Pacific Stars and Stripes information
for 147 ASHC

For date 680325


147 ASHC was a US Army unit
Primary service involved, US Army
Incident reference: 26 This information is available on CD-ROM.
Khanh Hoa Province, II Corps, South Vietnam
Location, Vung Tau
Description: The following is an edited version of an article titled "Finger on Trouble GI Saves His Copter." Vung Tao (IO) - The Dutch have their hero who put his finger in the leaky dike to save the town: the 147th "Hillclimbers" ASHC has SP4 William A. Lee from Seattle Wash. Lee, a Chinook flight engineer was in the rear of a Chinook recently as it pulled out of a pickup zone (PZ) after recovering a downed OH-23 Helicopter. As it pulled away, the Chinook received two rounds of automatic weapons fire. One round hit a forward rotor blade; the other round came up through the ramp and pierced a hole in the aft transmission housing causing hot oil to gush out. Reacting quickly to the emergency, Lee put his gloved finger in the hole and stemmed the flow of the 180 degree oil from the housing. Although he didn't save a whole town from disaster like the little Dutch boy, he did give his Chinook enough extra time to complete its mission before stopping for repairs.
Comments: SP4 Lee, William A.; 147 ASHC CE; ;

The source for this information was 6803pss.avn supplied by Les Hines


Additional information is available on CD-ROM.

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Date posted on this site: 05/13/2023