Army Times information
for C/7/17 CAV
1 BDE 4 INF
For date 700603
C/7/17 CAV was a US Army unit
1 BDE 4 INF was a US Army unit
Primary service involved, US Army
Incident reference: 70050505.KIA This information is available on CD-ROM.
Pleiku Province, II Corps, South Vietnam
Location, Camp Holloway
Description: The following is an edited version of an article titled "Downed LOH Two Observers Save Pilot" dated June 3, 1970 in the Army Times.
Camp Holloway, Vietnam - Two OH-6 LOHs from 17th CAG's C/7/17th Cav, rescued a downed LOH pilot with NVA soldiers pursuing them less than 20 yards away. The action occurred nine miles inside the Cambodian border, approximately ten miles west of the Vietnamese outpost of Duc Co. A team of two LOHs, two Cobra gunships and one C&C Huey was conducting a VR mission in an area of known enemy activity in support of the 1st Bde, 4th Div. As the LOHs were scouting at tree top level, the wing aircraft received a heavy volume of enemy fire. It took volume of enemy fire. It took numerous hits and crashed in a small clearing surrounded by anti-aircraft positions. CPT Berry J. Speare of Albany, CA, was flying the lead LOH and his two observers, SSG Robert H. Pilk of Caselberry, FL, and SP4 Walter Yeager of Rochester, NY, maneuvered to locate the exact position of the wing aircraft. "It all happened so fast that for a short while we didn't even notice that our wing ship had been short down," Pilk recalled that evening. "We were all drawing fire and the wingship was quite a ways behind us. They went down so fast they didn't even have time to call for help on the radio. As soon as we noticed they were missing we started looking for them," he continued. "After a few tense minutes we spotted the LOH which was on fire with the crew members still inside. Speare landed our helicopter about 150 feet from an enemy position. "Yeager and I jumped out of the ship and ran to the burning LOH. When we got there," Pilk said, "we found the pilot and the observer trapped inside. First we pulled out the pilot who was hanging outside in a state of shock. Just as we were going to reach for the observer I noticed that several NVA soldiers were sneaking up on us." The two LOH observers tried to get the downed observer unhooked from his seat, but found he was dead. Speare pulled pitch with a heavily overloaded scoutship. The pilot was flown to the 71st Evac Hosp in Pleiku, where he was reported in good condition.
Comments: CPT Speare, Berry J.; LOH pilot; ;
The source for this information was paper clippings supplied by Rudi DeFrance
Additional information is available on CD-ROM.
Please send additions or corrections to: Gary Roush Email address: webmaster@vhpa.org
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Last updated
04/22/2000
Date posted on this site:
05/13/2023