Information on U.S. Army helicopter OH-58A tail number 68-16786
The Army purchased this helicopter 1269
Total flight hours at this point: 00000673
Date: 06/12/1971
Incident number: 71061212.KIA
Unit: D/3/5 CAV
This was a Combat incident. This helicopter was REPAIRED IN THEATER
This was a Recon mission for Unarmed Recon
While in Operations Area this helicopter was Unknown at 0050 feet and 050 knots.
South Vietnam
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. (12.7MM)
Systems damaged were: PERSONNEL
Casualties = 01 WIA . .
The helicopter Continued Flight.
The aircraft continued and accomplished all mission objectives.
Original source(s) and document(s) from which the incident was created or updated: Survivability/Vulnerability Information Analysis Center Helicopter database. Also: LNNF, CASRP (Lindenmuth New Format Data Base. Casualty Report. )
Crew Members:
CE SGT WESTPHAL GARY LEE KIA
AC WO1 HALEVY WILLIAM R
War Story:
I dedicate my continued service to Sgt. Gary Lee Westphal, who died 13 June 1971, while serving as my scout crew chief/gunner when he was hit by an enemy machine gun at close range while we were searching for a reported [North Vietnamese army] position north of Quang Tri, Vietnam. He kept me alive through months of hostile fire with D Troop, 3rd Squadron, 5th Cavalry, 5th Infantry Division.
From: CW5 William R. Halevy serving in Iraq.
This record was last updated on 04/16/2010
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Date posted on this site: 11/13/2023
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