1971

TO LISTEN TO GEORGE JONE'S 50,000 NAMES ON THE WALL

22 Jan 71- Kenneth Lovelace, SSG E-6. USASF Instructor, Recon Tm Ldrs School, B-53, Long Than, Ops 38; Frank A. Celano, SGT E-5 and Hugh D. Opperman, SGT E-5, USASF, CCC, Kontum, Ops 35,  KIA during a  SOG Reconnaissance Team Leader’s Course  while a on Recon, and William H. Seaborn, Jr., WO1,  240 AHC/222 CAB. They were engaged by an unexpected enemy which overwhelmed them by number. FOR DETAILS SEE-->LOVELACE/CELANO/OPPERMAN/SMITH

William H. Seaborn, Jr.

On 22 January 1971, an OH-6A (hull number 68-17337) of D/3/4 CAV 25 INF was shot down. Efforts were immediately instituted to rescue the crew:

Another helicopter was lost in that effort. According to fellow pilot Hugh ("Sandy") McLeod

"They were in the area training at the time of the crash, and responded to my call for assistance. They were hovering over a hole in the canopy, and with Special Forces folks on rapelling lines, they were shot down." (Feb 1999) 

WO1 William H. Seaborn, Jr., 240 AHC/222 CAB, was piloting the second helicopter, a UH-1D (hull number 66-16356). Three Special Forces troopers, SGT Frank A. Celano, SSG Kenneth Lovelace, and SGT Hugh D. Opperman, were the men rapelling to the ground in an effort to rescue the men in the OH-6A. These four men died when the UH-1 was shot down. The bodies of all seven men - three from the OH-6A, four from the UH-1D - were recovered

28 Jan 71- Arthur A. Smith, SGT E-5, USASF CCN, Da Nang, Ops 35 killed in helicopter crash (non hostile) Bien Hoa Province,South Vietnam (Trainee at 1-0 school). He is listed by the Virtual Vietnam Wall as being assigned to Co A, 5th SFGA.

29 Jan 71- David Ives Mixer, SGT E-5 of Darien, Conn, USASF, CCC, RT Colorado, Kontum, Ops 35 MIA-Body not recovered. While on a recon mission operating in Laos that made contact with an enemy force. The enemy used B-40 rocket propelled grenades against the team and one exploded directly in front of Mixer. He was checked by a team member, he was covered with blood and did not respond, thought to be dead and was left behind in the effort to break contact with the enemy. Due to heavy enemy activity his remains were left behind. NOTE: Mixer was SOG’s final MIA in Laos.

David L Mixer Fr SF Honor Roll

15 Feb 71- Marvin Maurice Leonard, W02, Pilot of Grand Rapids, Mich; Barry Frank Fivelson, WO-2 of Evanston, Ill; James Harry Taylor, 2LT 0-1 of Oroville, CA; Everett Crone, SP/4 of Whittier, CA; Willis Calvin Crear, SP/4 of Birmingham, CA and John Lynn Powers, SP/4 of Mackay, Idaho, USA Aviation, Co C, 159^th Avn Bn, 101ST ABN DIV Ops 32/75,MIA- Presumptive finding of death. On a SOG resupply mission in Laos their helicopter (CH-47C) caught fire and exploded in the air, and crashed in a area replete with enemy activity. There were no indications of survivors.

Everett Crone From Vietnam Virtual Wall

18 Feb 71- Ronald "DOC" Leonard Watson, CPT 0-3 of El Paso, TX; Allen "Baby Jesus"Richard Lloyd, SGT E-5 of St Charles, Minn; USASF, CCN, Da Nang; RT Intruder, Ops 35 and George Phillip Berg, WO-1 of Belford, NJ Air Craft Commander; Gregory Stephen Crandall, WO-1; Gerald Ernest Woods, WO- 1, Pilot; Walter Edward Demsey, Jr, SP/4, Crew Chief of Glendora, NJ; Robert Joseph Engen, SP/4 of Stockton, CA; Walter Edward Lewellen, SP/4 of New Albany, IN; Gary Lee Johnson, PFC E-3, Door Gunner of Malibu, A CO, 101ST AVN BN, 101ST AVN GROUP, 101ST ABN DIV, Comanchero 19, UH-1H #68-15255. MIA-Presumptive finding of death. With less than 2 weeks before the end of US-led teams in the A Shau in Laos . Upon insertion the team encountered the enemy and engaged them, killing two and the remainder dispersed. The team worked their way to an LZ and a Huey was making a STABO rig extraction. All 3 Americans hooked up and as the helicopter lifted off, it was hit. A door gunner cut one of the ropes loose and SSG Sammy Hernandez fell 30-45 feet before the helicopter went off a cliff with the other two Americans still on the ropes. The helicopter crashed and exploded Killing these 13 men. " On 19 Feb, a Special Forces recovery team was inserted at the crash site to search the area. Woods and Berg were found dead in their seats. Johnson's body was found in a tree. One leg of Demsey, the burned CE, was found in the cargo compartment. All remains were prepared for extraction, and the team left to establish a night defensive position. Enroute, the team found the remains of Lloyd and Watson, still on their rope slings, in the trees on the edge of a cliff. Because of the rugged terrain and approaching darkness, the rescue team leader decided to wait until morning to recover these two remains. However, the following morning, the search team came under intense fire, and te team leader requested an emergency extraction, and in so doing left all remains behind." by http://www.a101avn.org/KIA~MIA.html. Hernandez was rescued. (See 19 Feb for continued action). Note: See RT Intruder in the "individual memorial" section. {Filed by SSG Don "Sluggo" Murphy: . In January of 72 I was the covey rider at Phu Bai and Bob Woodham our chase medic asked me if I would look on the ridge in the South end of the Ashau for a ladder that was in the treetops. I did and it was still there. He was involved in the brightlight operation for Watson and Lloyd. He said he had put both bodies in bags there. The lines were still hooked to them and let to where the aircraft was crashed. He asked if I would check with MACSOG and mount a recovery mission for those two and the aircrew still in the crash site. I did but the request was denied.} [Doc (the Brain) Watson came to the front gate of CCN one day and asked for an interview. He was or had been in the Phoenix Program. He had a PHD from Stanford. I asked him why he wanted to be a 10. He said it was to help him understand human psychology," why would a person want to lead in such a program." We accepted him and sent him to 10 down at Long Thanh. He also told me that he was an orphan..-BG George Gaspard]  VISIT The Missing Men of RT Intruter
SPECIAL NOTE TO DEMPSEY: DON MURPHY WHO FILED THE NEW INFO THAT HE WENT TO THE AREA OF THE CRASH IN JAN 72 AND THE LADDER WHICH THE ORIGINAL TEAM HAD LEFT WAS STILL THERE, CAN BE CONTACTED BY CALLIN HIM FOR MORE DETAILED INFO BEFORE YOU GUYS GO BACK FOR THE RECOVERY MISSION. HE CAN BE CONTACTED VIA EMAIL AT dasmurf@commandnet.net OR TELEPHONE 270-798-3581.

