Complex sentence: Following Khe Sanh, Dabney was nominated for the Navy Cross for his actions on Hill 881 South, but his battalion executive officer's helicopter carrying the nomination papers crashed--and the papers were lost.
Split into simpler sentences: Following Khe Sanh, Dabney was nominated for the Navy Cross for his actions on Hill 881 South. But his battalion executive officer's helicopter carrying the nomination papers crashed--and the papers were lost.