Information on U.S. Army helicopter UH-1H tail number 66-16212
The Army purchased this helicopter 0367
Total flight hours at this point: 00001215
Date: 07/03/1968
Incident number: 68070399.KIA
Unit: 240 AHC
South Vietnam
UTM grid coordinates: XS627713 (To see this location on a map, go to https://legallandconverter.com/p50.html and search on Grid Reference 48PXS627713)
Casualties = 07 KIA . .
Original source(s) and document(s) from which the incident was created or updated: Defense Intelligence Agency Helicopter Loss database. Also: OPERA (Operations Report. )
Summary: Crashed in the Vam Co Dong River 3 miles south of Ben Luc Bridge.
Loss to Inventory
Crew Members:
AC WO1 FUSSELL JAMES C RES
G SP4 BELLINGER RONALD LEE KIA
CE SP4 HOLTON GARY DENNIS KIA
OB 1LT LAMB COLIN EDWARD KIA
Passengers and/or other participants:
SP4 DAVINO THOMAS ALPHONSE, AR, PX, KIA
SGT HODGES JOSEPH, AR, PX, KIA
LTC VANDEUSEN FREDERICK FREN, AR, PX, KIA
SGT WHITNEY PHILIP LEONARD, AR, PX, KIA
War Story:
I’m not a member of the VHPA but wanted to make sure that VHPA had complete and accurate data of the crash of this aircraft into the Saigon River on 3 Jul 68. I served as a Crew Chief of a UH-1C with the 240th AHC. We spent some time searching for survivors after the helicopter went down but were called over to support the Infantry troops in contact with the enemy.
The AC of the flight was WO Jim Fussell. He and his pilot survived the crash after riding it to the bottom of the river – about 60 feet deep. Mr Fussell was wounded in a leg but managed to reach the surface. He and his Pilot were rescued after being in the water for three hours.
Both crewmen in the back (SP5 Horton and SP4 Bellinger) died in the crash along with four from the 2nd Battalion, 47th Infantry Regiment, 9th ID plus one other.
Here’s a link that I had open when I noted that VHPA may not have complete data on the crash. Holton, Gary Dennis, SP 4 | TWS (togetherweserved.com)
General Westmoreland’s brother-in-law (his wife’s brother) died plus six others that also left family behind.
The story behind the loss: There was a VC (or NVA)body floating in the river and there was an attempt to recover that body for possible intelligence. As they were hovering over that “dead body” rolled over and shot them down with his AK47. This story is from Jim Fussell, the AC of the helicopter. We searched for survivors for a few minutes then were called for gunship support of the ground troops that were engaged with the enemy. We never got to go back and continue the search probably because we were low on fuel.
From: Morris Miller, Mad Dog Platoon, 240th AHC 1968
This record was last updated on 04/16/2023
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Date posted on this site:
11/13/2023
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