Grady Isaiah Carriker Jr

Captain Grady Isaiah Carriker Jr was killed in action on December 13, 1967 in a helicopter crash near Chu Lai, Vietnam during the Vietnam War.  He was 27 years old.

Grady Isaiah Carriker Jr  was born on June 29, 1940 in Oak Hill, Granville County, North Carolina, the son of Grady Isaiah Carriker and Myrtle Watkins Carriker.  He graduated from Zeb Vance High School in Vance County and attended Louisburg and Wake Forest colleges before enlisting in the U.S. Army.

Capt. Carriker trained at Fort Jackson, South Carolina; and Fort Gordon, Georgia and graduated from the Provost Marshals School.  Stationed in France as a Military Policeman, he met a French girl, Helen Caseneuve, while in the hospital there and married her.  They were stationed in Germany in 1963 when their son, Cameron,  was born. After returning to the United States, Carriker was stationed at Fort Benning, Georgia and completed Officer Candidate School.  He was commissioned a Second Lieutenant and subsequently promoted to Captain.

Capt Carriker was deployed to Vietnam in November, 1967 serving with the  1st Battalion, 46th Infantry Regiment, 196th Light Infantry Brigade which was deployed north of Chu Lai and patrolled from Hill 54, Hill 69 and LZ Baldy in Quang Tin Province.

On December 13, 1967, a UH-1D Huey Gunship from the 176th Attack Helicopter Company lost its tail rotor coming off a hilltop outside Chu Lai. The aircraft nosed over, spun, crashed, and burned. Four crew members and two passengers, including Capt. Carriker, were killed in the crash.

Captain Grady Isaiah Carriker, Jr. is buried in Mountain Creek Baptist Church Cemetery, Granville County, North Carolina.  His name is inscribed on panel 31E, line 086 of the Vietnam Memorial Wall in Washington D.C 

Last edited: 13 May 2026