Russell Leo Klein

Russell Leo Klein was raised in Iowa County in the rural town of Marengo. In the Air Force, he was crewman aboard a C-7 Caribou military transport plane. MSGT Klein was flying out of Pleiku, South Vietnam in a squadron of 18 C-7s. In April 1970 the Army base Dak Seang Camp was attacked by North Vietnamese forces. The siege lasted for five weeks and the camp could only be supplied via air drop. During the afternoon of April 4, 1970 MSGT Klein’s aircraft along with four other planes were dropping supplies to the besieged soldiers at Dak Seang Camp when Klein’s C-7 was shot down. The plane crashed several miles from the American base and his body was not recovered until August 1970. All three crewmen were killed. MSGT Klein’s body was returned to Iowa and buried at the Odd Fellows Cemetery in Marengo. He was 31 years old at the time of his death and he left behind a wife and three sons.