Jon Owen Osheim

Jon Owen Osheim
U.S. Army
Private First Class (PFC) [E-3]
Biography:
Jon Owen Osheim graduated from Story City High School in the class of 1961. He attended Waldorf College for one year then transferred to the University of Northern Iowa. He graduated UNI with a degree in Social Sciences and English. After graduation he taught at Lincoln Junior High School in Kenosha, WI. His students remembered him fondly and described Mr. Osheim as “gentle” and “well liked.” He was drafted by the Army in June 1968 and was sent to Vietnam in December of the same year. Osheim was a lifelong member of the Saint Petri Lutheran Church in Story City, in the Army he worked as a Chaplain’s Assistant. On January 16, 1969 PFC Osheim was killed in a helicopter accident. He was a passenger aboard a UH-1H Huey Helicopter that was attempting to transport a playground teeter-totter, which the Army had constructed for a Vietnamese orphanage. The teeter-totter was being lifted by the helicopter when the load began to violently shift from side-to-side. The sling load rope made contact with the tail rotor of the helicopter causing the aircraft to spin. The teeter-totter detached and fell to the ground, unable to stabilize the chopper the pilot notified air traffic control they were going down. All seven passengers and crewmen were killed in the crash. PFC Osheim was 25 years old at the time of his death. He posthumously received the Bronze Star. His body was returned to Iowa and buried at the Story City Cemetery.
County:
Story
City of EntryStory City
Conflict/Time PeriodVietnam War
Service Location
Organization(s)
Separation StatusKilled In Action (KIA)
Specialty/Rate
Specific Jobs