Helicopter HH-3E 66-13279


Information on U.S. Air Force helicopter HH-3E tail number 66-13279
Date: 11/08/1967 MIA-POW file reference number: 0902
Incident number: 67110801.TXT
Unit: 37 ARRS
This was a Combat incident. This helicopter was LOSS TO INVENTORY
This was a Rescue and Recovery mission for Rescue of Persons
While on Landing Zone this helicopter was on Take-Off at 0020 feet and 000 knots.
Laos
UTM grid coordinates: YC012973 (To see this location on a map, go to https://legallandconverter.com/p50.html and search on Grid Reference 48QYC012973)
Count of hits was not possible because the helicopter burned or exploded.
Unknown groundfire.
The helicopter was hit in the Forward area causing a Fire.
Systems damaged were: FUEL SYS, ENGINE, PERSONNEL
Casualties = 05 DOI, 01 INJ . .
The helicopter Crashed. Aircraft Destroyed.
Both mission and flight capability were terminated.
Burned
Original source(s) and document(s) from which the incident was created or updated: Defense Intelligence Agency Reference Notes. Defense Intelligence Agency Helicopter Loss database. Survivability/Vulnerability Information Analysis Center Helicopter database. Also: 0902, 07114 ()
Loss to Inventory

Crew Members:
P CPT YOUNG GERALD O RES
CP CPT BROWER RALPH WAYNE BNR
FE SSG CLAY EUGENE LUNSFORD BNR
RS SGT MAYSEY LARRY WAYNE BNR

Passengers and/or other participants:
SGT KUSICK JOSEPH GEORGE, AR, PX, BNR
MSG BAXTER BRUCE RAYMOND, AR, PX, BNR


REFNO Synopsis:
On November 8, 1967, two Air Force "Jolly Greens" (#26 and #29) from the 37th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron were scrambled from Da Nang Air Base at 1505 hours for an emergency extraction of five surviving members of a Special Forces reconnaissance team which had suffered heavy casualties while operating deep in a denied area in Laos. The recovery effort was to be recorded by the Squadron as one of the largest and most hazardous on record. The two Air Force helicopters were advised by forward air control to hold while three Army UH1B gunships softened the area with rockets and machine gun fire. An Air Force C130 gunship, meanwhile, provided flare support for the mission. At 1630Z, Jolly Green 29 picked up the three indigenous personnel before being driven off by hostile fire. Damaged, Jolly Green 29 left and made an emergency landing at Khe Sanh. 20 minutes later, Jolly Green 26, flown by CAPT Gerald Young, with flight crew consisting of CAPT Ralph Brower, co-pilot; SSGT Eugene Clay, flight engineer; and SGT Larry Maysey, rescue specialist; braved the ground fire to pick up Special Forces SP4 Joseph G. Kusick and MSGT Bruce R. Baxter, both wounded. The helicopter was hit by automatic weapons fire, crashed and burst into flames. By the afternoon of November 9, a recovery team was inserted into the area and reached the crash site of the burned HH3. Because of fading light, it was impossible to inspect the wreckage at that time. On 10 November, the wreckage was searched and 3 charred remains were found. Two of the remains had identification tags which identified them as members of the crew. The third remains had no tags, but were identified as SP4 Kusick, radio operator of the reconnaissance team, as the long antenna from his PRC-25 radio were found on his body. CAPT Young had survived and was rescued 17 hours after the crash of the aircraft. About 34 meters downhill from the wreckage, another set of remains were found which were readily identified as MSGT Baxter from the facial features. No trace was found of the third crew member. The remains of the two crewmen and Kusick were removed from the aircraft and placed with MSGT Baxter's remains so they could be hoisted as one lift into a hovering helicopter. The identificaton tags of the crewmembers were placed with the remains. Weather conditions and enemy action would not permit helicopters to make the extraction either that day or the day following. Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 June 1990 from one or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews.


War Story:
Army UH-1D 66-00847 was also shot down trying to recover the Special Forces team.

This record was last updated on 01/04/2006


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Date posted on this site: 11/13/2023


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