Information on U.S. Army helicopter OH-6A tail number 67-16554
The Army purchased this helicopter 1268
Total flight hours at this point: 00000694
Date: 05/05/1970
Incident number: 70050505.KIA
Unit: C/7/17 CAV
This was a Combat incident. This helicopter was LOSS TO INVENTORY
This was a Recon mission for Unarmed Recon
While in Target Area this helicopter was Attacking at 0030 feet and 085 knots.
Cambodia
UTM grid coordinates: YA631250 (To see this location on a map, go to https://legallandconverter.com/p50.html and search on Grid Reference 48PYA631250)
Count of hits was not possible because the helicopter burned or exploded.
Small Arms/Automatic Weapons; Gun launched non-explosive ballistic projectiles less than 20 mm in size. (7.62MM)
Systems damaged were: PERSONNEL
Casualties = 01 DOI, 01 INJ . . Number killed in accident = 0 . . Injured = 0 . . Passengers = 0
The helicopter Crashed. Aircraft Destroyed.
Both mission and flight capability were terminated.
Burned
costing 0
Original source(s) and document(s) from which the incident was created or updated: Defense
Intelligence Agency Helicopter Loss database. Survivability/Vulnerability Information Analysis
Center Helicopter database. Also: OPERA, LNNF, JSIDR, CRAFX, CASRP, Barry Speare (Operations
Report. Lindenmuth New Format Data Base. Joint Services Incident Damage Report. Crash Facts
Message. Casualty Report. )
Summary: Shot down almost immediately after crossing into Cambodia. Observer died immediately. Pilot rescued.
Loss to Inventory and Helicopter was not recovered
Crew Members:
OB SP4 MODEN RICHARD SHELDON KIA
P 1LT LINDSEY DANIEL K WIA
War Story:
I was Mission Lead that day. As was our SOP, I departed the Golf Course at
An Khe one hour prior to the rest of the Troop in order to get the day's
mission briefing. We were supporting the 173rd Airborne Brigade out of LZ
English. Upon receipt of said, I would join the Troop at LZ TWO BITS, our
normal rearm/refuel point. Halfway there I got a call from C Troop Ops to
turn around and go to Camp Holloway, as there had been a mission change.
Stopping back at An Khe to refuel we went on to Camp Hollaway and Squadron
Headquarters. I received about 100 maps of the Central Highlands west of
Pleiku, and into Cambodia, and was told to fly to Duc Co (..of Norman
Schwartzkopf fame). I received a briefing from a U.S. one star (name
forgotten) and was given a classic Cav screening mission. We were to cover
the southern flank of what was to be a multi-Division insertion of U.S. and
ARVN troops north of our location into Cambodia, part of the Sanctuary
Counter-Offensive. With the rest of the Troop already there, I gave the
mission brief. We departed for the Area of Operations (AO) with our standard
2 Scouts, 2 Guns, and the UH-1 C&C. Almost immediately we took fire from
EVERYWHERE, and one of the Scouts went down. Normally, C&C went in to
extract the crew, but because of the dense vegetation and our position when
the ship went in, the second Scout landed. SSG PILK went to the downed A/C
which was about 200 yards away thru some thick under-growth. He got the to
pilot and was bringing him out when some NVA troops got between him and his
ship. We and the Cobras gave him covering fire and he was able to get back.
