Battle of A Shau Special Forces camp information
for HMM-163
VMO-2

For date 660310


HMM-163 was a US Marine Corps unit
VMO-2 was a US Marine Corps unit
Thua Thien Province, I Corps, South Vietnam
Location, A Shau SF Camp
Aircraft lost in HMM-163 were 2 UH-34s destroyed, many damaged
Description: At 0400 the NVA initiated their heavy attack with an hour long mortar and recoilless rifle bombardment. By 1000 USA CPT Blair requested that all but the northern wall and the communications bunker be bombed and strafed. USAF and Marine jets provided close air support while C-123s dropped flares. A Marine A-4 Skyhawk crashed into the mountains and the pilot died. A USAF A-1E made a forced landing on the A Shau strip and his wingman (MAJ Fisher) landed and rescued him. Fisher was later awarded the Medal of Honor for this action. At 1730 CPT Blair ordered the survivors to evacuate the camp and establish a helicopter pickup zone about 300 meters north of the camp. HMM-163 sent 16 UH-34s escorted by six VMO-2 UH-1Es plus fixed-wing support to the PZ. Two UH-34s were shot down and only part of one crew extracted. The single lift succeeded in taking out 69 defenders including four US Army advisors.

The source for this information was USMC 1966, P 58+


Additional information is available on CD-ROM.

Please send additions or corrections to: Gary Roush Email address: webmaster@vhpa.org


Return to panel index

Return to Helicopter Pilot KIA index

Return to VHPA Home Page

Copyright © 1998 - 2023 Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association

Date posted on this site: 05/13/2023