Information on U.S. Army helicopter UH-1H tail number 68-16203
The Army purchased this helicopter 0869
Total flight hours at this point: 00000788
Date: 04/15/1970 MIA-POW file reference number: 1594
Incident number: 70041515.KIA
Unit: 170 AHC
South Vietnam
UTM grid coordinates: YB895442 (To see this location on a map, go to https://legallandconverter.com/p50.html and search on Grid Reference 48PYB895442)
Casualties = 03 DOI . .
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: 1594 ()
Loss to Inventory
Crew Members:
AC CW2 BARTHELME ALBERT LEWIS JR KIA
P WO1 RA MILLER REL
CE SP5 DC SUMMERS RES
G SP4 VS DAVIS RES
Passengers and/or other participants:
SSG BIVENS HERNDON ARRINGTON, AR, PF, BNR
SP5 MONTANA ROSENDO, AR, PF,KIA
REFNO Synopsis:
SYNOPSIS: On April 15, 1970, Cpl. Herndon A. Bivens, a pathfinder with a
security detachment, 52nd Aviation Battalion, was riding in the lead helicopter
as elements of the 52nd Aviation Battalion attempted to insert the 3rd
Battalion, 42nd Regiment, Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) into an area a
few miles north of Dak To in Kontum Province, South Vietnam. Cpl. Bivens and
another pathfinder, Sgt. Rosindo Montana and 6 ARVN soldiers were successfully
inserted by the lead helicopter without receiving fire.
The second aircraft, UH1H (serial #68-16203) was hit during its approach to the
LZ and crashed on the landing zone. Aboard this aircraft were WO Albert L.
Barthelme, Jr.; WO1 Roger A. Miller; SP4 Vincent S. Davis; SP5 Donald C.
Summers and 6 ARVN soldiers. Two of the ARVN died in the crash of the aircraft.
When the second aircraft hit the LZ, Cpl. Bivens was near the landing zone.
Three unsuccessful extraction attempts were made to rescue the survivors of the
second aircraft and the passengers of the first, then in a fourth attempt, a
helicopter managed to retrieve SP4 Davis and SP5 Summers before being driven
off by ground fire. Later attempts by Air Force Search and Rescue (SAR) forces
were also unsuccessful in rescuing the survivors.
At the time Summers and Davis were rescued, they reported that WO Barthelme was
badly wounded, and that one of the pathfinders was dead. Two ARVN survivors
from the first helicopter were able to evade capture. Before they left the LZ
that night, they asked Cpl. Bivens and WO Miller to go with them, but the
Americans chose to stay on the LZ and await rescue.
WO Miller was captured by the Viet Cong and subsequently held in and around
Hanoi until March 1973. When he was released, he reported that he and Bivens
had spent the night on the LZ, and on the morning of April 16 attempted to
return to friendly lines. At an unknown location they were ambushed by two
enemy squads. WO Miller saw that Bivens had been wounded in the chest 5 or 6
times by small arms fire. After their capture they were separated and given
medical attention. The last Miller saw of Bivens was when he was taken from the
site of the ambush on a stretcher. At that time, Bivens was still undergoing
medical treatment.
About four days later, the camp commander where Miller was being held told him
that Bivens had died about 2 hours after capture. On April 29, 1970, a U.S.
search and recovery team was able to examine the crash site and recover the
remains of WO Barthelme and Sgt. Montana.
This record was last updated on 07/25/1998
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Date posted on this site: 11/13/2023
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