Helicopter UH-1H 67-17721
Information on U.S. Army helicopter UH-1H tail number 67-17721
The Army purchased this helicopter 0868
Total flight hours at this point: 00000227
Date: 12/10/1968
Unit: 173 ABN
South Vietnam
UTM grid coordinates: BR697616
Original source(s) and document(s) from which the incident was created or updated: Defense Intelligence Agency Helicopter Loss database. Also: OPERA (Operations Report. )
Loss to Inventory
Crew Members:
AC CW2 HENDERSON WALTON
P 1LT WHITE CLIFFORD
CE SP5 COSTA NED
G SP4 STEEN JOHN
War Story:
CASPER 721 IS DOWN
December 11, 1968 began early with a flight from LZ English to LZ Uplift
where we were to fly Command and Control for the Battalion Commander
1/503, 173rd ABN. CW2 Walton Henderson (Sugar Bear) was the aircraft
Commander and myself, 1st Lt. Clifford White, with only three months in
country was flying PP. Neither one of us were supposed to be flying
this mission, however Walt lost a coin toss, and I wanted more stick
time than I had been getting. Walt was one of those AC’s that was good
to fly with, he would give you all the stick time he could, and try to
teach you something in the process. The crew chief was SP4 Ned Costa
and the door gunner was John Steen, and Casper 67-17721 was a new ship
with a little over 200 hours. We were members of Casper flight platoon
HHC 173rd Abn. Brigade Sep.
At the briefing we received specific flight routes and altitudes to
avoid artillery firing from English, An Khe, LZ Uplift, & LZ Fox.
Elements of the 1/503rd were to be inserted by the 61st AHC about 20K
Northeast of An Khe Pass at the north end of "Happy Valley". This area
was known to be an enemy strong hold. At the briefing no one had said
any thing about weapons. Since Walt had not flown in the area for the
preceding three months, he asked if there was any 51’s or heavier
anti-air craft in the area. We were advised that there were no heavy
weapons in this area, and that was the reason that the Battalion was
being lifted into this end of the valley. We were shot down later
that morning, and Walt was trapped for over seven hours before being
freed. He spent 2 and 1/2 years in the hospital prior to returning to
flight status. I only spent 3 months at Camp Zama in Japan returning to
active duty with the 29th Infantry in Hawaii, and to Viet Nam in 1971
with the 61st AHC. The crew chief and the door gunner returned to
Casper after a month at the Evac. hospital in Qui Nhon.
For 30 years some pieces of what happened that day have been unclear to
both Walt and myself. Because of the seriousness of the injuries
neither of us were able to be debriefed or talk with each other. We
finally found each other at the 1998 Viet Nam Helicopter Pilots
Association (VHPA) reunion in Ft. Worth. Walt had been to the reunion
several times prior, but this was my first. I did not know there were
reunions happening and only found out on the Internet. What follows is
from what both of us are able to remember, and from what others that
were there have told us. We are trying to locate our crew and the
others who were there to help us. We are still looking for the door
gunner to complete the crew.
Our first mission was to lift a 4.2 mortar crew to a mountaintop over
looking the AO. This went without any problems. The only interesting
point was that on the first lift while on short final to the top of a
mountain that looked like no man had ever been there the grass parted
and the LZ was leveled with sandbags and a large 1st Cav. patch painted
in the middle. We were surprised and disappointed that we weren't
first.
After the mortar crew was in place we returned to LZ Uplift, refueled
and picked up the Battalion Commander 1/503., the Artillery FO, and the
radio operator and five PRC 25’s. At 10 hundred hours we were back in
the AO. The Colonel asked us to over fly the LZ so they could get a
look. The low cloud cover and flight restrictions, due to the different
gun target lines, kept us below 1500 ft., which was causing Walt a great
deal of concern. On the first pass the LZ was on the Colonel's side and
he wanted a second pass so the FO could see the LZ. On the second pass
I was flying and Walt was turned talking to the Colonel trying to
convince him our repeated action was not the best plan, and that the
third pass the Colonel wanted to make was not going to happen. Walt had
been varying our flight path as much as he could and varied our altitude
as much as possible to make it difficult for any NVA gunners who might
be tracking us. As we crossed the LZ the second time the mortar crew
advised the FO they were ready to fire. Walt turned to take the
aircraft, all discussion was over we had to get clear. During the time
when Walt was talking to the Colonel and I was looking down at the LZ
neither one of us was looking forward and never saw the initial shell
burst. As Walt turned to take the controls and I looked up from
tracking the LZ we both saw the long smoke immediately at our twelve
o’clock and slightly higher. From our prospective it looked like a
large bird with his wings outstretched riding the updraft, about the
size of the turkey vultures we saw in Texas. At the reunion in Ft.
