Bobby left a wife and 2 daughters. His wife passed away in early 2017. As of October 2017, the state of Illinois along with the Vietnam Wall researchers are still looking for a photo of Bobby. Date of birth: 20 February 1935 Date of casualty: 29 November 1970 Home of record: Gladstone, Oregon and Waukegan, Illinois Branch and Rank: Air Force, Senior Master Sergeant Unit: 315TH CONSOL MAINT SQDN, 315TH SPECIAL OPS WING, 7TH AF Awards: National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, Vietnam Campaign Medal Location of name on the Vietnam Wall: 6W, 95
Location of service: Nihn Thuan Province, South Vietnam Non-Hostile, Died While Missing, Air Crash
Schools attended: Hurst-Bush High School, Illinois Burial location: Willamette National Cemetery Memorials: Vietnam Veterans Memorial (Washington, DC), Oregon Vietnam Veterans Memorial (Portland)
Served with Sgt. Bobby Seay I served with Sgt. Seay in Germany at Spangdahlem AFB. We were in the 49th TFW assigned to the electrical shop and much of our work was with the F4 Phantom. I didn't know him very well, but I knew him to be a dedicated airman. Sometimes a group of us would meet up after work at the Rod & Gun Club on base for a beer. ********************************************************************
Final Mission of SMS Bobby D. Seay On November 29, 1970, a USAF C-123K Provider (#54-0649), Flight Bookie 540, from the 310th Tactical Airlift Squadron, was on a routine milk run (passenger) mission from Phan Rang to Cam Rahn Bay when it crashed into a mountain ridge 14 miles outside Cam Rahn Bay. The Provider crashed in poor weather, striking high ground at an altitude of 2700 feet in thick clouds. On board the aircraft were 44 people, consisting of 5 crewmen and 39 passengers. There were 32 U.S. military and 12 South Vietnamese. Two ARVN survivors were found five days later walking toward a road. The crash site was located after a week on December 5th by U.S. Army Rangers and South Vietnamese Rangers. They found two U.S. survivors, CAPT Vincent J. Fairbrother Jr. and SGT Gary Aldredge, who endured the week with no food or water. Thirty U.S. military plus ten ARVN troops were killed. The lost crew included pilot CAPT Cecil G. Moyer Jr., co-pilot 1LT James F. Saxby, and crewmen SSGT Grayson H. Newberry, SSGT Harry A. Watson, and CAPT Norbert A. Podhajsky. The U.S. passengers killed were SGT Jack R. Gibbs, TSGT Robert B. Johnson, SGT James E. Stubblefield, SMS Bobby D. Seay, SSGT James C. Starnes, 1LT Elmon C. Caudill III, 1LT Jon M. King, PVT Gary Anderson, A1C James B. Young, CWO Franklin D. Defenbaugh, SP4 Samuel A. Grayson III, SP4 Charles A. Johnson, SP4 Donald A. Slate, 1LT Charles L. Kollenberg, SGT Ronnie C. Teschendorf, SP4 George Beedy, SGT Billy J. Hogan Jr, SGT Raymond H. Gray, SGT Joseph C. Blackwell, PFC Joseph A. Jacques, PFC Arthur J. Menn, SP4 Ronald R. Greenhouse, SSGT Ralph S. Guck, CAPT William D. Kennedy III, and CAPT Robert J. Polniak. [Taken from c123sinsea.org, bswett.com]
Southern Illinoisan, Tuesday, April 12, 1955 Hurst Airman in Oregon A-3C Bobby D. Seay, Hurst, has reported for duty with the 497th Fighter Interceptor Squadron at Portland, Ore. An electrician, Seay is the nephew of Orville Fulgham, Hurst. He attended Hurst Grade and High Schools prior to entering service in 1954.
Southern Illinoisan, Wednesday, December 2, 1970 Bobby Seay: Former Area Man Aboard Missing Plane Relatives of Air Force M. Sgt. Bobby Darell Seay, 36, a former Hurst resident, have been notified he was on a plane that is missing in Vietnam. Seay was to have returned to the United States on leave Monday. Whether he was on a U.S. transport plane reported missing Friday or some other plane is not known. Contact was lost with the C-123 transport plane shortly after it took off from a base in the Central Highlands, and bad weather has prevented aircraft from making a thorough search. The plane carried 73 Vietnamese, a five-man American crew and one American military passenger. Seay’s wife, Barbara, and two daughters live in Gladstone, Ore. He was raised by his uncle, Orvel Fulgham, now living in Marion. Seay joined the Air Force in 1954 after graduating from the Hurst-Bush High School.
The Oregonian, Thursday, December 31, 1970 Gladstone GI Killed WASHINGTON (AP) – The Defense Department said Wednesday Air Force M. Sgt. Bobby D. Seay of Gladstone, Oreg., had died in the Vietnam war. Cause of death was listed as nonhostile, officials said. Seay, previously listed as missing in action, was the husband of Barbara A. Seay, Gladstone. He was the 627th Oregon serviceman to die in Southeast Asia since the war began, and the 78th this year, in the Associated Press count.
The Oregonian, Sunday, December 27, 1970 SEAY, Bobby D., 35, late of Gladstone, in Vietnam, November 29; husband of Barbara A.; father of Deborah and Kellie, all of Gladstone; son of Mrs. Bessie Billot, Waukegan, Ill.; brother of Leon Seay, Waukegan. Military services Monday, December 28, 1:30 pm, St. Stephen Lutheran Church, Gladstone. Interment Willamette National Cemetery.