Pacific Stars and Stripes information
for 1 CAV
2/12 CAV 1 CAV
For date 680117
1 CAV was a US Army unit
2/12 CAV 1 CAV was a US Army unit
Primary service involved, US Army
Quang Nam Province, I Corps, South Vietnam
Location, Que Son
Description: The following is an edited version of an article titled "Crewmen Survive Doomed Helicopter."
Que Son (IO) - Four troopers of the 1st Air Cav. Div. survived several minutes of sheer terror when their UH-1D "Huey" helicopter was blasted from the sky by heavy enemy machine-gun fire. The ship was hit at least three times by 12.7mm antiaircraft fire while flying at 2,500 feet over a North Vietnamese Army stronghold deep in Quang Nam Province, 25 miles southwest of Da Nang. The rounds hit the plexiglass canopy and set the instrument panel afire. Both pilots were wounded. One of the pilots slumped over the controls, sending the speeding ship into a steep power dive. The helicopter was plunging straight toward the ground when the other pilot, badly wounded, fought to bring the Huey out of the dive. But even as the helicopter was falling, its two passengers remained calm, radioing for help and relaying their position. "When I saw the pilots were hit, I immediately went out with a 'Mayday,'" said LTC M.C. Ross, 40-year-old commander of the 2nd Bn. 12th Cavalry, 1st Air Cavalry Div. Ross gave full credit to the pilot for averting a complete disaster. "There were Charlies thick in the valley," Ross said. He noted that helicopters which came in later to extract the downed bird received heavy enemy anti-aircraft fire, too, though nore were hit. The other passenger, CPT Daniel B. Redner, 31, of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., played a vital role in the incident, directing armed helicopters to the scene of the crash.
Comments: LTC Ross, M.C.; 2/12 CAV CO; ;
CPT Redner, Daniel B.; 2/12 CAV; ;
The source for this information was 6801pss.avn & paper source documents supplied by Les Hines
Additional information is available on CD-ROM.
Please send additions or corrections to: Gary Roush Email address: webmaster@vhpa.org
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Date posted on this site:
05/13/2023