Worth Walt said that at that moment he was real upset at me for flying
us into the bird’s flight path. Walt took the controls and started an
evasive maneuver down and to the left.
I remember watching what we still thought was a large bird as we went
under it, and feeling like crap for making a FNG mistake, and putting us
in jeopardy. Not a second later there was a series of loud bangs, the
Huey acted like a truck with no springs going over several speed bumps
at high speed. We began flying out of trim with the nose about ten
degrees to the right and the helicopter rolled about fifteen to twenty
degrees to the left. At this point a lot happened and it all happened
at the same time. The FO was yelling cease-fire; so I shut off the FM
and his added noise. We already knew the obvious but the crew chief
yelled in the intercom that we had lost the tail rotor.
Walt said we were going in and he needed the coordinates, I looked at
the map but was too excited to quickly find our exact location, in the
same moment Walt asked me to get on the controls with him. He then put
out the first mayday call that we had a bird strike and Casper 721 was
going down. I said something I had remembered from one of my flight
instructors, "that as long as we were still flying try to keep it
flying." More a prayer than anything of substance. There was a Special
Forces base about 10k to our Southwest and Walt said he was going to try
to make it there. The Huey was so out of trim that we had to look
through the green house to see where we were going. A Huey is real hard
to fly when she wants to roll over. Walt remembers me reading the
instruments to him, repeating the air speed; we had to stay above 70
Knots. Walt was trying to nurse the aircraft through a turn that would
head us back down the valley and down to the tree tops. All this
happened in only seconds, but it seemed like minutes.
As we passed through 1000 ft. Walt remembers a bright flash but no
noise, I never saw the flash and only remember a loud explosion. Before
the sound of the explosion had gone the Huey began a violent spin. I
could not discern the sky from the ground, and don't know how many times
we went around. I remember both of us rolling the throttle off so hard
it broke the idle stop switch. We came out of the spin nose down.
Walt began a series of mayday calls, and both of us were going through
shut down, fuel and battery. Walt says he remembers looking for the
best place in the trees to crash, and planning a controlled
autorotation, however all I remember is a very rapid descent to the top
of the trees. Both of us remember that the mountains were behind us and
our autorotation was down slope, and not back into the mountain. Both
of us were on the controls, I was following every move Walt made, the
Huey was not responding, there was little if any cyclic control. The
loud noise had been a round taking out our controls; the bright flash
Walt saw was a flak round exploding somewhere to his left front … close
enough to be "the one you don’t hear is the one that gets you". Walt
told me the doctors removed parts of a fuse of a 37-mm anti-aircraft
from his leg. There had never been a large bird. Both of us remember
full aft cyclic and no flair, tried twice and still no flair. We pulled
all the collective there was with no response. The air speed and rate of
descent when we hit the trees was 70 knots, and 700 ft. /m. We ran out
of air before reaching the valley floor, and the last thing Walt and I
remember was hitting the top of a large dead tree head on.
When I came to after the crash I could hear the engine winding down, and
reached for the fuel switch only to find some grass and dirt, everything
was gone. The nose from in front of the pilot’s seats to the green
house was gone and there was a strong smell of fuel. We were standing
on our nose on a very steep slope, I was down slope and Walt was up
slope. I found a small hole and with fuel running down my back was
motivated to crawl out. Walt was pinned in the ground with the ship on
his back. The door gunner was pinned in his seat by a 6" dia. branch
pushing against his "chicken plate", which that morning Walt had to
order him wear. The crew chief had freed himself and between the two of
us we freed the door gunner.
