The following names belong to those of our friends who made the ultimate sacrifice and gave their lives in combat.
They have passed on to bluer skies.
Those who knew them are better people for it.
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Vietnam Memorial statue Washington, DC. by C. Hirlsto |
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Jack E. Clemmons (Crewchief), August, 1965 - KIA 18 December, 1965. UH-1D.
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Clemmons - taken just before the enemy opened fire.
by R. Ehmann
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by C. Hirlston |
Jack was a crewchief on a C&C Huey. The helicopter had landed in a quiet area so that Col Mertel and his staff could spend some time with the troops while the aircraft went to refuel. While the aircraft was on the ground, the crew was asked if they would take a wounded soldier back with them to base. Jack had gotten out of the aircraft and was helping the wounded man when the enemy opened up on them from a hill about 200 meters away. He was hit in the back in the initial attack. Though the helicopter was taking many hits (28 were counted later - one through the combustion chamber), the crew remained on the ground while some soldiers put Jack into the helicopter. Unfortunately, Jack was dead by the time they could get to the nearest aid station.
Information supplied by R. Ehmann (aircraft commander on that mission).
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Harlow G. Clark Jr. (Pilot), August, 1965 - KIA 7 March, 1966, at An Khe. OH-13S 63-09093.
Harlow was the Deputy Brigade Commander and, at the time, the acting Brigade Commander. He was flying an OH-13, taking the new CO, Col Beatty, on an aerial tour of the base camp at An Khe. He had landed in a roughly cleared area on the perimeter North of Hong Kong Mountain. When attempting to take off, the right skid of the helicopter caught under a tree root and the aircraft rolled over. A blade came through the bubble, hitting Harlow and killing him instantly.
Note : It is reported that Harlow Clark was the inventor of the aerial ladder that was used by Chinooks to retrieve and put troops on the ground from a high hover.
Information supplied by R. Ehmann & A. Smith.
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Clark's OH-13
by Al Smith |
by C. Hirlston |
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Jerry Wayne Campbell (Gunner), 3 January, 1967 - KIA 25 July, 1967. OH-13.
Campbell was flying as gunner observer on a single ship OH-13S scout mission on the Bong Song Plains north of LZ English. The crew observed a VC individual hiding in a bamboo stand. They landed and Campbell got out of the helicopter to get the guy out of the bamboo stand so he could be taken into custody. The VC threw a grenade that landed right at Campbell's feet. Shrapnel went up under Campbell's chicken plate armour, and he died of those wounds.
Information supplied by Steve Rossiter (pilot of the helicopter)
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Wayne Lanier (Pilot), August, 1967 - KIA 9 May,1968, in the Thua Thien area, just Southeast of the A Shau Valley. OH-13S 63-09097.
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Lanier & an artillery Lt. named Molinari - LZ Betty, 1968
by B. Potvin |
by C. Hirlston |
Chris Frankhauser (Gunner), January, 1968 - KIA 9 May, 1968, in the Thua Thien area, just Southeast of the A Shau Valley. OH-13S 63-09097.
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P. Bishop & Frankhauser - LZ Betty, 1968 by P. Bishop |
by C. Hirlston |
Lanier and Frankhauser were flying as part of a two ship scout team which was working its
way up the valley in front of some ground forces. The two ships were doing lazy circles to cover each other
as they worked their way up the valley. The other crew witnessed their helicopter
straighten out of its
turn, start a climb, and then spin back down into the trees where there was a
dull explosion. There was no radio transmission from them. The other scout helicopter dove to cover
the crash scene, but also came under heavy fire. They banked to get away from that area, returning fire, and
managed to get out of range of the enemy troops. They scrambled gun ships from the A Shau and directed the
soldiers on the ground to move up to where the ship had gone down. The soldiers
reported that the crew would have been killed in the crash rather than in the
after impact fire. It appeared to the other scout crew that the aircraft had come under fire,
tried to get out of the area, and that the pilot had probably been hit and
eventually lost control of the helicopter.
Information supplied by Frank Vanatta (team lead for the mission).
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John A. Berry (Pilot), MISTER CLEAN, Stingray White 35, July, 1968 - KIA 5 December, 1968, near Phuoc Long, in the Tay Ninh Province. OH-6A 67-16341.
