Dave grew up in Brookline, MA, hometown of another American combat hero, John F. Kennedy. Dave shared a big house with parents, grandmother, uncle and 4 siblings. Sister Pam characterizes Dave as "my hero, my protector, my 'tormentor' and my partner in crime. There was always fun to be had when he was around." She didn't see him as much once he got his 1934 Ford with a rumble seat. He always seemed to be at the center of things as "people were drawn to his charm and dazzling smile."                                                                                         

In high school, Dave was active in football, basketball, and track. At the academy he played lacrosse and was on the Religious Counsel, and the Ethics and Rally Committees. After graduation, Dave completed pilot training at Craig AFB, AL, and soon was a C-130 Hercules pilot at Dyess AFB, TX. In mid-1965 Dave's squadron of 15 transports deployed to Taiwan at a base commonly called CCK. This was only a few months after we started bombing North Vietnam. Forces were building in South Vietnam, but more airfields were needed. So Dave and his squadron mates would fly down to Nha Trang AB, South Vietnam for 5-day TDYs. Their job was to go to nearby Cam Ranh Bay and pick up cargo offloaded from ships in the big harbor.

According to Lowell Schroeder, "Each day we shuttled cargo . . . out to dirt strips adjacent to army bases in the interior up and down South Vietnam. We flew 4 to 8 legs (missions) a day. Long, hard, hot, humid days. But we got really good at flying our planes. Precise approaches, because the dirt strips were only 1,800 feet long. It was fun if you didn't get killed."

On 20 December Dave and his crew had flown a full day and were relaxing in their Quonset hut. A major came in saying they needed Dave's crew ". . . to suit back up and fly a night mission to Tuy Hoa, a short dirt strip." The Army base was under attack and needed supplies.

Classmate Stinky Steinbrink's crew had parking-ramp duty to help crews launch and get back off the flight line after missions. Stinky was with Dave on the crew bus that took them to the C-130, which was loaded with bladders of fuel for the beleaguered base. Stinky saw them off and later was on the ramp waiting for their return when he was told Dave's C-130 never made it to Tuy Hoa. The first landing attempt was unsuccessful on the poorly lighted strip. Coming around for another try, the Hercules exploded a few miles from the base. Some aircraft wreckage and crew remains were located within a day or so. The cockpit was missing - and remained so for 28 years. At a memorial service in Washington, D.C., Dave's parents talked to an officer from the recovery team. He said an explosion had blown the cockpit more than a mile away from the rest of the fuselage. Dave is buried at Rosecrans National Cemetery in San Diego.

"I knew Dave Wax well. Smart, funny guy."                                               Lowell Schroeder

"When we got the news that his plane had been shot down on December 20, 1965, the world became a grayer place. . .. It was a grievous loss to my family and all who knew this beautiful human being, a loss that leaves a hole in your heart forever. . .. His great spirit lives on in our hearts."       "He lives on in my son, Dave, and all the other Daves who have been named in his honor."                                                                     Pam (Wax) Bosworth