When he did the Scout immediately lifted off. SSG Pilk reported that SP4
MODEN, the Aerial Observer aboard the downed Scout, was dead. Because of the
intense ground fire we had to return to Duc Co. We were unable to retrieve
SP4 MODEN'S body. Approximately three days later, CPT Lou Hennies and other
members of A Troop while working in that AO, located and retrieved his body
which had been dragged to and thrown into the Ia Drang ( I believe it was the
name of the river) River by the NVA. SSG Pilk received the Silver Star for
his actions that day. (note: SSG Pilkwas killed 6/19/70) Submitted by Peter A. Kacerguis, December 1996
CPT Barry Speare was the team leader of the Scouts. He recalls: We had just crossed this bend in a river on the other side of the fense when we started taking fire when we were still flying at high speed about a 100 feet AGL. I remember Bob Pilk yelled taking fire and I could see the people all over. I called breaking left and now that I think about it, I think Dan Lindsey must have flown through the fire directed at us. He went in about a 100 yards after that. As I was making the turn I called on the radio, 15 are you with me? No answer. I didn't see him on the first circle and I climbed to about 250 feet. I remember the C&C asking where 15 was and I answered that I didn't know but was looking. On the second pass, I saw smoke coming up from the trees. I pointed this out to BLUE 6 (Pete in the C&C Huey) and soon he was on short final to the location. I called him off because he had all the C&C radios and there really wasn't space for a Huey. He went back up joined the Cobras providing cover. I landed may be about 150 feet from the burning LOH. We flew with an M60 for both men. On the way in we talked about both Pilk and Yeager going to the downed LOH but when we got down, I had Yeager stay with his M60 to cover the left side. [Note: the Army Times article saying that two observers helped rescue the pilot - this is not correct.] Yeager was firing the whole time we were on the ground! With the other aircraft firing, we had them pinned down to a certain degree. Pilk ran to the LOH. He saw that SP4 Moden was dead and helped LT Lindsey back to our LOH. Pilk later said that he could hear voices and thought the NVA were trying to get around him so he took a different route back. You could tell Lindsey was in a lot of pain but he was able to walk with Pilk's arm around him. Pilk layed Lindsey down in the back of the LOH and even with my helmet on I could hear Lindsey screaming. I tried to takeoff but it was red lining, so I had them kick out some ammo and we were just able to get out of there. We flew to Duc Co and en route we tried to contact a DUSTOFF but they said it would be 30 minutes, so we kicked out some more ammo and one gun and flew to the 71st Evac at Pleiku. The people there quickly took LT Lindsey from us. We refueled, went back to Duc Co and joined up with the Troop. It was getting dark by then and we were unable to get some ground troops to go back in there, so we left for An Khe. En route I stopped at the 71st Evac to see Lindsey. They wouldn't let me see him but I learned that he had a broken back and would be evaced. Submitted to the VHPA in Sep 2002.
The following is an edited version of an article titled "Downed LOH Two Observers Save Pilot" that appeared in the June 3, 1970 issue of Army Times. Camp Holloway, Vietnam - Two OH-6 LOHs from 17th CAG's C/7/17th Cav, rescued a downed LOH pilot with NVA soldiers pursuing them less than 20 yards away. The action occurred nine miles inside the Cambodian border, approximately ten miles west of the Vietnamese outpost of Duc Co. A team of two LOHs, two Cobra gunships and one C&C Huey was conducting a VR mission in an area of known enemy activity in support of the 1st Bde, 4th Div. As the LOHs were scouting at tree top level, the wing aircraft received a heavy volume of enemy fire. It took volume of enemy fire. It took numerous hits and crashed in a small clearing surrounded by anti-aircraft positions. CPT Berry J. Speare of Albany, CA, was flying the lead LOH and his two observers, SSG Robert H. Pilk of Caselberry, FL, and SP4 Walter Yeager of Rochester, NY, maneuvered to locate the exact position of the wing aircraft. "It all happened so fast that for a short while we didn't even notice that our wing ship had been short down," Pilk recalled that evening. "We were all drawing fire and the wingship was quite a ways behind us. They went down so fast they didn't even have time to call for help on the radio. As soon as we noticed they were missing we started looking for them," he continued. "After a few tense minutes we spotted the LOH which was on fire with the crew members still inside. Speare landed our helicopter about 150 feet from an enemy position. Yeager and I jumped out of the ship and ran to the burning LOH. When we got there," Pilk said, "we found the pilot and the observer trapped inside. First we pulled out the pilot who was hanging outside in a state of shock. Just as we were going to reach for the observer I noticed that several NVA soldiers were sneaking up on us." The two LOH observers tried to get the downed observer unhooked from his seat, but found he was dead. Speare pulled pitch with a heavily overloaded scoutship. The pilot was flown to the 71st Evac Hosp in Pleiku, where he was reported in good condition.
This record was last updated on 09/16/2002
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