JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — U.S. Army Pfc. Robert E. Tyner, a 20-year-old Jacksonville native killed during the Vietnam War, is being laid to rest Friday in his hometown.
Tyner died following a 1968 helicopter crash. Decades after the initial recovery efforts, additional remains recovered from the crash site were identified as his, enabling his return to Florida for burial.
On Feb. 19, 1968, Tyner was a patient undergoing medical evacuation aboard a CH-53A Sea Stallion helicopter, according to the U.S. Department of War. The aircraft was carrying a five-member crew and six passengers when it crashed. A U.S. Marine Corps Search and Rescue team located the crash site on June 21, 1968.
Searchers were unable to conclusively determine individual identities from the comingled human remains recovered at the scene. Those remains were interred in a group burial on Sept. 10, 1968, at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery in St. Louis, Mo.
Search teams recovered additional remains from the crash site during investigations in January 1993 and May 2000. Subsequent testing identified some of those remains as Tyner’s.
His funeral is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. Friday at Blanding Boulevard Baptist Church. Interment will follow at Riverside Memorial Cemetery, 7242 Normandy Blvd., Jacksonville.
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