The door gunner didn’t appear to have any other injuries, but later
found several wounds and had a very sore chest. The crew chief said he
thought he had a broken leg, plus had the carbon steel core of a armored
piercing round in his arm, which he took out. My first indication that
we had taken fire. Only later did Ned realize that he had been hit
several times and had several other injuries from the crash. I crawled
back into the Huey looking for Walt, there was not a lot of room, the
green house was caved in to the top of the seats, the transmission had
broken loose and had come forward. The toolbox, a case of "C’s", & the
Col.’s radios were on top of the back of Walt’s seat. After clearing
this mess I still hadn’t found Walt when I heard him say to get the ----
off his back. I could only see part of his face, and was able to clear
the dirt, and grass from his mouth, but other than that there was
nothing I could do. I tried to use the little 12" cutting tool with
rings on each end, which was worthless against metal. Ned joined me and
the both of us could not move the seat. The Col. was trapped with his
leg under the left side of the Huey, his shoulder was dislocated, and he
was covered in fuel. He was in a great deal of pain and would not let
anyone approach him. The radio operator was unconscious with serious
face and head injuries. I found the Artillery Lt. about 25 ft. from the
crash site wrapped in branches with only his eyes visible, however he
was conscious. It appeared that he had left the Huey prior to it coming
through the trees. My left knee was severely damaged, and my right leg
had several cuts and holes. Everyone was alive.
I couldn’t do anything more to help the injured and began to look for
weapons, the SOI and the operations Map. I think they taught this
either at Inf. Basic or flight school, however all I can remember is I
felt I had to do something. The crew chief had pulled the pins and
kicked his M-60 and ammo over prior to hitting the trees. I remember
being really upset at him for getting rid of the M-60. But when I talked
to Ned this summer he explained this was what he had been taught at
school and in hind sight the mount and the M-60 would of pinned him in
the ship and probably killed him. The door gunner’s M-60 and M-16’ were
broken. I could not get to the Col.’s Car-15, he wasn’t letting anyone
near him. That left a couple of 45’s, and an M-16. The SOI and survival
radio was buried under Walt in the pocket of his "chicken plate" and the
map was next to the Col. I recovered the map and before burying it I had
a good look at it. There were several "hot spots" marked on the map
that were heavy gun emplacements. The ones that we were told weren't
there. Later it was confirmed we had crashed in the middle of an NVA
Regiment. With a 37mm and three 51 emplacements set up in a triangle
they had to be protecting something big. We later found out it was a
Division size hospital dug into the mountains. It was still there in 71
when I returned to the same AO.
I tried to find a radio that would work. All the Col.’s PRC 25’s were
broken except one and with that only the headset was working. The
frequency was set to the mortar crew, and as I listened I could only
hear one side of the conversation, so I don’t know whom they were
talking to, but they were telling them that there were no survivors.
We carried a case of smoke and I passed a smoke to each of the crew and
asked them to throw a smoke in different directions, and far enough from
the helicopter so as not to ignite the fuel. The smokes were thrown at
the same time hoping the four duce crew would know more than one person
was alive. We proceeded to set up what security we could, Ned said there
were rounds being fired at us so he had us huddle next to a large
tree. I don’t remember any of that, how much time passed, or much else
for a while. Ned told me the smoke stayed in the trees and he heard
rocket fire and AK-47’s. I was told that one of the Casper ships was
the first to find us and had hovered over us and seen us moving around,
but I don’t remember that. They started drawing fire from the ground
below them and from the same positions that had hit us and took too many
hits to stay. This year I found out that was CW2 Larry Kahila.
I remember the next thing that happened had surprised me. A Huey was
hovering at tree top level trying to find a way down to us. There was
an old bomb crater about 50 feet down slope from us and the Huey had to
cut its way through the tree limbs. You can’t imagine the racket that
makes until you are underneath trying not to get hit by flying limbs.
