Lost Brothers (KIA) Alphabetical Listing

Ellis Miller Bailey

CAPT – O3 – Army – Regular
27 year old Married, Caucasian, Male
Born on Mar 17, 1940
From ITASCA, TEXAS
Length of service 4 years.
His tour of duty began on Apr 28, 1967
Casualty was on Oct 11, 1967 in GIA DINH, SOUTH VIETNAM
NON-HOSTILE, HELICOPTER – CREW AIR LOSS, CRASH ON LAND
Body was recovered
Religion CHURCH OF CHRIST
Panel 27E – – Line 87

11 Oct 1967 – Captain Ellis M. Bailey died when his aircraft crashed into the water and sank with six people on board, while on operations south of Saigon with U.S. Navy Riverboats. Captain Bailey was the only person unable to get out of the aircraft, and it settled in 30 feet of water.

Charles Douglas Blair

PFC – E3 – Army – Regular
1st AVN BDE
20 year old Single, Caucasian, Male
Born on Feb 15, 1950
From ORLANDO, FLORIDA
His tour of duty began on Jan 12, 1970
Casualty was on May 14, 1970 in TAY NINH, SOUTH VIETNAM
NON-HOSTILE, HELICOPTER – CREW AIR LOSS, CRASH ON LAND
Body was recovered
Religion BAPTIST
Panel 10W – – Line 38

14 May 70 – A bad day for the “Crusaders”. Aircraft #767 (UH-1H) was on single ship mission in Cambodia. During a storm the ship crashed killing all four of the crew, and three passengers.

Killed in this incident were:
CPT Thomas John Larkin II – Aircraft Commander
WO1 Raymond Henry Krug Jr. – Pilot
SP4 Kent Childs Taylor – Gunner
PFC Charles Douglas Blair – Crew Chief

James Gregory Brady

SP4 – E4 – Army – Regular
1st AVN BDE
20 year old Single, Caucasian, Male
Born on Jan 28, 1948
From SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA
Length of service 1 year.
His tour of duty began on Apr 03, 1968
Casualty was on Nov 27, 1968 in TAY NINH, SOUTH VIETNAM
HOSTILE, HELICOPTER – CREW AIR LOSS, CRASH ON LAND
Body was recovered
Religion PROTESTANT
Panel 38W – – Line 71

27 Nov 1968 – The day before Thanksgiving started out bad for the Crusaders and ended the same way. On one of the first insertions the enemy were waiting in the LZ for the flight to come in. They opened up with heavy small arms and anti-aircraft fire while the flight was on short final. The trail ship was hit by an RPG and went down in flames killing one crewmember and seriously wounding the rest of the crew. The ship that came back in to pick up the downed crew received so many hits that it too went down about one mile out of the LZ. No one was injured in this forced landing. Total casualties for the one LZ were one KIA, and 10 WIA’s. Out of the flight of 10 ships only one or two escaped without taking hits. Two ships had too many hits to even try and count them.
Although hit hard, the Crusaders lived up to their reputation and continued to fly support for the ground unit until late that night when the second tragedy struck.
The Crusader flare ship, UH-1H #65-09620 went down in flames killing all five people on board. When the flight finally came home, there were only five ships left in it.

Killed in action this day were:
SP4 James Gregory Brady
SGT Jerome Dee Chandler
SP5 David DeWitt Creel
WO1 Allen Eugune Duneman
SP4 Fredrick Harry Frazer
1LT August Karl Ritzau

Daniel Scanlon Brooker

SGT – E4 – Army – Regular
1st AVN BDE
20 year old Single, Caucasian, Male
Born on Sep 19, 1951
From NEW SMYRNA BEACH, FLORIDA
His tour of duty began on May 09, 1971
Casualty was on Nov 15, 1971 in TAY NINH, SOUTH VIETNAM
NON-HOSTILE, HELICOPTER – CREW AIR LOSS, CRASH ON LAND
Body was recovered
Religion ROMAN CATHOLIC
Panel 02W – – Line 67

15 Nov 71 – Tragedy again struck the “Holy Land”. The Crusaders were working an eight ship mission in Cambodia. C&C was being flown by Cpt. Skip Davis, (Rat Pack 36). Two of the slicks were released from the flight to refuel in Tay Ninh. On the way to Tay Ninh, flying in a close staggered right formation, the trail ship with Aircraft Commander Ken Bennet, Pilot Frank Kanauka, Sp5 Nettleton and PFC Callahan, impacted the main rotors of the lead ship. Post impact gyrations severed most of the trail ship’s tail boom and tearing the rotor blades completely off the lead ship.

