Remains of soldier killed in Vietnam return to Indiana after 51 years

Ann (Bardach) Vollmar (LA’67) will never forget the cold January day in 1968 when an army captain from Fort Harrison knocked on the door of her family’s Westfield, Indiana, home. Her father was away in New York City for business, and her mother was still at work in downtown Indianapolis. Vollmar was home alone with her younger brother, and the two of them knew the captain’s visit must be related to their oldest brother, 1st Lt. Alan Bardach (M’66), who was fighting in Vietnam.

“I saw he had the word ‘finance’ on his uniform,” Vollmar says. “And I knew Alan was having trouble with his paychecks. So I initially thought they sent someone to take care of the paychecks. The longer we sat there, I noticed the captain was clenching his fists, and that’s when I knew.” 

The officer leapt out of his seat when Vollmar’s mother returned home from work. He informed the Bardach family that Alan was declared missing in action after a helicopter he was riding in crashed into a mountainside in a remote area near Dong Ha, Vietnam. It would take five months before the army confirmed Bardach was dead. All five crew members and 41 passengers aboard the chopper were killed in the crash. Bardach was 24 years old and had arrived in Vietnam only five weeks earlier.

“It was devastating,” says Vollmar of losing her brother, the eldest of five children. “Our father was very much into the motor speedway and racing sports. He took us to racing events every weekend so we wouldn’t be at home. He escaped that way.”

For many years, the United States Auto Club awarded the Alan Jensen Bardach Award for contributions to good citizenship and the sport of auto racing. Bardach’s father, Thornton Bardach, was a longtime Indianapolis jeweler who designed the championship ring for the winner of the Indianapolis 500. 

“My father believed for a long time that Alan would come back,” Vollmar says. “He wanted to believe that he escaped the crash, even though the army had declared him dead.”

The family attended a ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery, where a headstone was erected in Bardach’s memory. In 1988, remains recovered from the crash site were laid to rest in a group burial in Jefferson Barracks, Missouri. Recently, Bardach’s remains were matched to DNA provided by family members, and on October 3, 2019, his flag-draped casket was deplaned at Indianapolis International Airport and received by the Indiana National Guard Ceremonial Unit. Following a plane-side honors ceremony, dozens of Patriot Guard Riders escorted the hearse to Crown Hill Cemetery, where the family later held a private graveside service.

“As shocking as it was to find out there was something of Alan, 50 years later, it provided a real sense of closure,” Vollmar says. “We felt like we never had anything of him before now. We got the closure that our parents never got.”

Bardach’s siblings remember him as a hard worker and remarkable salesman at the family jewelry store as well as an affable, social man who dressed sharply and had lots of friends. Bardach chose to enroll in ROTC as an undergraduate. He was also a member of Phi Gamma Delta fraternity. His name is enshrined — along with those of 38 other Purdue students and alumni who perished in Vietnam — on a plaque displayed in the Great Hall of the Purdue Memorial Union.

Darrell Katovsich (MS M’75, MBA’77), himself a Vietnam veteran, began researching the stories behind the names on that plaque a few years ago. After decades of suppressing memories of his time fighting in Vietnam, he now feels compelled to share these stories, to ensure they will not be forgotten. The information Katovsich compiled on each casualty will be preserved in the University Archives. 

“As it was with so many Vietnam veterans, I fought the war, I came home, I hung up my uniform, and I didn’t talk about it much,” Katovsich says. “However, veterans never forget about their POW/MIA comrades. You think, ‘Why him and not me?’ I flew on helicopters just like Lt. Bardach more times than I care to remember. Hot landing zones, ambushes — it was combat every second you were on the ground. There was not one second of relief you could count on. There was never a safe moment during your tour.”

Katovsich’s tour was 12 months, and he did come home. Now, he’s dedicated to sharing the stories of his fallen comrades. Through his research, Katovsich identified five Purdue alumni who are still listed as missing in action: 1st Lt. William Bancroft Jr. (M’68), Comdr. David Greiling (AAE’57), Lt. Comdr. Kenneth Knabb Jr. (S’60), Lt. Charles Knochel (-E’60), and Maj. George Smith (ME’62). 

“There is a code in the military to ‘leave no one behind,’” Katovsich says. “For Lt. Bardach, no matter how long it took, that promise was fulfilled. And for us Vietnam veterans who survived the war, the return of his remains brings with it a small bit of closure in that chapter of our lives, too.”