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July 23

Michael Farrow in Vietnam?

i discovered on Wikipedia that Mia Farrow's brother Michael died at the age of 19yrs..seen a photo online of a soldier wearing a helmet, and military uniform, that may have been him. born in 1939, i assumed he may have served in Vietnam?..Mia Farrow's Wikipedia article however, says her brother Michael died in a plane crash, near Pacoima, California, in 1958? did Michael Farrow serve in Vietnam? and did he die in Vietnam? or did he die in a plane crash in California? Gfigs (talk) 08:31, 23 July 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Details of the plane crash and a contemporary press clipping are here.

Conscription in the United States says "From 1940 until 1973, during both peacetime and periods of conflict, men were drafted to fill vacancies in the United States Armed Forces that could not be filled through voluntary means". The Military Selective Service Act of 1948 made the induction age 18½ for a period of 24 months, so it seems likely that Michael was still serving at the time of the crash. Alansplodge (talk) 10:50, 23 July 2021 (UTC)[reply]

This Tweet from Mia says that he was a US Marine. I'm fairly certain that the Marines were all volunteers and didn't accept conscripts, so ignore the second part of my last post. Alansplodge (talk) 10:54, 23 July 2021 (UTC)[reply]

hi @Alansplodge:, thank you..looks like he may have been learning how to fly privately..maybe thinking of the air force?.whilst in training, within the Marines in US, when crash of two planes happened. Mia would have been about 13yrs of age, at the time.. Gfigs (talk) 12:46, 23 July 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, the rest of family was in Spain at the time where her father was directing John Paul Jones (film) in which she had a brief part. Alansplodge (talk) 15:28, 23 July 2021 (UTC)[reply]

The newspaper writeups indicate he was a college student at the time. He was also a student pilot, but an instructor was flying the plane. The other small plane had a lone flyer, and all three were killed after a head-on collision on a sunny day in the San Fernando Valley. There is no indication that he was in the military at the time. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 15:30, 23 July 2021 (UTC)[reply]

newspaper says he returned to US to "complete service" in the Marines..so possibly he had started service before they moved to Spain? Gfigs (talk) 17:42, 23 July 2021 (UTC)[reply]