The lead ship crashed killing the entire crew which consisted of:
Aircraft Commander – WO1 Thomas Joe Puff
Pilot -WO1 Vincent Patrick Martin, Jr.
Sp4 John Andrew Charnaplosky
Sp4 Daniel Scanlon Brooker
Captain Davis was first on the ground and reports all that was left of the lead ship was a two foot high pile of molten metal.

SGT Luis Hector Campos

SGT – E4 – Army – Regular
1st AVN BDE
22 year old Single, Caucasian, Male
Born on Apr 13, 1949
From MEADOW, TEXAS
His tour of duty began on Dec 14, 1970
Casualty was on Sep 27, 1971 in PHUOC LONG, SOUTH VIETNAM
NON-HOSTILE, HELICOPTER – CREW AIR LOSS, CRASH ON LAND
Body was recovered
Religion ROMAN CATHOLIC
Panel 02W – – Line 27

27 Sep 71 – Aircraft # 67-17371, UH-1H. Tragedy struck the “Holy Land” on this day. On the return trip from Song Be to Di An a flight of 8 Crusader ships ran into dense IFR weather. Aircraft 67-17371 went inadvertent IFR and crashed into the ground killing all aboard. The crew consisted of:

WO1 Steven D. Karnehm,
CPT John J. Kintaro,
SP4 Luis H. Campos
SGT. Edwin A. Kudlacek.

SGT Jerome Dee Chandler

SGT – E5 – Army – Regular
1st AVN BDE
24 year old Married, Caucasian, Male
Born on Nov 20, 1944
From NORFOLK, NEBRASKA
Length of service 6 years.
His tour of duty began on Apr 15, 1968
Casualty was on Nov 27, 1968 SOUTH VIETNAM
HOSTILE, HELICOPTER – CREW AIR LOSS, CRASH ON LAND
Body was recovered
Religion PROTESTANT
Panel 38W – – Line 73

27 Nov 1968 – The day before Thanksgiving started out bad for the Crusaders and ended the same way. On one of the first insertions the enemy were waiting in the LZ for the flight to come in. They opened up with heavy small arms and anti-aircraft fire while the flight was on short final. The trail ship was hit by an RPG and went down in flames killing one crewmember and seriously wounding the rest of the crew. The ship that came back in to pick up the downed crew received so many hits that it too went down about one mile out of the LZ. No one was injured in this forced landing. Total casualties for the one LZ were one KIA, and 10 WIA’s. Out of the flight of 10 ships only one or two escaped without taking hits. Two ships had too many hits to even try and count them.
Although hit hard, the Crusaders lived up to their reputation and continued to fly support for the ground unit until late that night when the second tragedy struck.
The Crusader flare ship, UH-1H #65-09620 went down in flames killing all five people on board. When the flight finally came home, there were only five ships left in it.

Killed in action this day were:
SP4 James Gregory Brady
SGT Jerome Dee Chandler
SP5 David DeWitt Creel
WO1 Allen Eugune Duneman
SP4 Fredrick Harry Frazer
1LT August Karl Ritzau

Battle Reports – Thanksgiving 1968

SGT John Andrew Charnoplosky

SGT – E4 – Army – Regular
1st AVN BDE
18 year old Single, Caucasian, Male
Born on Dec 31, 1952
From FAIRMONT, WEST VIRGINIA
His tour of duty began on Apr 25, 1971
Casualty was on Nov 15, 1971 in TAY NINH, SOUTH VIETNAM
NON-HOSTILE, HELICOPTER – CREW AIR LOSS, CRASH ON LAND
Body was recovered
Religion ROMAN CATHOLIC
Panel 02W – – Line 67

15 Nov 71 – Tragedy again struck the “Holy Land”. The Crusaders were working an eight ship mission in Cambodia. C&C was being flown by Cpt. Skip Davis, (Rat Pack 36). Two of the slicks were released from the flight to refuel in Tay Ninh. On the way to Tay Ninh, flying in a close staggered right formation, the trail ship with Aircraft Commander Ken Bennet, Pilot Frank Kanauka, Sp5 Nettleton and PFC Callahan, impacted the main rotors of the lead ship. Post impact gyrations severed most of the trail ship’s tail boom and tearing the rotor blades completely off the lead ship.

The lead ship crashed killing the entire crew which consisted of:
Aircraft Commander – WO1 Thomas Joe Puff
Pilot -WO1 Vincent Patrick Martin, Jr.
Sp4 John Andrew Charnaplosky
Sp4 Daniel Scanlon Brooker
Captain Davis was first on the ground and reports all that was left of the lead ship was a two foot high pile of molten metal.

The trail ship, with Aircraft Commander Ken Bennet, and without a tail boom, managed to hit the ground in a level attitude. Everyone aboard survived but suffered severe compression fractures from the impact.

