Information on U.S. Army helicopter UH-1H tail number 69-16717
The Army purchased this helicopter 0271
Total flight hours at this point: 00000809
Date: 01/20/1972 MIA-POW file reference number: 1795
Incident number: 72012038.KIA
Unit: D/3/5 CAV 101 ABN
South Vietnam
UTM grid coordinates: XD883408 (To see this location on a map, go to https://legallandconverter.com/p50.html and search on Grid Reference 48QXD883408)
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. Also: 1795 ()
Loss to Inventory
Crew Members:
P CPT ANGOTTI FRANKIE L JR RES
P CPT ALLEN WILLIAM L RES
G PFC BERDAHL DAVID DONALD BNR
Passengers and/or other participants:
SP5 FIGUEROA FERNANDO, AR, IN, KIA
SP4 MORAN WALTER C B, AR, IN, KIA
SP4 EDWARDS HARRY JEROME, AR, IN, RR
REFNO Synopsis:
SYNOPSIS: On January 20, 1972, SP4 Harry J. Edwards, one of four riflemen; PFC
David D. Berdahl, the door gunner, and a four man crew were aboard a UH1H
helicopter (tail #69-16717) on a recovery mission for downed F4 fighter jet
pilots.
At about 1815 hours, the aircraft was returning from the mission northwest of
Kne Sanh in Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam, when an anti-aircraft weapon
fired on and hit the aircraft, causing it to catch fire.
At first, the fire appeared at the forward end of the tail boom, but
immediately spread over the boom and then engulfed the entire aircraft. The
helicopter autorotated to the bank of the Raoquan River, landed hard and rolled
over onto its left side.
The aircraft commander of another UH1H followed the burning aircraft down, made
a pass overhead, and came to a hover adjacent to the downed helicopter. Landing
was impossible because of jagged rocks. While in a hover, the aircraft
commander saw one man dressed in a flight suit, helmet and armored vest pinned
down in the burning aircraft. This individual was apparently Berdahl.
The hovering helicopter was forced to leave because the downed aircraft started
to explode. He did not observe anyone leaving the aircraft alive, but picked up
5 survivors from the crash site and flew about 50 feet downstream to pick up
another survivor.
Berdahl and Edwards were declared Killed in Action, Body Not Recovered. It has
not been possible since that day to locate them if alive, or to recover their
bodies, if dead.
It was not uncommon for men to die trying to rescue another wounded or downed
comrade - each would say it was their duty, and that the same would be done for
them. They kept the faith with each other. Edwards had only turned 20 years old
the previous November, and Berdahl was only four days older than the legal age
for being in a combat zone. He was just 19 years old.
War Story:
PFC David D. Berdahl and SP/4 Harry J. Edwards were KIA in 69-16717. Two other men died as a result of the crash but several days later. Sgt. Fernando Figueroa died 1-24-71 of burns received on 20 January and SP/4 Walter C. B. Moran died on 1-23-71. Both died at Camp Zama. Confirmed KIA on the Military USA site and per WO1 Frank Angotti the PIC who was at Zama with them. Edwards, Figueroa and Moran were Army rangers assigned to D 3/5 after the 75th Rangers stood down. They crewed our Hueys as rescue forces for downed aircrew. They were crewmembers and not passengers. Interestingly, they wore nomex instead of fatigues under the web gear. The aircraft was on a mission to rescue two F-4E pilots who ejected from a stormy Fast Fac from DaNang who had landed on a road in Laos. Dustoff snagged the pilots and enroute, AAA got Charliehorse 25 and the crash happened in the Ba Long River Valley. Pilots were William L. Allen and Frankie L. Angotti (CH 25). Bill Allen was our scout platoon leader who happened to be in a Huey that day. Of those who did not die, all were burned pretty badly.
This record was last updated on 01/07/2004
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Date posted on this site: 11/13/2023
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