The chapel at Lincoln Memorial Cemetery holds 216 seats. On Monday at 10 a.m., nearly all were filled, as the Lincoln community came together to honor the memory of a fallen soldier lost in a war more than 50 years ago.
Chief Warrant Officer 3 Larry Alfred Zich, a Lincoln pilot who went missing in action in 1972 during the Vietnam War, was commemorated and buried Monday in a memorial service with full military honors.
Officiated by the Nebraska National Guard, the ceremony was attended by Zich’s family and friends, along with members of the Patriot Guard Riders, VFW Post 4626, American Legion Post 3, Nebraska Veterans Affairs and the Daughters of American Revolution-Deborah Avery Chapter.
Shortly before service began, as family, friends and community members huddled inside the funeral home lobby, members of the Patriot Guard Riders, each holding an American flag, lined the entrance outside.
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As mourners began to take their seats, Zich’s sister, Waltina “Tina” Mueller, and widow, Debbie Zich Peters, were visibly emotional in the front row.
Zich was described as loving, caring and brave — but almost above all, as playful.
“Larry was known to make sure everyone was smiling,” said Chaplain Jillian Peterson, who officiated the ceremony. “When he was cracking jokes or plotting a playful prank, he did it with the utmost care of the people around him.”
Born April 3, 1948, Zich, a native of Sturgis, South Dakota, went missing on April 3, 1972 — his 24th birthday — when the Huey helicopter he was co-piloting got lost along with three other crewmen during a combat support mission that departed Marble Mountain in Da Nang, South Vietnam.
At the time, neither Zich’s remains nor the helicopter were recovered. In 1988 a Vietnamese refugee brought the Defense Intelligence Agency nine sets of human remains from individuals who reportedly died in an aircraft crash and were buried in Quang Nam province. One set of those remains belonged to Zich. But it wasn’t until Oct. 25, 2022 — nearly 35 years later — that the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency conclusively confirmed that they were Zich's remains.
“Sad" and “relieved” is how Mueller described Monday’s service.
“There’s still questions,” she said.
Toward the back of the chapel, a table displayed Zich's memorabilia: graduation certificates, diplomas, photographs, cameras and Zich’s old flight gloves.
When the chapel service was over, mourners proceeded outside to Zich’s gravesite, where he received full military honors and Peterson read her final remarks, followed by a prayer and a salute. A flyover by a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter was done by the National Guard.
For Genenne Gibson Didier, an old friend and neighbor of the Zichs, Monday’s service represented progress.
“It’s one more step (forward) for everyone,” Didier said.
Didier, who was 10 years old in 1972, had fond memories of the Zichs, including when Larry’s father, Walter, attended one of her birthday parties.
“I invited him to my birthday party when I was 5 years old and he came in a suit,” Didier said. “Very close family and very sweet.”
And 51 years after his disappearance in South Vietnam, Larry Alfred Zich — father, brother, friend — is finally home.
"This one is kind of special," said Jim Mather, a ride captain with the Patriot Guard Riders. "Another name comes off the wall."