Ken Bennet’s (Crusader “94) account of the landing as told to Bill Gray (Crusader “11”) at the hospital.

“I was flying straight and level at 1500 feet AGL and the next thing I knew I was looking directly at the ground and heading there rapidly. I had the cyclic embedded in my stomach to no avail and suddenly at about 100 feet the UH-1H flattened out and we had a very hard landing.”

Bill Gray comments, “My observation is that this had to be divine intervention because a UH-1H will not flatten out with no tail boom and this bird had no tail boom. I saw it.”

SP4 Joseph Leonard Colotti

SP4 – E4 – Army – Reserve
1st AVN BDE
19 year old Single, Caucasian, Male
Born on Feb 2, 1948
From GLEN FALLS, NY
His tour of duty began on Sep 13, 1966
Casualty was on Apr 19, 1967 in VINH LONG PROVINCE, SOUTH VIETNAM
NON-HOSTILE, DIED OF OTHER CAUSES
Body was recovered
Religion ROMAN CATHOLIC
Panel 18E – – Line 48

During in-country training with the 175th AHC, wounded by shrapnel on April 17, 1967 and died 2 days later of peunomia

CW2 Howard Brisbane Comer

CWO – W2 – Army – Reserve
1st AVN BDE
24 year old Married, Caucasian, Male
Born on Jun 04, 1945
From JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA
Length of service 4 years.
His tour of duty began on Nov 24, 1969
Casualty was on Nov 24, 1969 in TAY NINH, SOUTH VIETNAM
NON-HOSTILE, HELICOPTER – PILOT
AIR LOSS, CRASH ON LAND
Body was recovered
Religion EPISCOPAL, ANGLICAN
Panel 16W – – Line 115

24 Nov 69 – While on a DCS mission near Ben Cao, aircraft UH-1H # 68-15564 crashed into the river. SP4 James Randall Jones Jr. (Crewchief) and SP4 Laurence Atwood Young (Gunner) were killed in the accident. Warrant Officer Ronald R. Heier, the aircraft commander, escaped with minor cuts and lacerations, as did the two passengers. The co-pilot CW2 Howard Brisbane Comer, died and the body was subsequently recovered and identified in 2001.

Corrected information from Jeff Thomason, Lt. Col, US Army (Retired)

“I was the aviation safety officer and the S3 of the 269th Aviation Battalion from Oct 69 – May 70. (Parent battalion of the 187th at that time)

Re: your entry 24 Nov 69 AC UH-1H 68-15564. I investigated the accident. Warrant Officer Ronald Heir was the only survivor, the rest of the crew and all passengers were killed.”

Addendum: In contradiction to the above information.
The two E7 passengers did indeed survive as they are not listed on the wall.

E7 J Picht, Passenger – survived
E7 G Fredette, Passenger – survived
Their names are listed on the virtual wall page incident report as survivor list as originally stated.

SP5 David De Witt Creel

SP5 – E5 – Army – Regular
1st AVN BDE
20 year old Single, Caucasian, Male
Born on May 12, 1948
From LONG BEACH, MISSISSIPPI
Length of service 1 year.
His tour of duty began on Mar 03, 1968
Casualty was on Nov 27, 1968 in TAY NINH, SOUTH VIETNAM
HOSTILE, HELICOPTER – CREW AIR LOSS, CRASH ON LAND
Body was recovered
Religion BAPTIST
Panel 38W – – Line 72

27 Nov 1968 – The day before Thanksgiving started out bad for the Crusaders and ended the same way. On one of the first insertions the enemy were waiting in the LZ for the flight to come in. They opened up with heavy small arms and anti-aircraft fire while the flight was on short final. The trail ship was hit by an RPG and went down in flames killing one crewmember and seriously wounding the rest of the crew. The ship that came back in to pick up the downed crew received so many hits that it too went down about one mile out of the LZ. No one was injured in this forced landing. Total casualties for the one LZ were one KIA, and 10 WIA’s. Out of the flight of 10 ships only one or two escaped without taking hits. Two ships had too many hits to even try and count them.
Although hit hard, the Crusaders lived up to their reputation and continued to fly support for the ground unit until late that night when the second tragedy struck.
The Crusader flare ship, UH-1H #65-09620 went down in flames killing all five people on board. When the flight finally came home, there were only five ships left in it.