19 Feb 71- James "Woodstock" Larry Hull, 2LT 0-1 of Lubbock, TX USAF, FAC Pilot, 20TH TAC AIR SPT SQDN, 504TH TAC AIR SPT GROUP OPS 32/75 and William "Jose" M. Fernandez, SFC E-7, USASF FAC Covey Rider, TF1AE- Da Nang (CCN), LT Hull last seen providing air support for a SOG recon team listed as MIA; SFC Fernandez KIA-RR. (Added by Fred Wunderlitch, "Lightning": This mission was a continuation of the action from 18 Feb and before. My team did the bright light on the 0-2 crash site. We were able to pull Jose out, but Woodstock was pinned between the engine and seat. "Your text is a little unclear if it implies that Hull might be MIA, but there is no doubt in my mind that he was KIA). "As always the devil is in the detail and the passage of time has dimmed but certainly not erased the memory of what was a rather hectic period. Frankly, everything went to shit that week on nearly all the operations. I saw Sammy go out with Doc and Lloyd, and Cliff come up when things got tough on that one while other missions were also in trouble. We all suited up as brightlight (rescue/reaction) teams. We were listening to the radios, always an agonizing trial where you feel beyond doing anything about it, and heard of the chopper and then later the covey crash. I was to go after the covey aircraft and picked only three others from my team; my 11 (assistant team leader in SOG jargon) Kloecki, who's status I do not know, and two of our local commandos (SCU). Knowing the terrain I planned to rappel in and we did so from a Huey to a thick forest of tall saplings on the hillside just in Lao. It seemed that the O-2 had gone in as a flat spin and cleared a hole down to the ground. The whole top and wing section was shredded down, exposing the cockpit. There were firefights going on in the East, seemingly about a kilometer away, and a lot of aircraft activity in the area. Both Jose and Woodstock were dead and the crash had broken nearly every bone in their bodies. I literally rolled up poor Jose's legs stuffing him into the body bag. Woodstock was wedged tight in the wreckage, especially as the custom was for the pilot to sit well forward. The O-2 gun sight had taken the top of his head off and he was crushed in the seat between the engine shoving back and the rear fuselage. We could not get him out. An HH-53 was sent to get us. One of my SCU started firing from the perimeter around the wreck site but we could not see the bad guys. The HH-53 Parajumper even came down to look with us at the wreck but there was no way to get Woodstock out and there was still a lot of action in the area. We were all hoisted up, along with Jose's body. Onboard, I asked the crew chief if we were going over the hill to get the other team, but he said there was another chopper. It turned out that there wasn't but, like I said, it was a less than agreeable day in a week of unpleasantness. I went back to Lao in 91/92 as part of an oil exploration seismic operation for explosive ordnance clearing... We were in the A/O (Area of Operations) as we used to call it, but I was never quite close enough to this particular area to try and check it out. As I've said, I believe that the general action for the RT Intruder brightlight was about a kilometer East of the covey crash site. Being fairly mountainous territory, I gather that the chopper healed over down the ridge and could be even further from the extraction site." (Frederick Wunderlich, Dec 99)  VISIT The Missing Men of RT Intruter

James Hull

      ADDED: Sgt Tomas Thompson was the individual who retried "Jose" Fernandez's body while Lt Wunderlich and the other team members provided cover.  Sgt Thompson was unable to get Woodstock's body out of the wreckage [Thomas Thompson] “In Col. Tom Yarborough's book, ‘DANANG DIARY’, he (Yarborough), and another Covey pilot at that time, took out Larry's downed O-2 with him still in it with willie pete to keep the NVA on site from getting Larry's remains.  The crew, Berg, Woods, Demsey and JOHNSON was my crew. I got a 9 day drop and they were lost on the 9th day after I DEROS’ed... Dave Demsey and I went back in June of 92, worked with the JRT, and found nothing. JOHNSON took my place as gunner. [R. Wayne Jones] ADDED:  From the Friday, Oct. 13, 2006 HOUSTON CHRONICLE dateline Lubbock" From staff and wire reports":

"The remains of an airman killed during a mission near the Laos-Vietnam border 35 years ago will be returned  to his family, the military announced Thursday. U.S. Air Force 1st Lt. James L. Hull, of Lubbock, and another crew member were flying an 0-2A Skymaster when they crashed Feb. 19, 1971. Both men died. Hostile enemy action prevented the recovery of Hull's body, so he remained with the wreckage just inside Laos, according to theDepartment of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office. Teams from the U.S. Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command led several investigations to retrieve Hull's  remains between 1993 and 1997. But it wasn't until May 2006 that a joint U.S. and Laotian team excavated a  crash site and recovered human remains that proved to be Hull's. He will be buried with full military honors Nov. 13 at Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, D.C."

"I was on the ground with RT intruder when I understood that a covey went down with Jose Fernandez. Yes it became a big mess and a lot more other SOG soldiers got hurt during that same time. Billy Waugh and Cliff Newman with the bright light team he took in ran into a lot of bad guys when they got in. Billy Waugh got me out the next day. I am glad he was flying that day because he recognized me and new the type of uniform I was wearing on that operation. I give him credit for saving my life or I will still be running in the jungles in Laos."
Strength and Honor Sammy (Hernandez, US Army Special Forces, Command and Control North)

10 Apr 71- Robert N. Fiesler, SGT E-5, USASF, TF2AE (CCC), Recon Mission-KIA.  He was killed at Dak To launch site by a rocket attack filed by William F. Lewis

