Michael Dimitri Balamoti

Vietnam War
Unit41st Tactical Airlift Squadron
RankMajor U.S. Air Force
Entered Service FromGlen Falls New York
Date of DeathNovember 24 1969
StatusRecovered
Memorialized
Courts of the Missing
Court
A
Notes
Major Balamoti was a member of the 41st Tactical Airlift Squadron, Ubon Airfield, Thailand. On November 24, 1969, he was the navigator of a Lockheed Hercules Transport Aircraft (C-130A) on an operational mission near Ban Bac, while tending his wounded comrades Savannakhet Province, Laos when the aircraft was struck several times by 37mm anti-aircraft fire, burst into flames and crashed to the ground. His remains were recovered on November 15, 1993 and identified on October 2, 1995. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.
rosetta medal
When an individual’s remains have been accounted for by the U.S. Department of Defense, a rosette is placed next to the name on the Wall/Tablet/Court of the Missing to mark that the person now rests in a known gravesite.