Raymond Terence Gadbois was born on September 15, 1949, in Clinton, Oneida County, New York. He was the son of Joseph L. Gadbois and Alicerose M. Morgan Gadbois. A graduate of Clinton Central High School, he worked at Victory Supermarket before being drafted into the Army on October 15, 1970. After training at Fort Knox, Kentucky, and Fort Lewis, Washington, he was assigned to Heavy Mortar Platoon, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment, as a Private First Class and Mortarman during the Vietnam War era.

On August 18, 1971, a U.S. Army CH-47A Chinook (tail number 66-19023) transporting troops from Ludwigsburg to the Grafenwöhr training area crashed near Pegnitz, Germany, when a decommissioned rotor blade was mistakenly reinstalled and failed mid-flight. The aircraft broke apart in the air, killing all 37 aboard, including 33 soldiers and 4 crew members, marking the deadliest peacetime U.S. military accident in
West Germany since World War II.

PFC Gadbois was among the passengers on board and now rests at Saint Mary's Cemetery, Clinton, Oneida County, New York, USA.

Source of information: www.chinook-helicopter.com, www.findagrave.com