20 Apr 71- Kevin D. Grogan, SGT E-5, USASF, Co C TA2AE (CCC)-KIA - I believe that it was early April we were given the mission of inserting west of Plei Djerang, we were to perform a blocking maneuver for the Bac Dao (Black Panther's) a somewhat elite VN regiment who was doing some kind of a sweep in  the area. We were inserted on a ridge and we moved to the high ground.  I made the decision that as it was getting late in the day we would set up a perimeter, make sure everything was in order and we would dig in and wait until first light the next day before we moved off the hill.  That night all was quiet, we got up the next morning chowed down and while I was eating, one of the Yards came up and said he had heard VN speaking, indicating a direction.  I gave instructions to get everyone up and ready to move and I took my Mountain Yard radio carrier a VN Aspiring and a squad of Yards with Sgt Grogan to investigate. We hadn't moved very far when we came on to a trail running east and west.  I started following the trail and as I stepped out from behind a  tree there was an NVA setting on a stump of a downed tree about fifty feet away.  It was an instant shoot out,  unknown to me the fallen tree was across the top of a bunker.  I dove for a log on the opposite side of the trail sliding face first behind it.  The first NVA was dead and was partially blocking the firing port of the bunker.  Every time I would raise my head Charlie would open up with his RPD. It was just after one of his longer burst's another automatic weapon cut loose and I heard Kevin say Grommet I've been hit.  We neutralized the position and crawled over to where Kevin was at. He was lying on his back and he had received four rounds to the chest.  I check for a pulse and as I did so Kevin gave off a long sigh. I called Leghorn, told them we were in contact and that we had lost an American.  It wasn't very long and John Plaster was up.  We evacuated Kevin on a Mcguire rig and they moved us to an area well cleared, by airstrikes where they pulled us out. By Gerald Denison (Gerald was stationed at FOB 2, Kontum from Sep. 67 until the 5th of Oct 68.  The last half of that year he was flying with Covey and the first half he ran RECON.  His team was Ohio. This is mention this so to explain where he was from 68 until 71.  He was shot down southeast of Attepeau in Loas while he was looking for a recon team.  He spent  the rest of 1968 and most of 69 in Valley Forge hospital.  Gerald was then assigned to 10th group and returned to Vietnam mar of 1971.  This trip he was again assigned to FOB2 but it was TF2AE and was assigned as a platoon advisor for one of the exploitation companies.  His compound was the Mike force compound in down town Kontum.  Pappy Reed was the Senior enlisted Walt Schumate was there Kevin Grogran and another young  plus some old hands that had been around Vietnam for  multiple tours)

.27 Apr 71- Frederick  Krupa, CPT 0-3 of Scranton, PA USASF, Training Support Hqs, Tng Advisory Op, MIA-Presumptive finding of death. Version 1: As Krupa was about to insert his Special Commando Unit 2 miles from the Laotian border northwest of Plei Djereng, Vietnam, when the helicopter was about 3 feet from the ground it came under enemy fire. Krupa fell forward, the SCU Company A Commander Ayom grabbed his Krupap’s right shoulder but let go when his (Ayom) hand was struck by a bullet and Krupa fell out of the helicopter. Krupa was last seen lying next to a log sprawled out on his back, not moving or making a sound by crew chief SP/4 Melvin C. Lewis as the helicopter started its ascent. Version 2: Krupa was last seen Krupa was a passenger aboard the helicopter to insert troops onto a LZ. The helicopter was hit by enemy fire and Krupa was observed getting hit in the chest and fall from the aircraft. The helicopter then lifted off without realizing what had happened to Krupa. Upon learning of the incident, the pilot attempted to radio for assistance, but his radio had been hit. Photo of Fred Krupa & John Newman

