Information on U.S. Marine Corps helicopter CH-53 tail number 156658
Date: 07/11/1972 MIA-POW file reference number: 1999
Incident number: 72071110.KIA
Unit: HMM-165
South Vietnam
UTM grid coordinates: YD348552 (To see this location on a map, go to https://legallandconverter.com/p50.html and search on Grid Reference 48QYD348552)
Casualties = 46 KIA . .
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: 1999 ()
Loss to Inventory
Crew Members:
AC 1LT KEYES BRUCE G
P CPT BOLLMAN HENRY C
CE SSG NELSON CLYDE KEITH KIA
G SSG HENDRIX JERRY WAYNE RR
G CPL CRODY KENNETH LLOYD RR
Passengers and/or other participants:
CPL COX LESTER E, MC, C, RES
LCP LIVELY STEPHEN G, MC, PX, RES
All but 7 of the 50 South Vietnamese Marine passengers were KIA
REFNO Synopsis:
Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 March 1991 from one or more of the
following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with
POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright 1991 Homecoming II
Project.
SYNOPSIS: Kenneth Crody attended Griffith High School and enlisted in the Marine
Corps during his sophomore year. His final training before being shipped to
Vietnam was Gunner Training. He was assigned to be a gunner onboard a CH53D
helicopter based onboard the USS TRIPOLI (LPH 10)
On the morning of July 11, 1972, the helicopter to which Crody was assigned
launched from the USS TRIPOLI to participate in combat operations in support of
operation LAM SON 72 (Phase II) in Vietnam.
LAM SON 719 had been a large offensive operation against NVA communications
lines in Laos in the region adjacent to the two northern provinces of South
Vietnam. The operation was a raid in which ARVN troops drove west from Khe Sanh
on Route 9, cut the Ho Chi Minh Trail, seized Tchepone, some 25 miles away, and
then returned to Vietnam. The ARVN provided and commanded the ground forces,
while U.S. Army and Air Force furnished aviation airlift and supporting
firepower.
Losses were heavy. The ARVN suffered some 9,000 casualties, almost 50% of their
force. U.S. forces incurred some 1,462 casualties. Aviation units lost 168
helicopters and another 618 were damaged. Fifty-five aircrewmen were killed in
action, 178 were wounded and 34 were missing in action. There were 19,360 known
enemy casualties for the entire operation lasting until April 6, 1971.
Phase II of LAM SON included inserting South Vietnamese marines behind enemy
lines near communist-occupied Quang Tri City, Republic of Vietnam. This was the
mission of Crody's helicopter.
While approaching the drop zone, the helicopter was struck by a heat-seeking
SA-7 missile in the starboard engine. The aircraft immediately burst into flames
and crashlanded moments later. Several aboard received injuries and were taken
back to the TRIPOLI for treatment. The bodies of Crody and another crewman, SSGT
Jerry W. Hendrix, could not be recovered because of the intense heat of the
burning aircraft.
War Story:
The Rescue of Lady Ace 7-2 (Story Synopsis)
The 1972 Easter Offensive mounted by the North Vietnamese Army resulted in the combined US/South Vietnamese counteroffensive designated Lam Son 72, Phase II. In a strategy to retake the NVA-captured Quang Tri City, US Marines helicopters, flying off the USS Okinawa and USS Tripoli, dropped 840 South Vietnamese Marines behind enemy lines north of Quang Tri City. One of the Marine helicopters, a CH-53D Sea Stallion with tail number 156658, had the call sign Lady Ace 7-2. On approach to the landing zone, Lady ACE 7-2 was hit in the starboard engine by an NVA-launched SA-7 heat-seeking missile. The Sea Stallion helicopter immediately burst into flames, crashed and burned. Two of the US Marine crew, Door Gunner Cpl Kenneth L. Crody and Door Gunner SSgt Jerry W. Hendrix perished in the fiery inferno. All but 7 of the 50 South Vietnamese Marine passengers perished as well. A US Marine crew of five survived the fiery crash and sought shelter in a bomb crater while the war raged around them. In the ensuing hours, several rescue attempts by Air Force Search and Rescue helicopters were turned away by intense enemy anti-aircraft fire.
Disregarding extreme risks, Army helicopter pilots from F Troop, 4th Cavalry, volunteered to attempt a bold nighttime rescue behind enemy lines. Flying nap of the earth, dodging terrain features and intense enemy fire, the four Army helicopters fought their way into North Vietnamese occupied territory, rescued the five US Marines and returned them to safety at Tan My, home base of F-4 Cavalry. Later that night, the U.S. Marine aircrew was loaded aboard a Marine CH-46 helicopter and returned to their ship, the USS Tripoli. Marine Crew chief, SSgt Clyde K. Nelson died a month later from injuries related to his burns.
Crash site grid coordinates YD348552
Date of crash: July 11, 1972
Lady Ace 7-2 Crew: " Pilot: 1stLt Bruce G. Keyes " Co-Pilot: Capt Henry C. Bollman " Crew chief: SSgt Clyde K. Nelson (died a month later from burns) " Crewman: Cpl Lester E. (Sonny) Cox (burns) " Marine Combat Photographer: LCpl Stephen G. Lively (suffered burns and shrapnel wounds) " Door Gunner: SSgt Jerry W. Hendrix (died in the crash) " Door Gunner: Cpl Kenneth L. Crody (died in the crash)
This record was last updated on 11/17/2013
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