Helicopter UH-1D 65-09841

Information on U.S. Army helicopter UH-1D tail number 65-09841
The Army purchased this helicopter 0466
Total flight hours at this point: 00001484
Date: 09/16/1968
Incident number: 68091668.KIA
Unit: 68 AHC
This helicopter was LOSS TO INVENTORY
South Vietnam
UTM grid coordinates: XT492439
Casualties = 03 DOI 01 WIA . . Number killed in accident = 0 . . Injured = 0 . . Passengers = 0
The helicopter Crashed. Aircraft Destroyed.
Both mission and flight capability were terminated.
Burned
costing 0
Original source(s) and document(s) from which the incident was created or updated: Defense Intelligence Agency Helicopter Loss database. Also: OPERA, VHCMA Pat Tompkins (Operations Report. )
Summary: Was shot up in a single ship LZ, lifted off, crashed in the trees and burned.
Loss to Inventory and Helicopter was not recovered

Crew Members:
CP WO1 PARTRIDGE NORMAN WAYNE KIA
G SP4 HERRING BRADY WILLIAM KIA
CE PFC SUMMERFIELD SAMUEL REED KIA
AC WO1 BOWERS RUSSELL WIA

War Story:
I was flying the smoke ship this day and watched this Huey go down. WO Walt Fricke was the AC on my ship. We had a third gunner on the smoke ship. I don't know his real name but his nickname was 'Whoop' because he was tall and thin like a whooping crane. We were conducting a CA for an ARVN unit near the Cambodian Border not far from Tay Ninh. It is a single ship LZ and many ships had reported taking fire coming in or going out. WO Bowers was the AC of the ship. WO Partridge had been in the unit just a few weeks. They dropped off their troops and as they lifted off we could see the fuel streaming out the bottom. We tried to call them on the radio but never got anything. At best they got a couple of hundred feet and flew a click when it looked as if Mr. Bowers was trying to settle it into the trees. The Huey hit the trees, sank down, and exploded. My ship sat down in a clearing. I and PFC Fred Jones, the gunner, went through a bunker complex (luckily no one was home) to get to the wreck. Mr. Bowers had been thrown to the front of the ship. He had been burned and gun shot wounds but was conscious. Mr. Partridge was still strapped in the aircraft and was burning. Mr. Bowers later told us that he believed the other three crew members had died from gun shots before they crashed. We only found part of one body from the two enlisted men - that part of the ship burned thoroughly. The ammo was cooking off. We left my M-60 there to help evac Mr. Bowers. Later they sent a team in to collect the bodies and they recovered my M-60. I didn't know Summerfield but I'd know Herring for a long time. He was due to DEROS in other week or so. The leaders had given him some sort of duty he didn't like, so he said he'd rather fly. Submitted by SP4 Pat Tompkins at the 2000 VHCMA Reunio

This record was last updated on 04/27/2002

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Date posted on this site: 11/07/2004

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Printed from databases on: 05/14/04

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