Fredrick Krupa

28 Apr 71- Donald F. West. SGM E-9, USASF TF1AE (CCN)-KIA

29 Apr 71- Albert McCoy, Jr. SSG E-6, USASF, TF1AE (CCN)-KIA

03 May 71- Klaus Y. Bingham, SSG E-6 of Wahiawa, Hawaii, James Martin Luttrell, SSG E-6 of Fayetteville, NC; and Lewis Clark Walton, SSG E-6 of Cranston, RI USASF, Recon Tm Asp, TF1AE (CCN), Da Nang, MIA- Presumptive finding of death. RT Asp was inserted 12 miles East of Laos in the A Shau Valley (Quang Nam Province) on 3 May without ground fire or radio transmission and was never seen heard from again.. On 4 May the area was searched by FAC without success. Two pilots reported seeing a mirror and panel signals on 5 May about 50 meters from the LZ and the FAC again searched the area and attempted to establish radio contact, the FAC saw two persons wearing dark green fatigues locating signal panels. Helicopters were launched but could not perform an extraction due to adverse weather. The FAC remained on station until 5 PM without making communication contact with the team. May 6 found the weather again prohibited an extraction attempt and May 7 found extraction or insertion of a search team an impossibility due to enemy fire. Adverse weather prevented insertion until 14 May. On May 14 the search team was inserted without success of locating RT Asp. (Per Cpt "Garry" George Robb, at the time of his departure as the 1-0, Rt Asp, in Nov 70, the team consisted of 3 ex-NVA and 3 Vietnames; however, the team had been shot up before the 3 May loss, thus, the exact ethnic make up of the team is unknown) {Filed By Sgt Don "Sluggo" Murphy regarding the attempted location and extraction of the 3 Americans: In mid April, 1971 two recon teams were joined to make one large raid force with a mission of hitting targets developed by the recon teams. We would launch out of MLT-1 at Phu Bai. This team was to remain at the launch site for 30 days. The two teams were Connecticut and Indtruder. SSG Andre Smith was one zero of Connecticut and SSG Eldon Bargewell had Intruder. The combined effort would field a total of 24 men. Connecticut was selected as the force's name with SSg Andree Smith as one zero and Eldon as one one. Connecticut was a Chinese Nung team and Intruder was Montagnard. RT Connecticut arrived at MLT-1 shortly before noon on 3 May 71, we checked in and went to lunch. Asp had been inserted that morning into the AO cleanly and without incident. The covey got a Team OK. (I do not know the name of the Covey Rider who inserted them) SFC Keith Kinkaid came into the mess hall and alerted us that he would be flying covey and left for his aircraft. Shortly after SSG Andree was called to the TOC and it was decided that we would go in (for RT Asp) instead of the bright light team since we had a much larger force. After a briefing on what we would do on the ground, we launched. Four slicks were loaded with six men each, we had two spare slicks on one of which was our chase medic SSG Bob Woodham. We had also four cobra gunships. I was in the lead slick with Andree Smith, Phun An Sang (Nung Interpreter), One other Nung, Sgt Mudhole Waters and one Montagnard. We would be inserting on Asp';s primary LZ. To approach the LZ we had to fly up a valley with high ridges on left and right. Just prior to short final we began taking effective fire from the ridges and the LZ. NVA were in the open firing at us and we all were returning fire. Andree aborted the mission. We took fire until we cleared the ridges passing over the LZ. I observed no bodies on the LZ but plenty of NVA. We returned to Danang since it was closer to inspect the slicks for battle damage. After refueling, we returned to Phu Bai to make another attempt this time on Asp's alternate LZ but bad weather precluded this. Now a large storm hit the area and no aircraft could be launched. Walton, Bingham, and Luttrell were officially listed as MIA. The weather finally cleared on the 11th. We would raid a farming area close to the area where Asp was lost with hopes of capturing a PW who would possibly enlighten us as to Asp's fate. The insert went in cleanly and we began recon by fire. After an hour of movement we stopped near the river by an animal fence. We had one heat casualty (Sgt Eaton) . Andree called for extract, to this point we had no contact with the enemy. As the birds came in and picked up the team. Sgt Waters, Myself and two indig (tailgunners) would cover fro the fence line. During the extract we could hear screaming, the cobras were firing on a large NVA force crossing the river coming at us. We laid down Car15 and 40mm fire on them as they approached. Andree fired his RPG 4 and killed 5 just as the four of us raced for the slick. On extract we were hit in the tailboom by a 23mm, which only got off one burst, the cobras got him. Cobras claimed 37 killed. In my opinion of what happened. The team hit the LZ but was ambushed during movement. What the Viets said is probably true they left the bodies where they lay) (Filed by BG Bargewell: first one of the covey riders saw 2 people on the LZ the day before we eventually went into on the last day and that they had put a red panel in the middle of the LZ--that's why we went in to that LZ. we figured it was put there to lure us in but we went anyway cause we had nothing else to go on. also months later there was a NVA captured-by who I cant remember- that supposedly said something to the effect that the team had walked into a small jungle village near their insert LZ and were ambushed and all US were killed. Frankly I don't know if this was ever verified but it was passed to us as Intel.- the most exciting thing that happened to me on that mission was when Andre, that crazy SOB, fired the RPG the first time--he turned 90 degrees quickly and fired and I was standing about 6 ft behind him at that point and I thought Id been hit from all the backblast--got my heart rate up a few mil anyway and blew me down on the ground--unhurt except for my ego from not paying attention to what he was up to---my yards thought it was funny anyway.) NOTE: THIS IS THE SECOND TIME ST/RT ASP WAS LOST. ON 28 MAR 68, ST ASP WAS LOST THE FIRST TIME.  . Case #1245) ON 3 MAY 1971 SSG JAMES M. LUTTRELL, SSG LEWIS C. WALTON, AND SSG KLAUS Y. BINGHAM, WERE MEMBERS OF A LONG RANGE RECONNAISSANCE PATROL (LRRP) WHICH WAS INSERTED INTO AN AREA AT GRID COORDINATES YC 756 573 IN SOUTH VIETNAM AND WERE NEVER HEARD FROM AGAIN. THE INSERTION OF THE PATROL WAS MADE WITHOUT GROUND FIRE OR RADIO TRANSMISSIONS. ON 4 MAY 1971 THE AREA WAS SEARCHED BY FORWARD AIR CONTROLLERS (FAC) WHO NEITHER SAW NOR HEARD ANYTHING FROM THE TEAM. LATER, ON 5 MAY, TWO PILOTS WHO WERE FLYING IN THIS AREA REPORTED SEEING MIRROR AND PANEL SIGNALS 50 METERS WEST OF THE LANDING ZONE FOR ABOUT 15 MINUTES. THE AREA WAS SEARCHED AGAIN FOR ABOUT THREE HOURS AND THE FAC ATTEMPTED TO CALL THE TEAM ON RADIO. AT 1404 HOURS, (ON MAY 5), THE FAC SAW TWO PEOPLE WEARING DARK GREEN FATIGUES LOCATING PANEL SIGNALS. HELICOPTERS WERE LAUNCHED AT 1500 HOURS THAT DAY WITH A RESCUE TEAM, BUT COULD NOT BE INSERTED BECAUSE OF BAD WEATHER. THE FAC STAYED ON STATION UNTIL 1700 HOURS, BUT NO COMMUNICATIONS WERE EVER ESTABLISHED. ON 6 MAY WEATHER AGAIN PROHIBITED SEARCH ATTEMPTS, AND ON 7 MAY HOSTILE FIRE IN THE AREA PREVENTED THE INSERTION OF THE RESCUE TEAM. POOR WEATHER PREVENTED THE INSERTION OF A SEARCH TEAM UNTIL 14 MAY, THE RESCUE TEAM WAS EXTRACTED THAT SAME DAY WITHOUT EVER HEAVING SEEN OR HEARD FROM THE PATROL.  During the General Membership Meeting at the SOA Reunion, SOAR XXVIII, Mr Dickie Hites, Special Advisor, to the CG of JPAC, Hawaii, presented a brief update on his trip to SE Asia. He mentioned the remains of Klaus Bigham, Jim Lutrell, and Lewis Walton of RT ASP from CCN, lost on 10 May 1971 had been found.

17 May 71- Dale Allen Pearce, WO-1 of Mentor, OH; David Pecor Soyland, WO-1 of Rapid City, SD, and Two Door Gunners (Names and ranks unknown) UH-IH helicopter aircrew, Ops 32/75 C CO, 158TH AVN BN, 101 ABN DIV, Three bodies were recovered and one is listed as MIA. These men were lost when their helicopter was shot down while attempting an extraction of  recon team Alaska.

18 May 71- Danny Day Entrican, 1LT 0-2 of Brookhaven, Mass and Dale W Dehnke, SSG E-6, Gary L. Hollingsworth, SP/5, USASF, TF1AE (CCN), RT Alaska, 0ps32 Lt Entrican MIA-Presumptive finding of death. SSG Dehnke, SSG Hollingsworth and the scout was KIA-RR. (Dale Dehnke was killed on his 23rd birthday, he was my one zero of RT Crusader and was strap hanging with Alaska. Don Kelly)

Dale Dehnke (in head band) & Danny Entrican (back facing camera) - See Dale's memorial, click-->Dale

Several other photo's of Dale and another of Lt Entrican

See Danny Entrican's memorial--->Entrican

Recon Team ALASKA, consisting of three US special forces soldiers and three Nung troops, was inserted into the Da Krong Valley, Thua Thien Province, SVN, reportedly on 8 May 1971; the team leader was 1st Lt Danny D. Entrican. On 18 May, when located about a mile from the Laotian/SVN border, RT ALASKA was engaged by an NVA force and called for an emergency extraction.

Two Americans - SP5 Gary L. Hollingsworth and SSG Dale W. Dehnke - and one Nung were killed in the fighting; Entrican and the other two Nungs attempted to evade the NVA. Surviving commando Truong Minh Long and interpreter Truong To Ha stated that they rolled downhill after a hostile search party detected them hiding in the bush. Entrican, who apparently was wounded, yelled at them to move out and try to make the pickup alone. Meanwhile, the pick-up helicopter, a UH-1H Huey (tail number 67-17607, C Co, 158th Avn Bn) crewed by

was hit by automatic weapons and RPG fire as it approached the pickup point, rolled over, impacted on its right side, and slid down a slope. Warrant Officer Pearce was killed in the crash, but the other three crewmen were able to exit the aircraft. Additional ground forces were inserted in an attempt to recover the survivors of both RT ALASKA and the downed Huey. SP5 Parker, SP4 Alcorn, and the two surviving Nungs were found alive. While Pearce's remains were identified the rescue party lacked the tools needed to free his body from the wreckage. The bodies of Hollingsworth, Dehnke, and the two Nungs were recovered. SP4 Alcorn reported that he saw a man, believed to be WO Soyland, running on the crest of a nearby ridge, but although search efforts continued until 27 May the searchers were unable to locate either 1LT Entrican or WO Soyland. Enemy documents dated May 1971 later captured mentioned an American captured in the area, but it was impossible to determine if the documents referred to Entrican or Soyland. Both men were carried as Missing in Action until the Secretary of the Army approved Presumptive Findings of Death (Soyland on 10 Apr 1978; Entrican on 6 Dec 1978).