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Taken late 1968 - the
first one probably while still at LZ Betty - the second two probably at
Tay Ninh
by H. Oberg, from friends and relatives |
by C. Hirlston |
Billy Kennedy Evans (Gunner), arrival ?? - KIA 5 December, 1968, near Phuoc Long, in the Tay Ninh Province. OH-6A 67-16341.
John Hewitt had been preparing John Berry to fly scout lead, so Berry and Bill Evans were flying lead with Hewitt and John Herndon on their wing. On the day of the incident, the two scouts were working in the Northwest corner of the Area of Operations, near the Cambodian boarder. There were several NVA camps in the area, and these had been subjected to a number of "hit and run" attacks by not only the unit's scouts but also by aircraft from other units. It seems that on this day the enemy may have been more prepared for such an event. As the scouts started to cross an open area at low level, they came under heavy fire from one of the tree lines. Berry and Evans' OH-6 was hit immediately and was seen to nose over while in a left bank, go inverted, and explode on impact. The grenades and ammunition onboard quickly began to explode in the ensuing fire, and within minutes there was nothing identifiable left of the wreckage. The bodies were never recovered.
Information supplied John Herndon, and from a letter to Bob Potvin from John Hewitt.
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(note direction of North on photo) |
map and photo at left
from the POW/MIA search group at the Pentagon
by J. Herndon
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High School photo
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by C. Hirlston |
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CPT. Elrod and LT. Stanley D. White - KIA 3 January, 1969, Hua Hghia. OH-6A 67-16062. Though these two people were not assigned to the Flying Circus, they were well known by members of the unit and they were killed in an accident involving one of the unit's OH-6's.
A Navy river boat working in the area had captured a VC soldier. One of the unit's scout teams working in the same area had been asked to transport the prisoner and two escorts to Headquarters, but they advised the boat that they did not have the payload available to carry the extra people. A pilot relatively new to the unit had recently been transitioned into the OH-6 and was flying "ash & trash" missions while he built up time in the helicopter before getting checked out in flying scouts. He was assigned to transport the prisoner, accompanied by Elrod and White, from the river boat. After departing the boat, the helicopter followed the river toward its destination. During this trip, the skid of the helicopter contacted the water and and the aircraft crashed into the river. The pilot and Elrod escaped the helicopter and began swimming toward the bank. Elrod was having trouble staying afloat because he was wearing his battle gear, so the pilot began dragging him toward the shore. Soon the pilot began to tire and was also having trouble swimming. Figuring that Elrod was so close to the shore that he could make it the rest of the way, the pilot hauled himself onto the river bank. He saw the prisoner laying on the bank a little way down the shore line, with his hands and feet still tied. He figured later that the prisoner was probably not strapped in and was thrown onto or near the shore. He turned to see if Elrod was on the shore, but he was not in sight. The river boat rescued the pilot and the prisoner, and the bodies of Elrod and White were found later.
Information supplied by Pete Anderson and Harry Oberg.
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OH-6
# 16062
by Ed Holmes |
A High School photo of B. Evans |
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Art Crosby (Pilot), CHICKENMAN, Stingray White 38, August, 1968 - KIA 1 March, 1969, near LZ Grant - North of Tay Ninh. OH-6.
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Crosby - Tay Ninh, 1968 (complete photo appears in ALBUM 1968-B)
by Ed Holmes |
by C. Hirlston |
Gregory Allen Marvin (Gunner), TINY, October, 1968 - KIA 1 March, 1969, near LZ Grant - North of Tay Ninh. OH-6. In the jovial style that was Gregory's, he also answered to the nickname FAT MARVIN, reminiscent of the "Fat Albert" character from the Bill Cosby series.