With no radio it was important to get someone on the Huey and tell them
we needed equipment to free Walt. I told the door gunner to get in the
Huey. He said he couldn’t, and the Crew chief was in bad shape and
didn’t think he could make it. The Huey seemed to be hovering
forever, all the time cutting branches. They must of thought we were
nuts because on one was moving to get in the ship. The crew chief was
waving for us to get in, and with what appeared to be no other choice I
went. The Huey could not get down and I had to crawl out on a tree that
laid across the crater, the crew chief hooked his seat belts together
making a rope so I could climb up and get to the skids. As I got to the
skids our crew chief joined me. Ned told me later that the ship had
taken small arms hits the whole time he was hovering waiting for us,
plus hits from the 51’s on the way in and out.
I always thought the slick was from the 1st Cav. However this year I
found out it was a Ghostrider and the gun ships were Avengers. We have
not found the AC of that ship. He was an Afro-American Major, with the
189th Ghostriders in 1968, and Ned remembered the tail number was 71.
On the way to Phu Cat I told him we needed cutting tools and a fireman
to get the pilot out. He made the radio call starting the Air Force
response. The Major told me he had been crossing An Khe Pass and, heard
the mayday, knew the area, so came to see if he could be of some help.
He heard a mayday call about a bird strike, I am sure the green birds he
ran into really surprised him.
The mortar crew on the mountain watched as we went in, made their own
radio calls for assistance. Their reports were how I learned that we
were spinning vertical (tail up and nose down), and that after we hit
the trees we cart wheeled over the top of the trees till we slowed down
enough to go into the trees. The 61st slicks and guns were 10 minutes
behind us with the first lift, and were able to get troops on the ground
to provide security, and get the other wounded out leaving only Walt.
We have heard a couple of different versions of who the troops were and
how they were brought in. If anyone can help on this please contact us.
Walt found out later that the Casper ship flown by CWO Larry Kahila was
setting on the Crap table at LZ English waiting for a Col. and some Red
Cross ("Donut Dollies") ladies and heard the 1st mayday call. Larry had
an Artillery Lt. and a Major already on board waiting for the Col. and
the "Donut Dollies". The Major would not get out of the Huey, saying it
was the Col.’s helicopter. Obviously he did not understand the urgency
of the situation and possibly did not hear Larry when he told him there
was an aircraft down, and to get out. In the excitement of the moment
the crew chief grabbed the Major and tossed him out of the Huey into the
arms of the Col. just as the Huey came to a hover and departed. This
misunderstanding must have been cleared up later. The Artillery Lt. (a
friend of Walt’s) stayed on board. Larry knew the mission and the
general area where we were. He flew into the valley from the West
expecting to find us on the lower valley floor. He found our crash site
by parts of the rotor blades on top of the trees. We were on the North
side of the valley on a 60-degree slope in 150ft. trees. As Larry
hovered over the crash site the Artillery Lt. said he saw three
survivors. Larry couldn't see any way to get into us plus the longer
he hovered the more hits he was taking. One of the 51's was above him
shooting down through his rotor blades, and the others were shooting
from across the valley. He was receiving small arms fire from beneath
and not far from where the crash site was. Larry said he felt the
pedals go stiff and had to leave or join us. He called LZ Uplift and
told them there were survivors, changing a recovery operation to a
rescue operation.
Some time during the rescue operation "Red Baron" took over the Command
& Control of the rescue operation.
I registered with the Society of the 173rd Abn Association on the
Internet. An engine maintenance Tech. Specialist who was with Casper
in 1968 found me and filled in more of the information. He said that
Casper operations hearing one of their ships was down and that a pilot
was trapped sent an additional ship with the Flight Surgeon, himself,
and another crew chief to the crash site. They could not find a place to
land near the crash site so the pilot dropped them off in a bamboo
thicket at the bottom of the hill leaving the three of them to find
their way up the slope. He said they used a visible trail, and when
stopping to rest could hear all sorts of movement in the jungle. He
doesn’t know why they weren’t hit. At the crash site they found the
173rd had already secured the crash site and everyone except Mr.