The information above is summarized from several sources, including the POW Network site, the Vietnam Helicopter Pilots' Assn database, and the 1992 Senate Select Committee Report as contained on the Advocacy and Intelligence Index for POW/MIA site.

20 May 71- Scott H. Newport, CPT 0-3, TF3AE (CCS), Ban Me Thout, Ops 35 Killed while participating in SOG activities? , RR?? 39301: However, he is listed on the Virtual Vietnam Memorial as being the a Tactical Intelligence Staff Officer (G2, S2) (Special Forces Qual) ASSIGNED TO TRNG ADV GRP, USARV which is in error. 

      "I knew Scott Newport well.  He originally arrived at CCS as a 1LT in the late Fall of 1970.  If memory serves me, he was the Asst S-2 under Bill Tangney.  I believe Scott became the S-2 in early 1971 when Bill took command of the Northern Launch Site.  He and I were on a CCK Flight together in December 1970.  Upon return he returned to CCS, which was shortly to be renamed TF3AE when 5th Group returned stateside.  I went to Saigon in January 1971 to take command of the LB from Jack Keller.  Again, if my memory still serves me, Scotty had just been promoted to CPT only a month or two before he was killed.  Upon his death I was told that, as the S-2, he was making a visit to a local village to meet with some of the village elders.  He was accompanied by a platoon (I believe from Security Company).  I also seem to recall that he was the only American and they were traveling in a ducenhalf.  They were ambushed as they arrived at the village.  My recollection is that Scotty was the only casualty, and in the back of my mind I seem to recall the prevailing thought was that he was specifically targeted.  I remember the bad guys took his Rolex.  I've cc'd both Bill Tangney and Bill Dadek, who were both at CCS/TF3AE at the time and may be able to provide more detail.  Bill Holden was the Commander of the unit at the time of this incident, but I do not have his contact information.  I'll let you know if I recall any additional details.  VR" - Troy Gilley, Recon Co Cmdr,  CCS,

     "I can vouch for the fact that Capt. Scott Herbert Newport was serving with TF3AE when he was killed as a result of hostile action. Captain Newport was involved in the relocation of a local Montagnard village and he was in the lead vehicle (I believe that he was driver) on a small convoy entering a village that had been vacated. This was to be his last visit to the site to pick up the last remaining items for the move. I was among the first to respond to the site for an assessment. It appeared that he had entered into the kill zone of what I would term as a "textbook" ambush -- his jeep was hit in the grill by an RPG and Scott was able to exit the vehicle and take partial cover in a slight depression by a tree and returned fire. As an Infantry officer, I recall a certain lack of respect for Scott since he was an Intel officer -- after making an assessment of the scene, however, I gained a great deal of respect for Capt Newport because he was able to return fire and expended several magazines before he was fatally wounded -- he died in that slight depression from, as I recall, an extensive head wound. I had been an exploitation platoon leader (the same platoon MSG Jerry "Mad Dog" Shriver was with when he went missing) for nearly nine months before Capt. Newport was killed. At the time Newport died I was serving as an assist S-2 and my assigned area was the southern portion of Cambodia. I have forwarded this message to Captain David "TJ" Pollard. He was a fellow platoon leader who was serving as the unit S-4 at the time Newport died. Captain Pollard has a much better memory for details and I'm sure that he will correct me if I've made any mistakes . . . Thank You /s/ Lewis B Arnold" 

   Troy,,
     "I also knew Scott well,  He and I had the same taste in music and shared cassettes.  His room was two doors from mine. He was, as I remember, going with a Med visit to a local village to get intel from the village elders.  I seem to remember the medic was a US but I may be wrong.  I was at the launch site, Bill Tangney had remained at CCS that day to attend to some business/coordination.  I received a call at mid morning from Bill saying to send the guns back, ASAP.  I did and upon their return to the launch site learned that a US was killed, I confirmed later that it was Scott.  Everyone else had gotten away alive.  Scott had taken cover in a depression and was found with all his ammo fired and empty mags around his body.  They did take his rolex, car-15, and equipment.  It was a well set ambush, they seemed to have been after him!
    Bill Tangney was coordinating the response of the guns from CCS and may have more information and a better memory of the attack.
     Troy is correct about the timing for Scott arriving and when he became S2.  He was a Cpt when killed. Bill Dadek
 

05 Jun 71- John Robert Jones, SGT E-5, USASF, TF1AE (CCN), Training Advisory Op, Da Nang, KIA. Jones was performing defense duties of a remote radio relay site "Hickory Hill" ( Hill 950) located deep in enemy held territory at Khe Sanh when attacked by a battalion size enemy force. The site is normally defended by two Americans and about 40 Indigenous soldiers. However, there were 27 Americans and 67 SCU, which includes a squad from L Co, 75^th Rangers defending the site this date. Evacuation started but due to adverse weather conditions, the evacuation was halted leaving SGT Jones and Jon Cavaiani, SSG E-6, with about 20 indigenous soldiers who fought on through the night SGT Jones was KIA- and his body not recovered and SSG Cavaiani was captured and untimely released in 1973. SSG Cavainai was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously for his action as he was originally thought to have been killed in action.

      ADDED: Reference Hickory Radio Relay Site. In October/November of 1969, when I was Opns Officer at CCN, the Marines pulled off of Hickory without notice. Our radio people had to relocate to Fuller Marine Base. However, our antennas were masked in that location. The next day we airlifted back into Hickory to resume our activities using our own companies/platoons as security. Hickory was in shambles as the Marines had blown up everything. The unfortunate part of this story is that we lost a recon team in Laos because of no radio contact. Each Tuesday I would go to Phu Bai and brief 24th Army Corps about significant activities in our AO. I informed the G2 and the Chief of Staff as usual. The reopening of Hickory called for a special briefing to Gen Mel Zais, Corps Commander. I had been his football coach in the 187th and we met frequently in the Pentagon. His words were " Speedy, I don't know if we can get your guys out if they are overrun." I responded by saying that we were radio blind without Hickory and that we would have to stay."  BG “Speedy” George Gaspard (then a Major), CCN

