Warrant Officer (JG) Louis Wilfred Heinrichs

Korea US Army 50th Transportation Company, Fort Bragg, NC Service Number: Born: June 5, 1927 Inducted: 1948 Died in crash: November 19, 1954 near Cartage, North Carolina Buried: New Hope Church Cemetery, Joes

Son of C.P. and Helen Klassen Heinrichs of Kirk. Husband of Betty Barber Heinrichs.

Wray Gazette December 9, 1954

Warrant Officer Louis Wilfred Heinrichs was born on June 5, 1927 near Kirk, Colorado the fourth son of C.P. and Helen Heinrichs, and lived there until 1944. When he was nine he was baptized.

In 1944 he moved with his parents to Reedely, California and went from there to Sacramento where he completed his high school and then attended jewelry school. He worked as a jeweler and also taught school until 1948 when the universal military training law was established and he enlisted in the Army.

He completed his basic training and also his leadership training at Fort Knox, Kentucky. In October 1948 he was sent to the Panama Canal Zone serving as a clerk and typist but went on training to increase his abilities in technical camouflage, soil testing, etc. He returned in October 1949 and was married to Betty Barber on December 22 of that year.

He was transferred to California and discharged in May, but reenlisted in August. Upon reenlistment he was stationed in Fort Riley, Kansas for 12 months. It was there that the couples first daughter, Linda Marie, was born in 1951.

In September 1951 he was sent to Korea where he served a year. After his return he was at Fort Benning, Georgia in O.C.S. until January 1954. From here he was transferred to Charleston, South Carolina where he served as Secret Civil Investigator for three months. A second daughter was born to the Heinrichs there in March.

On April 26 he came to Fort Sill, Oklahoma for helicopter flight training and graduated October 2, 1954. After graduation he was transferred to Fort Bragg, North Carolina where on November 19, 1954, at the age of 27 years, 5 months and 14 days he was killed in a helicopter crash near Carthage while returning from Lexington to Fort Bragg. The crash was due to mechanical failure.

Survivors are his wife, Betty, his two daughters, Linda Marie and Diana Lee; his parents, Mr. and Mrs. C.P. Heinrichs of Kirk; four brothers, Arthur C. of Burlington, Wesley D. of Kirk, Harold C. of Leota, Kansas and Richard J. of Hillsboro, Kansas and one sister, Katherine Heinrichs of La Junta, Colorado; his wife's parents Mr. and Mrs. C.W. McCombs and a brother-in-law Leonard Barber of Washington.

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Card of Thanks

We wish to express our deepest and sincere gratitude to all the people of the entire communities at this time of loss of our loved one W.O. (jg) Louis W. Heinrichs. Your expressions of kindness will always be remembered.
    The C.P. Heinrichs Family - Kirk, Colorado

Credits: Photo and copy of obit donated by Wes and Ann (Queen) Spencer Heinrichs.

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