, and Aviation Machinist’s Mate Billy W. Reynolds, the aircraft’s plane captain.
There were no other passengers in the helicopter.
The craft was returning to the Naval Station from Hvalf jordur, located about 85
miles northeast of Keflavik, when1®*
the crash occurred.
Cause of the crash is not known.
An investigation is underway to
determine the cause.
Captain Sparks, 46, a qualified
Naval aviator, received his com-
mission in October 1941. He re-
ported as commanding officer of
the Keflavik Naval Station from
the Industrial College of the
Armed Forces in August 1964.
During World War II, the cap-
tain saw service in the Pacific
with the original “Black Cats”
of Aircraft Patrol Squadron 44—
before and during the' battle of
Midway—and with Patrol Squad-
rons 54 and 13. Later, while as-
signed to the Task Group, he
participated in the assault of
Tarawa. When the island was se-
cured, he moved ashore for staff
duty with the first island com-
mander.
Sparks’ Family
Captain Sparks is survived by:
his wife, Marjorie; a son, Robert
R. Jr., 18, and two daughters,
Leslie, 15 and Nancy, 11.
Lt. Col. A.E. House, Jr., 41,
was commissioned in the U.S.
Marine Corps in October 1942.
Before reporting as commanding
officer of the Marine Barracks
here in July 1963, he was as-
signed to U.S. Marine Corps
School at Quantico, Va. He was
a veteran of the Korean Conflict
and was awarded 10 decorations,
including the Bronze Star Medal.
Colonel House is survived by:
his wife, Caroline; a son, Steven,
15, and a daughter, Karen, 12.
Brink, 39, first
came to Iceland
in 1948 as an
employee with
the Lockheed
Aircraft Corp. In
1950 he took a
job with Met-
calfe, Smith and
Beck Construc-
tion Company
and, in 1956, 1
started working for the Air Force Helicopter Training Squadron 8,
Transportation Squadron at
Keflavik.
When the Navy took over host
responsibilities here in 1961,
Brink’s Family
Brink was hired by the Navy. He
worked first as an administrative
assistant, then later as branch
manager in the admin division of
Public Works before transferring
to Special Services.
Brink is survived by: his wife,
Patricia; a daughter, Jane Emily,
8 months, and six children by a
previous marriage.
Lieutenant
Tuttle, 32, enter-
ed the Navy as
an enlisted man
in September
1951. In 1956 he
entered the Na-
val Reserve Offi-
cers’ Training
Corps (NROTC)
at Tufts College,
Medford, Mass.,
and was commissioned that same
year.
He reported as personnel offi-
cer of the Naval Station from
Ellyson Field, Pensacola, Fla.
Tuttle’s Family
He is survived by: his wife,
ElseMerethe, and a son, Clinton, 4.
Reynolds, 27, enlisted in the
Navy in March 1955. Before re-
porting for duty in the Aviation
Maintenance Division (AMD) of
the Keflavik Naval Station i n
November 1964, he was assigned
to the U.S. Naval School Com-
mand, Memphis, Tenn.
Reynolds was not married.
Religious Services
Religious services for the dead
were held at the Naval Station
Chapel Tuesday afternoon.
Among the hundreds of mourn-
ers attending the services were
Prime Minister Bjarni Benedikts-
son, U.S. Ambassador to Iceland
James K. Penfield and Com-
mander, Iceland Defense Force
RAdm Ralph Weymouth.
Navy-Marine Guards
A Marine Color Guard and
Navy-Marine Honor Guard ren-
dered honors for the dead before
the services began. The Navy
Band also participated.
DOWNED HELICOPTER—The still smoking cabin section destroyed by
the crash and fire, only the tail section of a Keflavik Naval Station heli-
copter remains intact after a disaster claimed the lives of all those
aboard it Saturday evening.