John R. Jones on Hickory RR, Hill 950

21 Jun 71-Billy J. Watson, TF3AE, died as a result of a Claymore detonation caused by lightening.-Non Hostile.

22 Jun 71- Madison Alexander Strohlein, SGT E-5 of Philadelphia, PA, RT NEW JERSEY USASF TF1AE (CCN), Da Nang, Ops 35 MIA. Strohleim was inserted behind enemy lines via parachute (HALO) into the Ta Ko area during a night recon mission with SGM William "Billy" Waugh and SFC James O. Bath who was injured was on the jump. Five hours later he requested medical evacuation then after four more hours he reported enemy activity/movement all around him. A WACO City recovery team was inserted on 23 Jun could not locate SGT Strohlein, however, his weapon, radio, and map was found. Indications are Stroheim was captured, although the North Vietnamese denies any knowledge. Please see: http://www.a101avn.org/SOG.htm which is a letter written by Richard A Bittle, Crew Chief on one of the birds that went in to recover the team and tells of the efforts to find Stroheim, also see "SOG HALO EXTRACTION" in the Tales From SOG.  NOTE: NEWS FLASH Vietnam admitted Strohlein was captured alive see--POW/MIAs abanonded

      Additional Information:  There was NO HATCHET force inserted on Strohlein unless they snuck in on some other form of transport. Over the years I have had three people tell me that they were the one who found Strohlein’s 203, yada yada yada. Horsepockey!  RT habu and Dirty Dick Dougherty were the so called "hatchet force that went in after Strohlein. Lemuel McGlothren and Woody had rappelled into retrieve Tubby Bath, just before that. Dave dougherty and his team and the remainder of RT Habu were loaded up and we went in to try and get Strohlein before the weather closed in. Along with Dave was his 11 , and Guy Wagy, myself and the rest of RT habu. We inserted in the lower edge of the ridgeline that Tubby had been pulled out of.  The ridge climbed steeply up to the South west and we started moving  in a file looking in the trees and listening for any sign of Strohlein. The 11 from Dave 's team was a blond headed kid with a polish name and for the life of me I cant remember it. I found Strohlein’s Car15 with the 203 on the bottom. There was a 40mm He jammed in it and it had fallen  from above in the trees, Dave and I had been doing little sweeps because Covey had been telling us that we were right on top of him. We found where they had drug the chute out of the trees and there were drag marks going up the ridge. I believe we also found a strobe and a map not sure on that.  We started to move up in the direction of the  signs when we could smell US heating tablets burning like someone was cooking. Ti Ti Loi and Thua came up to me, they had been up  further and told me "Beucoup VC and pointed up the ridge. It was getting late and we decided to  move back towards the area we had been inserted. Weather closed in and we were forced to stay  in the area. We got down to where we were going to be extracted from we noted we had  movement from the area that we had just come from. Lots of it with sticks banging and metal on metal. Dave and I moved our teams to the west and slightly up form the extraction LZ looking for better ground if we had to make a fight of it. We found bomb trenches on a little knoll and that is where we  got into position. We put out claymores and waited it out. They did a line search across  the ridge and passed just above and just below us. They must have figured we would never use their bomb trenches, or somebody just screwed up. I remember the trenches because they had Foxfire or illuminecence in the bottoms so you could find them in the dark. it was like sitting in a neon light after it got dark . We were extracted without further problems except as few shots going out. It was our opinion that they had drug Strohlein out of the trees. The tree where we found his  Car and the Map and emergency radio was bullet scarred about fifteen feet up and there was brass at the bottom. It appeared from the signs that they had ripped a burst at him and forced him to drop his weapons, then pulled him and his chute out. The drag marks going uphill were what we  were following when we ran into all the movement. We could never figure out why they left the other equipment. The Car was at the base of the hill, the map about twenty meters further up then the radio and strobe light, like they were laying a trail. We suspected an ambush and when  Thua came back with tti ti Loi, and said there were lots of assholes above us that pretty much  Confirmed it.

      They knew we were still there after dark because they kept beating sticks and  banging on metal as they swept that ridge we were on. They would do that to keep their alignment and sometimes to see if they could spook us. The yards were all freaked out about being in the trenches, because of the luminescence. Most of us lay beside them rather than actually getting in. Pretty smart of the bad guys though , there was a high speed trail about fifty meters north of those bunkers, if they got caught at night they could find shelter in the dark. There were more luminescence marking the trees about head height, like inverted V's. Guy Wagy was the 11 of Daugherty's team, The blonde kid that had a polish name,was a strap hanger. He was a friend of Strohlein. He became quite Ditzy after we found the gun. Not all that uncommon, sort of but for the grace of God that could be me...thinking I guess.
We figured out pretty quick that the equipment was left to draw us uphill into an ambush, it was laid out all too neat, pointing in one direction. Nick By: Nick Brokhausen

Madison A Strohlem Fr SF Honor Roll

26 Jun 71- Sebastion E. Deluca, MSG E-8, SOG, Ops 80, NCOIC-Officially Listed as a Death Non Hostile, There’s more to this incident, which indicates he was Killed in Action for his country and fellow Americans by a hostile force. Deluca’s knowledge regarding missing Americans combined with the bureaucracy decisions prevent effective recovery of the Americans, lead him to take a bold, heroic, but unwise initiative to act on his own that resulted in his death in Laos in an effort to secure the release of some Americans. [Photo featured, page 104-105, Project Omega, Eye of The Beast, by James E. Acre]

06 Jul 71- Daniel W. Thomas, 1LT 0-2, Pilot, Covey, 23^rd Tactical Aerial Surveillance Squadron, tail # 634, USAF Ops 32/75 and Donald Gene "Butch" Carr, CPT 0-3 of San Antonio, TX, USASF, Special Mission Advisory Op, Deputy Cmdr MLT-3 (CCN), NKP, MIA-Presumptive finding of death. While performing an orientation flight in an OV-10 aircraft over Laos (15 miles inside Laos west of Ben Het) for newly assigned Cpt Carr made a radio contact reporting they were over their target area but due to adverse weather conditions, could not observe the ground. That was the last radio transmission and have not been heard from since. Search and rescue efforts were made without success.