Killed in action this day were:
SP4 James Gregory Brady
SGT Jerome Dee Chandler
SP5 David DeWitt Creel
WO1 Allen Eugune Duneman
SP4 Fredrick Harry Frazer
1LT August Karl Ritzau

Battle Reports – Thanksgiving 1968

CPT Thomas Albert Derosier

CAPT – O3 – Army – Reserve
28 year old Married, Caucasian, Male
Born on Jul 20, 1938
From FALL RIVER, MASSACHUSETTS
Length of service 6 years.
His tour of duty began on Feb 19, 1967
Casualty was on Jul 07, 1967 in SOUTH VIETNAM
Non-Hostile, died missing
HELICOPTER – NON-CREW, AIR LOSS, CRASH ON LAND
Body was recovered
Religion ROMAN CATHOLIC
Panel 23E – – Line 27

7 Jul 1967 – A UH-1D helicopter flown by Major Charles E. Sauer and Captain Thomas A. Derosier was reported missing Crews were scrambled immediately upon report of the missing Blackhawks, The aircraft was found in the vicinity of Minh Thanh and it had crashed and burned beyond recognition. No one knows the cause of the mysterious tragedy which took the lives of the four crew members aboard. Major Sauer, Captain Derosier, PFC Tatum and PFC Simon were the first members of the 187th Assault helicopter Company to die in the Republic of Vietnam.

WO1 Allen Eugene Duneman

WO – W1 – Army – Reserve
25 year old Married, Caucasian, Male
Born on Jan 19, 1943
From MAGNOLIA, IOWA
Length of service 6 years.
His tour of duty began on May 03, 1968
Casualty was on Nov 27, 1968 in TAY NINH, SOUTH VIETNAM
HOSTILE, HELICOPTER – PILOT AIR LOSS, CRASH ON LAND
Body was recovered
Religion LUTHERAN & MISSOURI SYNOD
Panel 38W – – Line 73

27 Nov 1968 – The day before Thanksgiving started out bad for the Crusaders and ended the same way. On one of the first insertions the enemy were waiting in the LZ for the flight to come in. They opened up with heavy small arms and anti-aircraft fire while the flight was on short final. The trail ship was hit by an RPG and went down in flames killing one crewmember and seriously wounding the rest of the crew. The ship that came back in to pick up the downed crew received so many hits that it too went down about one mile out of the LZ. No one was injured in this forced landing. Total casualties for the one LZ were one KIA, and 10 WIA’s. Out of the flight of 10 ships only one or two escaped without taking hits. Two ships had too many hits to even try and count them.
Although hit hard, the Crusaders lived up to their reputation and continued to fly support for the ground unit until late that night when the second tragedy struck.
The Crusader flare ship, UH-1H #65-09620 went down in flames killing all five people on board. When the flight finally came home, there were only five ships left in it.

Killed in action this day were:
SP4 James Gregory Brady
SGT Jerome Dee Chandler
SP5 David DeWitt Creel
WO1 Allen Eugune Duneman
SP4 Fredrick Harry Frazer
1LT August Karl Ritzau

Battle Reports – Thanksgiving 1968

Stephen John Eckle

CWO – W1 – Army – Reserve
25 year old Married, Caucasian, Male
Born on Feb 18, 1943
From COLUMBUS, OHIO
Length of service 1 year.
His tour of duty began on Jul 14, 1967
Casualty was on Apr 12, 1968 in BINH DUONG, SOUTH VIETNAM
HOSTILE, HELICOPTER – CREW AIR LOSS, CRASH ON LAND
Body was recovered
Religion PROTESTANT
Panel 49E – – Line 30

12 Apr 1968 – A sad day for the Crusaders. While flying support for 3rd BDE. 25th Inf. Div., a Rat Pack gun ship received 6 to 7 .51 cal hits to the rear of the engine compartment. The ship went down and resulting in 3 KIA’s and 1 WIA.
A/C – WO1 Stephen John Eckle – KIA
Pilot – WO1 John Francis Fitzgerald – KIA
Crew Chief – SP5 Harold Allen Tharp Jr. – KIA
Door Gunner – John L. Wilcox – WIA
The Area of operation was North East of Dau Tieng at the Northern tip of the Michelin Rubber Plantation

From the Coffelt Database

UH-1C 66-00670 SHOT DOWN IN THE MICHELIN PLANTATION 15 KM NORTH-NORTHEAST OF DAU TIENG 19690412
Binh Duong Province South Vietnam, UTM grid reference is XT564593

SP5 Clyde Sampson Evans

SP5 – E5 – Army – Regular
1st AVN BDE
20 year old Single, Caucasian, Male
Born on Mar 21, 1949
From PORTSMOUTH, OHIO
Length of service 2 years.
His tour of duty began on Sep 26, 1967
Casualty was on May 21, 1969 in TAY NINH, SOUTH VIETNAM
HOSTILE, HELICOPTER – CREW AIR LOSS, CRASH ON LAND
Body was recovered
Religion BAPTIST
Panel 24W – – Line 65

21 May 69 – Another sad day at the 187th. The smoke ship, piloted by Warrant Officer Al North and Warrant Officer Henry Domingus, experienced a tail rotor failure, probably due to enemy fire, while in route to Tay Ninh to refuel and re-smoke. The aircraft crashed and burned. Warrant Officer North suffered burns and back injuries. Warrant Officer Domingus suffered burns and later returned to Tay Ninh. SP4 Moreno, the gunner, suffered multiple fractures to his arm and was evacuated to the states, as was WO North. The crew chief, SP5 Clyde Sampson Evans, was killed in action.

