Joseph David Puggi was born on November 21, 1946. His home of record is Pleasantville, NJ.

He entered the US Army and was assigned to the 1st Cavalry Division. He attained the rank of Sergeant First Class (SFC).

Puggi was listed as missing in action on February 2, 1968.

Synopsis (from the POW Network) as to the circumstances behind being listed as MIA:
Puggi was listed as missing in action on February 2, 1968, after the helicopter he was on crashed roughly twelve miles north of Da Nang, South Vietnam. Puggi was one of five men aboard the UH1H helicopter that departed Camp Evans in Quang Tri, South Vietnam for Chu Lai, South Vietnam. The personnel aboard the aircraft were all members of B Troop, 1st Squad, 9th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division. During a ground radar controlled approach to Da Nang Airbase, the controller lost contact with the helicopter and subsequently lost radar contact.

On May 28, 1968, a crashed and burned UH1H helicopter was located in the approximate vicinity and a search party recovered an ID tag belonging to SFC Pringle, one of the men on the helicopter with SFC Puggi. All human remains were given to the US Army Mortuary but were determined to be unidentifiable. All five men aboard the aircraft are carried on the rolls of the Department of Defense as Missing-Presumptive Finding of Death, Body not Recovered.

Sources: POW Network and NJVVMF.
12/17/2024