11 Jul 71- Team Pike Hill, (names unknown), Monkey Mountain FOB, Camp Black Rock, Da Nang, Ops 36, MIA. An all Cambodian soldier team was inserted into "Zone Alpha" in Cambodia and after making a scheduled radio contact on Jul 2^nd, the entire team was never heard from again-

11 Jul thru 24 Aug 71- Three Special Commando scouts KIA in the PHU DUNG operational area.

05   5 Aug 71- Cinkosky,  David Edward, Cpt. 03, U.S. Army Aviation, O-1E pilot of the 219th Aviation Co. 4th Plt., CCS, MLS/N of Post Falls, The back seat was a Montanyard One Zero.  (names unknown) TF3AE (CCS), Ban Me Thuot, flying visual Recon over Cambodia came under intense enemy fire and crashed. KIA-RR.  (Added by: Dale Bennett-Snoopy - 3,  .  The crash site is shown in Plaster's  Photo book Page 122. None of the NVA that fired on Dave survived that day. Four 20th SOS Guns expended all of their ordinance on the target ( 40,000 rounds of mini-gun and 56 X 2.75 rockets.) The MIKE FAC then put in 3 sets  of Tac-Air. All structures were completely destroyed and the whole hill was lowered about 2 meters. Both bodies were recovered.   I was the high bird on this mission- DALE R. BENNETT, Snoopy - 3  SOA 910GL)

David E. Cinkosky, From Vietnam Virtual Wall

07 Aug 71- Loren "Festus" D. Hagen, 1Lt 0-2, Medal of Honor Winner and Oran L. Bingham, SGT E-5 and Bruce A. Berg, TF1AE (CCN), RT Kansas performing Recon deep in enemy held territory KIA-RR In a battle with odds of 107 to 1, RT Kansas of 14 commandos (six Americans and eight SCU) faced a formidable foe of an entire regiment, supported by a second regiment. One NVA regiment was able to overrun the Special Forces’ Kham Duc camp in 1968 and it only took one third of a regiment to completely overrun the Special forces camp at Lang Vei in one night. Here RT Kansas equipped with only what they had on their backs, CAR 15's, grenade launchers and one M-60 machine gun faced an onslaught greater than the men at the Alamo. Clearly, RT Kansas was an unwanted guest and the NVA intended to remove the team without delay. The team had taken up a position on a small hill, spent the night, receiving probing activities during the night, as dawn approached, trucks began to arrive filled with NVA. The onslaught came with a single, well placed RPG round, which smashed into Berg’s bunker exploding, collapsing it. This was the signal for the assault. Lt Hagen went to check Berg but was cut down in the massive enemy fire and died. Bingham left his bunker to reposition the claymores and died within six feet of his position with a bullet striking him in the head. A SCU jumped up and was cut down immediately. SGT Bill Queen lay wounded, SGT Tony Anderson having sustained multiple wound, but fighting and commanding the situation, and SGT William Rimondi unwounded and fighting. The enemy came in great numbers, so close rolling over the hill, they were inches from the end of the CAR 15 muzzles. Then air support arrived with massive fire power which broke the enemy’s attack and the enemy fled for cover. By this time Rimondi was suffered multiple wounds. Hueys arrived and the remaining team members and some of the teams dead were recover. Three hours later, SGT Anderson, although wounded, returned with the bright light team and recovered the dead. Berg’s remains were not located. Three Americans and three SCU died in this action with a confirmed 185 NVA dead, a kill ratio of 31:1. 

Name: Bruce Allan Berg; Rank/Branch: E5/US Army; Unit: USARV Training Operational Group TF1AE TSH NHA; Date of Birth: 22 April 1950Home City of Record: Olympia WA; Date of Loss: 07 August 1971 Country of Loss: South Vietnam; Loss Coordinates: 164700N 1064732E Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered; Category: 2Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground; Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

Refno: 1765 REMARKS: Source: Compiled from one or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Updated by the P.O.W. NETWORK in 1998.

SYNOPSIS: On August 7, 1971, Sgt. Berg was serving in a reconnaissance unit in Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam. That morning, Sgt. Berg and an indigenous soldier left their night defensive position, a bunker, to recover a Claymore mine which had been positioned the night before. The indigenous soldier reported that Sgt. Berg was hit in the head by small arms fire about 6 feet from the bunker. No effort could be made by other U.S. members of the team to recover Sgt. Berg, as the team came under heavy enemy pressure. During the ensuing fire fight, a large amount of friendly infantry ordnance was fired into the vicinity of Sgt. Berg's last known position. The surviving members of the team were later forced to withdraw, leaving behind Sgt. Berg, one other U.S. soldier, and several indigenous soldiers. At an unspecified date, another team went to the location of the incident and recovered the bodies of the other U.S. soldier and the three indigenous bodies, but was not able to locate Sgt. Berg. Berg's condition at the time of withdrawal of the unit is unknown. The initial shot in his head may or may not have been mortal. The artillery fire may or may not have killed him, but if so, may or may not have obliterated any trace of his body. These details may never be known. It is noteworthy that although the recovery team located the bodies of the other dead personnel, they did not find any trace of Berg. It is possible, although remotely so, that he recovered from the shock of his initial wound, left his original position, and survived to be captured. Since the end of the war, several million documents have been reviewed by the U.S. Government and hundreds of thousands of interviews conducted on the subject of Americans missing in Southeast Asia. Many authorities are convinced that hundreds are still alive in captivity. If Sgt. Berg survived, perhaps he is one of them. It's time we brought these men home. NOTE: SEE THE BOOK An Enormous Crime "The Definitive Account of American POWs Abandoned in Southeast Asia by Former U.S. Rep Bill Hendon (R-N.C.) and Elizabeth A. Stewart.

Mon Oct 13  1997 Great work... I have additional information regarding Bruce Allen Berg. The combat action in which Berg was lost is described in the last chapter of John L. Plaster's new book SOG: The Secret Wars of America's Commandos in Vietnam (1997 Simon & Schuster).  The day of Berg's loss I heard the story somewhat differently, and I told Plaster that by phone a couple of weeks ago. Surviving witnesses are Staff Sergeant Tony Andersen, USA (he was the one who told Plaster his version of the story), and Sergeant William Ramundi [Rimundi?] who told me his account immediately after returning from the battle in which Berg was lost.  Ramundi has not yet been located for comment. On his previous mission Berg was second in command (One-One) on Recon Team Oklahoma, which I commanded (mixed USASF and Montagnard commandos).  I was not on the mission in which he was lost the following week. Berg's unit TF1AE (Task Force One Advisory Element), was previously known as CCN (Command & Control North) [MACVSOG]. Berg's Aug. 7, 1971 loss was near Khe Sanh.  Berg was a member of Command & Control North (CCN was renamed Task Force One Advisory Element "TF1AE", Training Advisory Group [TAG] in 1971), which was based on the North side of Marble Mountain in Da Nang.  Berg had been second in command of Recon Team Oklahoma on his previous mission, and he was attached to RT Kansas at the time of his loss.  Six US Army Special Forces and eight Montangnards made up RT Kansas for Sergeant Berg's last mission.  Other than Berg, Rimumdi [Ramondi ?], and Anderson, the other USASF team members were Sergeant William (Bill) Queen, Staff Sergeant Oran Bringham, and Lieutenant Loren Hagen.  I do not have the names of the Montangard commandos who survived that combat action. As described in Plaster's book (SOG), although they weren't aware of it at the time, RT Kansas had inadvertently set up their defensive perimeter almost within sight of the Hanoi High Command's most critical new venture, the first 6-inch fuel pipeline laid across the DMZ and down the Cam Lo River valley, absolutely essential in the next few months when entire tank battalions would roll through there for the war's largest offensive.  The NVA 304th Division, plus a regiment of the 308th Division was already massing nearby, in preparation for the offensive. According to Chief SOG Colonel John Sadler, an entire NVA regiment, supported by a second regiment, stormed the hill top position of RT Kansas that day. At a mismatch seven times greater than the Alamo, it was the most one-sided battle of the war. A few hours after that action I was told by Ramondi that Berg was standing inside their perimeter when he was apparently hit in the shoulder, or head, by what he thought was a B-40 rocket or mortar round.  According to Ramondi the blast knocked Berg outside of their perimeter.  Hagan went after him, and never returned.  In Anderson's account (as told by Plaster) he states that Berg was inside a bunker which was hit with an RPG, and that Hagan was killed while attempting to reach Berg's position.  In your posted biographical sketch of Berg you describe how an "indigenous soldier reported that Sgt. Berg was hit in the head by small arms fire about six feet from the bunker." Immediately after Berg was hit by the initial volley (whether by an RPG, or mortar round, or whatever) of enemy fire on the teams position, Hagan apparently made a valiant attempt to reach Berg.  Hagan received the CMH posthumously for his unsuccessful effort.  Although Hagan's body was recovered later that day, Bruce Berg was never found.  He was declared Killed/Body Not Recovered (in 1973 ?).

