Helicopter UH-1H 68-16206


Information on U.S. Army helicopter UH-1H tail number 68-16206
The Army purchased this helicopter 0869
Total flight hours at this point: 00000244
Date: 12/15/1969
Incident number: 69121555.KIA
Unit: 176 AHC
South Vietnam
UTM grid coordinates: BT585018 (To see this location on a map, go to https://legallandconverter.com/p50.html and search on Grid Reference 49PBT585018)
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:
PX SP4 BARRITT WILLIAM STEPHEN KIA
G SP5 KEELER LARRY DEAN KIA
CE SP5 ROSE DONALD RAY KIA
P WO1 HYDEN DEE AARON KIA
P 1LT STOCKTON DON EUGENE JR KIA


War Story:
The following was provided by Steve Kerchenfaut about WO1 Dee Aaron Hyden and 1Lt Don Eugene Stockton, Jr. in July 1992: Rose and Keeler were going home the next day. I was operations officer and they came to say goodby to me. When the call came in for a flare mission, they said "one more". They physically threw the crew chief off and went up with Stockton, Hyden and Barritt. From: Steve Kerchenfaut. Don Rose and Larry Dean Keeler flew together as gunner and crew chief. Only Larry was to go home the next day. I was assigned gunner with Rose, a newly assigned crew chief. The ship was off the ground with 40 flares when Larry pulled me from the flight. It was their one last time together. The weather was drizzly and foggy and within minutes the pilots had what was reported as a classic case of vertigo. The ship crashed into the ground just north of the base and during the recovery the next morning I found my helmet, intact, Diamond, Spade, Club, and Heart. It was the very next day that I was assigned to Minute Man 29 piloted by Canadian Ralph Bigelow, who was killed in action a few months later. Steve K., I believe it was you who raised your weapon {M-16} to a fleeing villager only to have Colonel Whyte call off any fire until positive identities could be established. We did recover those bodies that fateful day and now I’m left to wonder daily, WHY ME? From: Art Jamieson Spec.4

This record was last updated on 02/27/2007


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Date posted on this site: 11/13/2023


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