WO1 John Francis Fitzgerald

CWO – W1 – Army – Reserve
20 year old Single, Caucasian, Male
Born on May 20, 1947
From NORWOOD, MASSACHUSETTS
Length of service 1 year.
His tour of duty began on Jun 12, 1967
Casualty was on Apr 12, 1968 in BINH DUONG, SOUTH VIETNAM
HOSTILE, HELICOPTER – CREW AIR LOSS, CRASH ON LAND
Body was recovered
Religion ROMAN CATHOLIC
Panel 49E – – Line 32

12 Apr 1968 – A sad day for the Crusaders. While flying support for 3rd BDE. 25th Inf. Div., a Rat Pack gun ship received 6 to 7 .51 cal hits to the rear of the engine compartment. The ship went down and resulting in 3 KIA’s and 1 WIA.
A/C – WO1 Stephen John Eckle – KIA
Pilot – WO1 John Francis Fitzgerald – KIA
Crew Chief – SP5 Harold Allen Tharp Jr. – KIA
Door Gunner – John L. Wilcox – WIA
The Area of operation was North East of Dau Tieng at the Northern tip of the Michelin Rubber Plantation

From the Coffelt Database

UH-1C 66-00670 SHOT DOWN IN THE MICHELIN PLANTATION 15 KM NORTH-NORTHEAST OF DAU TIENG 19690412
Binh Duong Province South Vietnam, UTM grid reference is XT564593

SP5 Clyde Sampson Evans

SP4 – E4 – Army – Regular
1st AVN BDE
21 year old Single, Caucasian, Male
Born on Jun 21, 1947
From WICKENBURG, ARIZONA
Length of service 1 year.
His tour of duty began on May 20, 1968
Casualty was on Nov 27, 1968 in TAY NINH, SOUTH VIETNAM
HOSTILE, HELICOPTER – CREW AIR LOSS, CRASH ON LAND
Body was recovered
Religion ROMAN CATHOLIC
Panel 38W – – Line 72

27 Nov 1968 – The day before Thanksgiving started out bad for the Crusaders and ended the same way. On one of the first insertions the enemy were waiting in the LZ for the flight to come in. They opened up with heavy small arms and anti-aircraft fire while the flight was on short final. The trail ship was hit by an RPG and went down in flames killing one crewmember and seriously wounding the rest of the crew. The ship that came back in to pick up the downed crew received so many hits that it too went down about one mile out of the LZ. No one was injured in this forced landing. Total casualties for the one LZ were one KIA, and 10 WIA’s. Out of the flight of 10 ships only one or two escaped without taking hits. Two ships had too many hits to even try and count them.
Although hit hard, the Crusaders lived up to their reputation and continued to fly support for the ground unit until late that night when the second tragedy struck.
The Crusader flare ship, UH-1H #65-09620 went down in flames killing all five people on board. When the flight finally came home, there were only five ships left in it.

Killed in action this day were:
SP4 James Gregory Brady
SGT Jerome Dee Chandler
SP5 David DeWitt Creel
WO1 Allen Eugune Duneman
SP4 Fredrick Harry Frazer
1LT August Karl Ritzau

Battle Reports – Thanksgiving 1968

28 Nov 1968 – Thanksgiving Day was celebrated with the traditional dinner but hearts mourned the loss of friends and fellow Crusaders.

William John Johnson

SP5 – E5 – Army – Regular
1st AVN BDE
20 year old Single, Caucasian, Male
Born on Jan 23, 1951
From SANTA MARIA, CALIFORNIA
His tour of duty began on Jun 13, 1969
Casualty was on Feb 12, 1971 in CAMBODIA
HOSTILE, HELICOPTER – CREW AIR LOSS, CRASH ON LAND
Body was recovered
Religion
BAPTIST – SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVENTION
Panel 05W – – Line 99

12 Feb. 71 – Aircraft #297 (AH-1G) lost its tail rotor while on a special mission in Cambodia and the pilot AC/ 1LT. Rodney Woods performed a near perfect autorotation. The only damage to the aircraft was a broken left skid. After the aircraft came to rest very near to the enemy positions, the front seat pilot/gunner (Cpt. James Garland Siddons) jumped from the aircraft and ran for the C&C ship. Cpt. Siddons was struck by the rotor blade and killed instantly. The crew chief of the C&C ship (SP5 William John Johnson) in an effort to retrieve the body of Cpt. Siddons was also hit by the still spinning rotor blade and was also killed. The downed Cobra was later recovered.

