Lucky Bag Yearbook

From the 1962 Lucky Bag:

Cyrus Swan Roberts, IV

Cy was best known throughout the Brigade for his “Cy Roberts’ Previews” in the Splinter and the Log football supplement and for his professional theatrical ability demonstrated in his leads in Masqueraders’ productions for three years. During the daylight hours, he could be found actively fighting for the company and battalion football and basketball squads, doing work for the Forensic Society as a plebe, for the Foreign Relations Club as an upperclassman, floating about the Bay with the YP Squadron, or patiently working as the Literary Editor of the Lucky Bag. If seen during the evening, he was most probably on his way to a French Club meeting, Drum & Bugle Corps practice, Catholic Choir rehearsal, or a Science Seminar.

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He was also a member of the LOG staff.

Loss

Cyrus was killed while a passenger in an aircraft accident¹ in Laos on March 6, 1966. (Possibly aboard a Helio Courier operated by Air America.) He served with the 6499th Combat Support Squadron, 6499th Combat Support Group, 13th Air Force out of Takhli RTAFB, Thailand.

The exact nature of his loss is difficult to ascertain. He is listed on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, but the only sites with any details indicate it was a non-hostile helicopter crash. Some sites mention that he was involved in an operation for or with the Central Intelligence Agency. This seems plausible: He was apparently trained in escape and evasion techniques, we can find no record of the crash itself, and the unit he served with has no published history (nor can we identify more than a small handful of other members, and none from 1966). The unit was also known as, or perhaps later renamed to, the “6499th Special Activities Group.” It appears in CIA records as this, and implies it was a unit heavily involved in intelligence gathering, including specifically interrogating prisoners.

Other Information

He is survived² by his widow, Katherine H. Roberts, and daughter, Katherine D., of 315 East 80th Street, New York City: his mother, Mrs. Katherine K. Roberts of New York, and his father, Mr. Cyrus S. Roberts, III, of Long Beach, California.

Cyrus’s grandfather³ was a recipient of the Medal of Honor for action during the Spanish-American War before retiring a Brigadier General, USA. Cyrus’s great-grandfather⁴ saw significant action during the Civil War and retired a Brigadier General, USA.

Cyrus was apparently authorized to wear the Air Force Presidential Unit Citation; it’s unclear which unit that would be.

Cyrus is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Related Articles

Donald James ‘62 and Clarence Tolbert ‘62 were also in 6th Company.

Richard Whitney ‘62 and Charles Fryer ‘62 were also members of the Lucky Bag staff.

ArlingtonCemetery.net

The now-defunct site had full biographies, obituaries, newspaper articles, and the like. Cyrus’s page was indexed 37 times by the Wayback Machine over the years, but each seems to be identical:

Hi Michael:

You have a note on the biography for Cyrus Roberts as follows:

NOTE: Cyrus Swan Roberts IV, First Lieutenant, United States Air Force, a graduate of the United States Military Academy, was killed in the Vietnam War. His burial site is being investigated.

Full Name: CYRUS SWAN IV ROBERTS
Date of Birth: 3/17/1941
Date of Casualty: 3/6/1966
Home of Record: NEW YORK, NEW YORK
Branch of Service: AIR FORCE
Rank: 1LT
Casualty Country: LAOS

I have attached a photo of Cy’s marker (2-3749A) at Arlington.

I have the following from a previous publication.

Cyrus Swan Roberts ’62

Lieutenant Cyrus S. Roberts IV, USAF, was killed in a military aircraft accident in Southeast Asia on 6 March 1966.

Services and interment were held in Arlington National Cemetery.

Lieutenant Roberts, who was born in New York City, was graduated from the Naval Academy in 1962. He is survived by his widow, Katherine H. Roberts, and daughter, Katherine D., of 315 East 80th Street, New York City: his mother, Mrs. Katherine K. Roberts of New York, and his father, Mr. Cyrus S. Roberts, III, of Long Beach, California.

Your note incorrectly shows him a graduate of West Point. He was in fact a classmate of mine at Annapolis. From the photo, it would appear that his burial site is pretty clear. It is alone on the side of a hill in section 2.

Thanks for all your efforts on the web site.

Stew Lingley, October 2007, USNA 62

References