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Laird first enlisted in the Army on 31 December 1954.
Following completion of basic training, he went to jump
school at Ft. Campbell, KY in April, 1955 and was transferred to the
508th Army Regimental Combat Team.
In July of that year he was part of Operation Gyroscope as the 508th ARCT
deployed to Camp Chickamauga, Japan.
During July of the following year the 508th returned to Fort. Campbell, KY
and he left the service on 19 December 1957.
However, in December of 1959 he returned to the army, trained as a
helicopter pilot and was commissioned as a warrant officer (WO-1) on 24
June 1964. He was then assigned to the 7th Special Forces Group
(Airborne) at Fort. Bragg, NC.
During his second tour in Vietnam, WO Osburn's O-1 Cessna "aka Birddog" went down
in Cambodia on 21 February 1969. Whether it was due to hostile
fire or mechanical failure is unknown.
On 11 March 1969 he was one of four U.S. Army m en released by the
Cambodians.
[This is an Associated Press
file card highlighting key event dates regarding Laird's capture and
release.]
CW-4 Osburn was discharged on 28 February 1977.
He died on 2 May 2001 and was buried in Homeland
Cemetery, Webster Springs, WV. |