Randall Jones Jr

SP4 – E4 – Army – Regular
1st AVN BDE
20 year old Single, Caucasian, Male
Born on Apr 19, 1949
From LEAVENWORTH, WASHINGTON
Length of service 1 year.
His tour of duty began on Jun 13, 1969
Casualty was on Nov 24, 1969 in TAY NINH, SOUTH VIETNAM
NON-HOSTILE, HELICOPTER – CREW AIR LOSS, CRASH ON LAND
Body was recovered
Religion PRESBYTERIAN
Panel 16W – – Line 118

24 Nov 69 – While on a DCS mission near Ben Cao, aircraft UH-1H # 68-15564 crashed into the river. SP4 James Randall Jones Jr. (Crewchief) and SP4 Laurence Atwood Young (Gunner) were killed in the accident. Warrant Officer Ronald R. Heier, the aircraft commander, escaped with minor cuts and lacerations, as did the two passengers. The co-pilot CW2 Howard Brisbane Comer, died and the body was subsequently recovered and identified in 2001.

Roy Douglas Jordan

SP4 – E4 – Army – Regular
1st AVN BDE
19 year old Single, Caucasian, Male
Born on Feb 11, 1951
From LOGANSPORT, INDIANA
His tour of duty began on Oct 25, 1969
Casualty was on Dec 27, 1970
in TAY NINH, SOUTH VIETNAM
HOSTILE, HELICOPTER – CREW AIR LOSS, CRASH ON LAND
Body was recovered
Religion PRESBYTERIAN
Panel 05W – – Line 11

Individual was killed while the door gunner of a military aircraft on a combat operation when fired on by hostile ground force. The aircraft did not crash or burn.

Stephen Dale Karnehm

CWO – W1 – Army – Reserve
1st AVN BDE
22 year old Married, Caucasian, Male
Born on Oct 16, 1948
From PIQUA, OHIO
His tour of duty began on Jul 08, 1971
Casualty was on Sep 27, 1971 in PHUOC LONG, SOUTH VIETNAM
NON-HOSTILE, HELICOPTER – CREW AIR LOSS, CRASH ON LAND
Body was recovered
Religion PROTESTANT
Panel 02W – – Line 28

27 Sep 71 – Aircraft # 67-17371, UH-1H. Tragedy struck the “Holy Land” on this day. On the return trip from Song Be to Di An a flight of 8 Crusader ships ran into dense IFR weather. Aircraft 67-17371 went inadvertent IFR and crashed into the ground killing all aboard. The crew consisted of:

WO1 Steven D. Karnehm,
CPT John J. Kintaro,
SP4 Luis H. Campos
SGT. Edwin A. Kudlacek.

Donald Robert Kilpatrick

CAPT – O2 – Army – Reserve
1st AVN BDE
22 year old Married, Caucasian, Male
Born on Dec 13, 1946
From BETHLEHEM, PENNSYLVANIA
Length of service 2 years.
His tour of duty began on Jan 28, 1969
Casualty was on Sep 02, 1969 in TAY NINH, SOUTH VIETNAM
HOSTILE, HELICOPTER – PILOT
AIR LOSS, CRASH ON LAND
Body was recovered
Religion ROMAN CATHOLIC
Panel 18W – – Line 24

2 Sep 69 – A sad day for the Crusaders, as we lost one of our best. CPT Don Kilpatrick, while being checked out as flight lead, received a 51 caliber wound to the head. He died in route to the hospital. This occurred just to the west of Nui Ba Den.

John Julliano Kintaro

CAPT – O3 – Army – Reserve
1st AVN BDE
29 year old Married, Malayan, Male
Born on Apr 24, 1942
From PACIFIC ISLANDS
His tour of duty began on Jul 15, 1971
Casualty was on Sep 27, 1971 in PHUOC LONG, SOUTH VIETNAM
NON-HOSTILE, HELICOPTER – PILOT AIR LOSS, CRASH ON LAND
Body was recovered
Religion ROMAN CATHOLIC
Panel 02W – – Line 28

27 Sep 71 – Aircraft # 67-17371, UH-1H. Tragedy struck the “Holy Land” on this day. On the return trip from Song Be to Di An a flight of 8 Crusader ships ran into dense IFR weather. Aircraft 67-17371 went inadvertent IFR and crashed into the ground killing all aboard. The crew consisted of:

WO1 Steven D. Karnehm,
CPT John J. Kintaro,
SP4 Luis H. Campos
SGT. Edwin A. Kudlacek.