Henderson had been evacuated. They tried to get him free, but did not
have the right equipment. The doctor gave Walt shots of Morphine, but
could not get any closer to his wounds to help. It was getting dark and
the flight surgeon said they couldn’t stay and to get Walt out they were
going to amputate his legs. The timing is not clear here, if the Air
Force recovery was there or had just returned but an Air Force Sergeant
with the required cutting tools went to work and in a matter of minutes
had freed Walt, and had him in a stretcher. He and the others were
lifted into the Pedro and flown directly to Qui Nhon. (A note needs to
be added here.) It was strongly recommended to the flight surgeon by
Gen. Allen commanding 173rd ABN that he should not come in after Walt.
The flight surgeon not only knew and was a friend to all the pilots and
crews, but had the integrity to stand by his own decision to do what at
the time he knew had to be done.
The "Stars and Stripes" had an article on their front page saying the
Air Force was calling this the largest air rescue operation of the war.
(We were before Bat 21.) According to the Air Force three Pedro
helicopters rigged for rescue of down crews were dispatched from Phu Cat
air base. They were turned back by heavy antiaircraft fire, with two
Pedros' being damaged and returning to Phu Cat. F-100’s were sent out
from Phu Cat, and along with Army gun ships suppressed the fire so the
Pedros' were able to get to the downed crew. The "Stars & Strips"
credited an Air Force Tech. Specialist who repelled in with cutting
tools designed to cut out trapped aircrew, for freeing Walt. My E-mail
communication with the Tech. Specialist from Casper who came in to help
confirms everything the paper said about the Air Force Sergeant. This
summer I also found out from Larry Kahila that the pilot from the first
Pedro that was shot up and had to return to Phu Cat flew the third Pedro
that finally was able to reach the crash site.
We don't know if this was the largest air rescue, because there were
many other rescue efforts by aircrews from all branches to get their
downed crews out. We do know there was a great deal of effort and
commitment by everyone in getting us all out, and the crew of 721 would
like to find and thank all those involved.
Our search continues so if anyone knows the whereabouts of our door
gunner John Steen, the pilots and crew from the Pedros, from the
Ghostriders and Avengers, the Air Force fireman Robert Rager, the Flight
Surgeon form the 173rd , Bill Dyer, the crew chief that came in with the
Flight Surgeon let us know. We would even like to talk with the
Battalion Commander 1/503rd there still are some questions.
It wasn’t till later that Walt found out , and only this year when we
met, that I found out that there was an investigation by the 173rd
looking to fault Walt, believing he had flown into our own artillery.
The rounds and shrapnel in the ship and crew stopped any further efforts
in this direction. The cease-fire orders from the FO had stopped any
artillery action and no friendly rounds were ever fired.
Clifford E. White Class 68-12
Walton A. Henderson (Sugar Bear) Class 68-501
Just after the Dec. 98 issue of
the VHPA newsletter with the story of "Casper 721" the pilot of the
Ghost Rider that hovered in the bomb crater till the crew chief and
myself could get in called Walt Henderson and than myself.
I always thought he was an Afro American Major, however it turns out he
was a CW2 and rather pale. To this day I don't know where I got that
impression, but it stuck to me like the truth.
The pilots name is Don Wittke and a member of VHPA. He gave me the name
of one of the Avenger (gun ship) pilots living in Michagan that took
film of the operation and now has it on video. I didn't get a good
spelling of the name and can't find him but I will be calling Don back
now that I have gathered my thoughts.
Cliff White, December 1998.
This record was last updated on 12/21/1998
The following is Goldbook
information on US Army helicopter UH-1H tail number 67-17721
It is provided here as an ESTIMATE of the history of this helicopter
and is not intended to be the final authority.
This helicopter was purchased by the US Army in 0868.
Please provide any additional information on this helicopter to the VHPA.
DATE FLT HRS UIC UNIT AREA POST COUNTRY
196808 0 0 W0Y6AA OS TO CONUS ITR CONUS AVCOMITR
196809 18 18 WARJAA HQ 173AIRBN BDE VIETNAM RVN
196810 124 142 WARJAA HQ 173AIRBN BDE VIETNAM RVN
196811 85 227 WARJAA HQ 173AIRBN BDE VIETNAM RVN
Please send additions or corrections to:
Gary Roush
Send comments and questions to the VHPA at ( webmaster@vhpa.org )
Printed from databases on:
12/28/2016
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