NOTE: I spent sometimes with William (Bill) Queen who was on this mission, he says that Anderson was not a team member, he does not recall who Anderson is and he is confused by Anderson's version, as it is not correct. He stated Anderson must have been a "strap hanger," otherwise, he would have remembered him. Bill Queen is the one who submitted Lt Hagen for the Congressional Medal of Honor.--RL Noe

Family information request re. Oran Bingham [CCN, RT Kansas KIA 8/7/71]
FM: Sean Williams <swilliams@slco.org>

I am looking for anyone with more information about SSG Oran L. Bingham, a member of RT Kansas, TF1AE (CCN), KIA 07Aug71. He along With 1LT Loren Hagen and SGT Bruce Berg were killed that day 17km NNE of old Lang Vei (coord. 164700N.1064732E) Surviving members of his team were SGT William (Bill) Queen, SGT Tony Anderson and SGT William Rimondi but I haven't been able to find any information about any of these men. If anyone out there knows how to contact or has any information on the whereabouts for these men please contact me. SSG Oran Bingham was my wife's father and she wants to know more about him. He was killed when she was 6 months old and he never knew that he was a father. Her mother refuses to give up any information about him so any info I could get from this forum would really be appreciated. Or if anyone out there knew him form other units (he was a 11B4S) or AT ALL please write. Thanks.
 

13 Aug 71- Mark H. Eaton, SGT E-5, USASF, Recon, TFlAE (CCN)-KIA

? Aug 71- ARVN Tm/Asst Tm Ldrs and Five Special Commando Scouts (Names and ranks unknown) MIA

? Aug 71 - Five Special Commando scouts KIA and one Scout MIA (names unknown) performing Spike Team duties in the Demilitarized Zone.

14 Sep 71- Heinz K. Roesch, CPT 0-3 and Don R. Gilbreth, MSG E-8, TF1AE (CCN), Da Nang, Ops 35 Killed while riding a jeep which hit a mine outside the compound KIA-RR

Heinz K. Roesch

? Oct 71- Two Special Commando Scouts (Names unknown) KIA in base area 702

11 Oct 71- Audley "Audie" D. Mills, SFC E-7, USASF, TFlAE (CCN), Da Nang, Ops 35 KIA-RR He was killed when his six man recon team made contact with an enemy force while performing Recon in South Vietnam. He called for assistance and a "Prairie Fire" emergency, but before being extracted, he was killed. SOG’s final death due to ground operations. (Note: I met Audie when he got in country and  was in the TOC, I was put in the TOC Aug 70 pending a commission at the end of Aug 70, a very likeable guy and someone I considered a friend, he is missed-RL Noe)

? Oct 71- Two Special Commando Scouts (names unknown) MIA.

? Oct 71- Five Special Commando Scouts (names unknown) KIA

29 29 Oct 71- Gene W. Stockman, SFC E-7, USASF, TF1AF (CCN), Died  Gene was not killed as a result of a vehicle accident, he was killed in an accidental shooting with my .25 cal browning pocket pistol.  I was on leave at the time and Gene had asked me to let him keep my pistol safe while I was gone. He went drinking somewhere one night and was shot in the gut, right through the artery that splits and becomes the femoral arteries in the legs.  I was a SSG at the time, working in the S4 shop and had the privilege of supporting these very brave soldiers. At the time, MG Bowra was a 2LT and MG Bargewell was a SSG, Recon Company with CPT Manes and the irrepressible SGM Billy Waugh.  By: Richard Whitmanh

? Nov 71- Special Commando Scout (Name unknown) MIA after a fire fight with the enemy

? Nov 7- Earth Angel Team Members (Name and Number unknown) failed to return after being trapped in an enemy ambush MIA-Bodies not recovered

? Dec 71- Pilot, 0-1G aircraft and Photographer (Names unknown) MACSOG 20, Intel Div, Flying a photo recon mission the aircraft was shot down. KIA-RR. I know that this was a Marine Master Gunnery Sergeant (Photographer/Intelligence Specialist) and an Air Force Captain (pilot).  The plane went down in Cambodia, when the pilot was killed at extremely low altitude and the aircraft could not recover.  I knew the Master Gunnery Sergeant, he was with me at MACVSOG on Louis Pasteur Street in Saigon, but one of my Vietnam problems is the inability to remember many names. Don Williams, MACVSOG, SOA 2478

12 12 Dec 71- Benard J. Moran, Jr., MSG E-8, US Marine Corps, SOG, Ops 20, NCOIC-KIA.  I served with BJ in OP-20 and had the pleasure of pinning his E-8 stripes on him.  BJ was the only Marine serving specifically with SOG who was KIA’ed and we’re very proud of him. He would like to be remembered as the kind of Marine he was-Outstanding.  The mission he was on was strictly volunteer basis and he wasn’t required to be where he was when KIA’ed.  Major Ralph Sturgeon, USMC. --- My Name is MSgt Allwerdt USMC where I serve as an Imagery Analyst, I  am trying to find out any information concerning MSgt Bernard Moran. He was a Marine 0241 (Imagery Analyst) who was assigned/served with MACV-SOG and was killed in action 12 Dec 1971.  MSgt Moran is the  only 0241 KIA but there is little information on his service.  I am hoping to gather information so that the Marine Imagery community can know about his sacrifice and better honor his memory.  Not to mention that there were few Marines let alone intelligence Marines who served with MACV-SOG.  Thank you for you assistance in this matter. Respectfully, Karl M. Allwerdt
MSgt USMC  allwerdt@mac.com

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