Raymond Henry Krug Jr.

WO – W1 – Army – Reserve
1st AVN BDE
19 year old Married, Caucasian, Male
Born on Aug 31, 1950
From MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN
His tour of duty began on Jan 19, 1970
Casualty was on May 14, 1970 in TAY NINH, SOUTH VIETNAM
NON-HOSTILE, HELICOPTER – PILOT AIR LOSS, CRASH ON LAND
Body was recovered
Religion ROMAN CATHOLIC
Panel 10W – – Line 41

14 May 70 – A bad day for the “Crusaders”. Aircraft #767 (UH-1H) was on single ship mission in Cambodia. During a storm the ship crashed killing all four of the crew, and three passengers.

Killed in this incident were:
CPT Thomas John Larkin II – Aircraft Commander
WO1 Raymond Henry Krug Jr. – Pilot
SP4 Kent Childs Taylor – Gunner
PFC Charles Douglas Blair – Crew Chief

Earlier in the day aircraft #857 (UH-1H) experienced an engine failure returning from a PZ and landed near FSB Wood North. No one was injured although the aircraft was damaged. (Pilots: Scudder and ? )

Edwin Allen Kudlacek

SGT – E5 – Army – Selective Service
1st AVN BDE
20 year old Single, Caucasian, Male
Born on May 19, 1951
From OMAHA, NEBRASKA
His tour of duty began on Jan 09, 1971
Casualty was on Sep 28, 1971 in PHUOC LONG, SOUTH VIETNAM
Non-Hostile, died of illness/injury
HELICOPTER – CREW AIR LOSS, CRASH ON LAND
Body was recovered
Religion ROMAN CATHOLIC
Panel 02W – – Line 29

27 Sep 71 – Aircraft # 67-17371, UH-1H. Tragedy struck the “Holy Land” on this day. On the return trip from Song Be to Di An a flight of 8 Crusader ships ran into dense IFR weather. Aircraft 67-17371 went inadvertent IFR and crashed into the ground killing all aboard. The crew consisted of:

WO1 Steven D. Karnehm,
CPT John J. Kintaro,
SP4 Luis H. Campos
SGT. Edwin A. Kudlacek.

Thomas John Larkin II

CAPT – O3 – Army – Reserve
1st AVN BDE
23 year old Single, Caucasian, Male
Born on Aug 15, 1946
From STEUBENVILLE, OHIO
His tour of duty began on Aug 23, 1969
Casualty was on May 14, 1970 in TAY NINH, SOUTH VIETNAM
NON-HOSTILE, HELICOPTER – CREW AIR LOSS, CRASH ON LAND
Body was recovered
Religion ROMAN CATHOLIC
Panel 10W – – Line 41

14 May 70 – A bad day for the “Crusaders”. Aircraft #767 (UH-1H) was on single ship mission in Cambodia. During a storm the ship crashed killing all four of the crew, and three passengers.

Killed in this incident were:
CPT Thomas John Larkin II – Aircraft Commander
WO1 Raymond Henry Krug Jr. – Pilot
SP4 Kent Childs Taylor – Gunner
PFC Charles Douglas Blair – Crew Chief

Earlier in the day aircraft #857 (UH-1H) experienced an engine failure returning from a PZ and landed near FSB Wood North. No one was injured although the aircraft was damaged. (Pilots: Scudder and ? )

Dennis Jay Lulofs

SGT – E5 – Army – Selective Service
1st AVN BDE
20 year old Single, Caucasian, Male
Born on Mar 25, 1947
From CLARKSVILLE, MICHIGAN
Length of service 1 year.
His tour of duty began on May 22, 1967
Casualty was on Feb 17, 1968 in TAY NINH, SOUTH VIETNAM
Hostile, died of wounds
GROUND CASUALTY ARTILLERY, ROCKET, or MORTAR
Body was recovered
Religion PROTESTANT
Panel 39E – – Line 74

16 Feb 1968 – Major Russell J. Folta became the commander of the 187th Assault Helicopter Company. The Blackhawks conducted a combat assault mission in an area Five miles north of Saigon. The flight encountered enemy automatic weapons fire and Lieutenant Henry L Wyatt II escaped serious injury when a round penetrated the floor and lodged in a book under his seat entitled “The Source”. He wrote to the author, James Michener, about the incident. Within a week he received a letter from the author and an autographed copy of the novel. The Tay Ninh Base Camp was hit by an enemy rocket and mortar attack that night. Three helicopters were damaged by flying shrapnel. One crew member Sp4 Dennis J. Lulof was killed and eight other Blackhawks were wounded. The attack continued until 0400 in the morning .

