Information on Vietnam Air Force helicopter CH-34 tail number
Date: 07/03/1966 MIA-POW file reference number: 0383
Incident number: 66070333.KIA
Unit: 219 VNAF SQDN
This helicopter was LOSS TO INVENTORY
South Vietnam
UTM grid coordinates: ZB188874 (To see this location on a map, go to https://legallandconverter.com/p50.html and search on Grid Reference 48PZB188874)
Casualties = 03 KIA, 01 BNR . .
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: 0383, SOG by Plaster P:51 ()
Summary: While flying SOG RT Nevada from Kham Duc to Kontum, the tail boom folded inflight.
Loss to Inventory
Crew Members:
AC CPT NGUYEN HOANG VAN KIA
Passengers and/or other participants:
MSG RENO RALPH JOSEPH, AR, PX, BNR
CPT MAC NAMARA EDWIN JOSEPH, AR, PX, KIA
SSG FAWCETT DONALD JAMES, AR, PX, KIA
REFNO Synopsis:
SYNOPSIS: On July 3, 1966, Master Sergeant Ralph J. Reno was a passenger onboard a CH34 helicopter which crashed and burned in Northwest Quang Tin Province, South Vietnam. The helicopter landed in a very difficult and hilly area about five miles from the Laos border. Search missions were conducted from July 4 to July 8, and bodies of all crew onboard the aircraft were recovered except that of MSGT Reno. During searches, Reno's rucksack was found, but no other items belonging to him were seen. The U.S. Army determined that there was little chance that Reno survived, and classified him Killed/Body Not Recovered. The helicopter apparently did not crash due to enemy hostility, and his loss is listed as non-hostile, non-battle
related.
War Story:
This KINGBEE was on a routine mission to relocate a SOG Recon Team from the FOB at Khum Duc to the FOB at Kontum when the H-34's tail, designed to pivot for storage on aircraft carriers, had come loose, swung around and chewed the helicopter to pieces in midair, ejecting its passengers and crew to a nightmarish death. In addition to killing the VNAF crew and RT Nevada (two America NCOs plus their Nungs), CPT MacNamara was a SOG Operations Officer.
The following from https://sogsite.com/219thkingbee/ :
03 Jul 66; Edwin J McNamara, Cpt 0-3, USASF RT Nevada, Tm Leader (One-Zero) and Donald J Fawcett, SSG E-6, USASF Team Radio Operator (One-Two) were KIA-RR, Ralph Joseph Reno, MSG E-8, USASF Team Assistant Team Leader (One-One), Fayetteville, NC, MIA; and Nine Vietnamese Soldiers (names and Ranks unknown) were KIA (These 12 men were assigned to FOB #2, OPS 35, KONTUM, SOG) and a CH-34 Vietnamese Helicopter crew consisting the VN Pilot, (Cpt [Dau Uy Nguyen Van Hoang aka “Mustachio, “Co-pilot and Door Gunner-names and ranks unknown were also KIA.
The aircraft was returning from Kham Duc [after a mission] to Kontum, FOB 2 (flying at 5,000 feet) when it hit a severe air turbulence resulting in the aircraft “falling apart” loss of the rear tail rotor (the tail , designed to pivot for storage on aircraft carriers, had come loose, swung around and chewed the helicopter to pieces in mid air) causing the aircraft to rotate rapidly, falling some (1,500 ?) feet in a tight spiral, throwing individuals and debris over a large area. Impacting the ground nose first. Remains of 2 Americans and 5 Vietnamese were recovered. MSG Reno and 4 Vietnamese soldiers remains were not found after a 5 day aerial and ground search. [Filed by William “Billy” Waugh: on or about 02 Jul 66 SSG Donald Fawcett was en route to Kam Duc, SVN, with other Americans, aboard an H-34 rescue helicopter. Due to poor visibility and suspected ground fire, one of the H-34 helicopter clipped the blades of the chopper in which Fawcett, et.al., were pax. All aboard were killed by the crash, and I am not certain if their bodies were ever rescued or not]. (See pg 105-106, SOG A Photo History of the Secret Wars by John Plaster
This record was last updated on 03/27/2022
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Date posted on this site: 11/13/2023
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