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Marvin - Tay Ninh,
January, 1969.
by Warren Lashley |
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Marvin - Tay Ninh by Ron Grossmann |
by C. Hirlston |
On the morning of 1 March, scouts from the unit were dispatched to LZ Grant at first light to help track down the enemy forces that had been repulsed on the previous night. A patrol had found signs of enemy wounded, and were tracking down this group. The scouts were to check out an area that was to be used for a large combat assault later in the morning. On the way to this location, the team came under fire from enemy emplacements along a tree line. In the ensuing engagement, both the pilot and gunner of one ship (Oberg and John Fowler) were hit, but they managed to get their OH-6 back to LZ Grant. A second scout team was dispatched to the area, lead by Art and Gregory in one of the ships. The pair of scouts landed at LZ Grant before heading out to the area where the first team came under fire. As they came into a clearing, they too came under heavy fire from an anti-aircraft emplacement. Art and Gregory's helicopter was immediately hit, and fire was seen to be coming from the engine compartment area as the ship nosed down. The helicopter hit hard, broke up and began to burn. No one was seen exiting the helicopter.
Information supplied by Harry Oberg (team lead on the first sortie) and William Van Noy (wingman on the second sortie).
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Gaylord Kerr (Gunner), RED. Gaylord arrived in Vietnam in March, 1968, and was initially assigned to an infantry unit. After extending his tour, he was transferred to the Flying Circus early in 1969 - KIA 3 June, 1969.
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Kerr - Tay Ninh,
January, 1969.
by Warren Lashley |
by M. Molinar |
Allen H. Robertson (Pilot), WHALE, March, 1969 - KIA 3 June, 1969.
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Tay Ninh, May, 1969. J. Howard, A. Robertson, M. McCann
from J. Howard, by A. Smith (SNUFFY) |
by C. Hirlston |
The unit's scouts operating in the Tay Ninh area in the first part of 1969 found that most of the enemy bunker complexes were well constructed, many with roofs reinforced with logs. The force of a hand grenade was not sufficient to open them up. Gaylord and Allen had been working on designs for an explosive device that could be dropped from a helicopter that had the power to open up these bunkers. On that fateful day, the pair were working on one of these devices when it exploded, killing them both instantly.
Information supplied by Keith Zuhlke and Cleveland Grant.
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Richard "Harry" Theodore Williams (Gunner), December, 1968 - KIA 10 July, 1969, - near Nui Ba Den. OH-6A 67-16644.
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Williams - Tay Ninh, 1969
by Bill Squire |
by C. Hirlston |
Two of the unit's scout ships were operating with an Air Force spotter plane in a hot area north of Nui Ba Den, about one to two miles south of the Cambodian border. The team engaged the NVA in order to determine the enemy's strength and exact location while the FAC prepared to call in an air strike. Both ships came under heavy fire from multiple .51 and .30 caliber machine guns, and Richard's ship was shot down. The helicopter crashed through some trees and immediately caught fire. Richard did not escape from the machine and the pilot, James Howard, received burns to over half of his body. The scout team had uncovered the NVA's attempt to mount a massive assault on a new firebase that was being inserted into the area. Three sets of air strikes were called into the area before the anti-aircraft guns were finally silenced. This was a double tragedy to the Williams household as Richard's twin brother had been killed in Vietnam some time earlier.
Information supplied by James Howard (pilot of the helicopter) and Keith Zuhlke.
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Samuel Alexander Dumas (Door gunner), July, 1969 - KIA 11 March, 1970, at LZ Flashner - North of Tay Ninh. UH-1H 68-16367.
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Dumas - Tay Ninh, 1970
by Carl Borowski |
by C. Hirlston |
Samuel was a door gunner, normally assigned to the Command & Control UH-1H 68-15722. The helicopter was down for maintenance this day, and had been replaced by 68-16367. Though the crew would have normally stayed with the helicopter while it was in maintenance, a series of events culminated in Samuel being scheduled to fly on "367" that day. The helicopter had shut down at LZ Flashner and the crew was standing by it when a series of 82mm rounds began walking their way across the Fire Base. One of the first rounds hit next to the helicopter wounding Samuel, Jeff Burke and Donald Harp. Samuel died of his wounds before he could be medivaced to a hospital.
In one of those ironic twists of fate, Jeff Burke was assigned to the HHC, 2/8 Cav and had arrived at LZ Flashner the day before where he had assumed the duties of the controller for the LZ. He was chatting with the crew of the helicopter because his brother, Ira Burke had been assigned to the Flying Circus and had left the unit only days before this event.
Information supplied by Ed Maycen, Ken Gardiner, Jon Harris and Jeff Burke.