Gerald David Markland

WO – W1 – Army – Reserve
20 year old Single, Caucasian, Male
Born on Jan 06, 1948
From ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO
His tour of duty began on Oct 01, 1968
Casualty was on Dec 28, 1968 in BINH DUONG, SOUTH VIETNAM
HOSTILE, HELICOPTER –
PILOT AIR LOSS, CRASH ON LAND
Body was recovered
Religion METHODIST
Panel 36W – – Line 83

28 Dec 1968 – Another sad day for the Crusaders. “Smokey” a UH-1C smoke ship was shot down while on a run putting down a smoke screen so the Command and Control aircraft could land in and take off from the LZ safely. Two of the smoke ship’s crew, SP4 Stephen C. Ponty Jr. and WO1 Gerald David Markland were killed and Aircraft Commander WO Roger Howell, Crusader “25” and Sp5 Marshall were wounded. Another Rat Pack ship was shot down at the same time resulting in the pilot and aircraft commander receiving slight wounds.

Vincent Patrick Martin Jr.

WO – W1 – Army – Regular
1st AVN BDE
23 year old Married, Caucasian, Male
Born on Mar 05, 1948
From MOBILE, ALABAMA
His tour of duty began on Jul 20, 1971
Casualty was on Nov 15, 1971
in TAY NINH, SOUTH VIETNAM
NON-HOSTILE, HELICOPTER –
PILOT AIR LOSS, CRASH ON LAND
Body was recovered
Religion ROMAN CATHOLIC
Panel 02W – – Line 68

15 Nov 71 – Tragedy again struck the “Holy Land”. The Crusaders were working an eight ship mission in Cambodia. C&C was being flown by Cpt. Skip Davis, (Rat Pack 36). Two of the slicks were released from the flight to refuel in Tay Ninh. On the way to Tay Ninh, flying in a close staggered right formation, the trail ship with Aircraft Commander Ken Bennet, Pilot Frank Kanauka, Sp5 Nettleton and PFC Callahan, impacted the main rotors of the lead ship. Post impact gyrations severed most of the trail ship’s tail boom and tearing the rotor blades completely off the lead ship.

The lead ship crashed killing the entire crew which consisted of:
Aircraft Commander – WO1 Thomas Joe Puff
Pilot -WO1 Vincent Patrick Martin, Jr.
Sp4 John Andrew Charnaplosky
Sp4 Daniel Scanlon Brooker
Captain Davis was first on the ground and reports all that was left of the lead ship was a two foot high pile of molten metal.

The trail ship, with Aircraft Commander Ken Bennet, and without a tail boom, managed to hit the ground in a level attitude. Everyone aboard survived but suffered severe compression fractures from the impact.

Ken Bennet’s (Crusader “94) account of the landing as told to Bill Gray (Crusader “11”) at the hospital.

“I was flying straight and level at 1500 feet AGL and the next thing I knew I was looking directly at the ground and heading there rapidly. I had the cyclic embedded in my stomach to no avail and suddenly at about 100 feet the UH-1H flattened out and we had a very hard landing.”

Bill Gray comments, “My observation is that this had to be divine intervention because a UH-1H will not flatten out with no tail boom and this bird had no tail boom. I saw it.”

23 Nov 71 – Aircraft’s #577, 832 and 534 received small arms hits while lifting troops from a PZ at vic. XT625301.

Stephen Chester Ponty Jr.

SP4 – E4 – Army – Regular
1st AVN BDE
19 year old Single, Caucasian, Male
Born on May 28, 1949
From MONMOUTH JUNCTION, NEW JERSEY
Length of service 1 year.
His tour of duty began on Mar 08, 1968
Casualty was on Dec 28, 1968 in BINH DUONG, SOUTH VIETNAM
HOSTILE, HELICOPTER – CREW AIR LOSS, CRASH ON LAND
Body was recovered
Religion ROMAN CATHOLIC
Panel 36W – – Line 86

28 Dec 1968 – Another sad day for the Crusaders. “Smokey” a UH-1C smoke ship was shot down while on a run putting down a smoke screen so the Command and Control aircraft could land in and take off from the LZ safely. Two of the smoke ship’s crew, SP4 Stephen C. Ponty Jr. and WO1 Gerald David Markland were killed and Aircraft Commander WO Roger Howell, Crusader “25” and Sp5 Marshall were wounded. Another Rat Pack ship was shot down at the same time resulting in the pilot and aircraft commander receiving slight wounds.