Helicopter CH-46D 154811

Information on U.S. Marine Corps helicopter CH-46D tail number 154811
Date: 06/21/1969
Incident number: 69062121.KIA
Unit: HMM-165
This was a Combat incident. This helicopter was LOSS TO INVENTORY
for Troop Insertation , Recon Area.
While on Landing Zone this helicopter was on Take-Off at 0100 feet and UNK knots.
South Vietnam
Count of hits was not possible because the helicopter burned or exploded.
Small Arms/Automatic Weapons; Gun launched non-explosive ballistic projectiles less than 20 mm in size.
The helicopter was hit in the Right Side
Systems damaged were: PERSONNEL, FLT CONTROLS
Casualties = 08 DOI, 05 INJ . .
The helicopter Crashed. Aircraft Destroyed.
Both mission and flight capability were terminated.
Burned
Original source(s) and document(s) from which the incident was created or updated: Defense Intelligence Agency Helicopter Loss database. Survivability/Vulnerability Information Analysis Center Helicopter database. Also: OPERA, NSC, BOING, CH46, JSIDR (Naval Safety Center. Operations Report. Joint Services Incident Damage Report. )
Loss to Inventory

Crew Members:
AC 1LT PETERS WILLIAM LEE JR KIA
CE LCP PETROLINE PAUL EDWARD KIA
G LCP WT GIBSON RES
G CPL JE GAUVIN RES
CP 1LT SW JORGENSEN RES

Passengers and/or other participants:
LCP BOSCO FRANK JOSEPH, MC, PX, KIA
PFC COUNCILL ARTHUR COBY III, MC, PX, KIA
PFC CRITES ROBERT LINCOLN JR, MC, PX, KIA
PFC HALL JAMES OSCAR JR, MC, PX, KIA
2LT SCHANCK WILLIAM G JR, MC, PX, KIA
LCP WEIL RICHARD ANTHONY JR, PX, KIA


War Story:
Comments on Incident: 21 June 1969 at 1130 Hours. 22 1/2 miles northwest of Danang, Quang Nam Province, RVN. Crew flying on CH-46D on recon extraction. A/C received small arms fire causing A/C to crash and burn. LCPL W.T. GIBSON, gunner, received contusion to right arm and laceration to right knee, CPL J.E. GAUVIN, gunner, received fractured right "manoible" and dislocation of right shoulder. 1stLT S.W. JORGENSEN, copilot, received laceration to nose. Submitted by John Lane. Source: http://www.popasmoke.com/kia/690621/notforgotten.html Comments on Incident: This is the report I wrote to my company about the shooting down on 21 June, 1969 of the airplane of HMM-165, flown by 1st Lt. William "Lee" Peters, who was killed. The Gunner [crew chief] LCpl Paul Petroline was also killed. At approximately 1045 on 21June 1969, BuNo 154811 was attempting to insert a recon team at position ZC033864. The attempt was abandoned because of enemy opposition, and the aircraft was moving away when the gunner heard a loud explosion from the controls closet area. The co-pilot thinks that they lost boost presure. (the co-pilot is still in a state of shock from the accident and does not clearly remember what happened. It is suspected that the aircraft as hit in the controls closet area by a Rocket Propelled Grenade [RPG]. The aircraft then went out of control and crashed." "The pilot, crew chief, and six (6) members of the recon team were killed, and the co-pilot, the two (2) gunners, and the remaining two(2) members of the recon team were injured. The aircraft burned and is considered a strike." "The aircraft is in very unfriendly territory and examination of the wreckage has not been possible. It is unlikely the the risk of sending a team in to examine the wreckage will be taken so that definite confirmation of the suspected happenings is also unlikely. Submitted by John Dullighan, Boeing Tech Rep, CH-46D, HMM-165. NAVY CROSS CITATION - W.L. Peters - from a previous mission: For extraordinary heroism while serving as a Pilot with Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 165 in the Republic of Vietnam on 12 April 1969. First Lieutenant Peters launched as Wingman in a section of two CH-46 transport helicopters assigned to helilift a reconnaissance team into hostile territory. After arriving over the designated location, the lead aircraft inserted the Marines without incident but, while lifting off, the aircraft came under a heavy volume of small arms and automatic weapons fire and sustained extensive damage. Observing that the reconnaissance team was pinned down where it had disembarked and that the Marines were surrounded by a numerically superior hostile force, First Lieutenant Peters circled the area while helicopter gunships and fixed wing aircraft bombed and strafed the enemy soldiers who clung tenaciously to their positions only 20 feet from the beleaguered unit. When the supporting aircraft had expended its ordnance, First Lieutenant Peters, fully aware of the possible consequences of his actions but concerned only with the welfare of the men on the ground, fearlessly elected to attempt the extraction and, as he approached the landing zone, became the target for intense automatic weapons fire. Although numerous rounds penetrated his helicopter, he landed in the fire-swept area and, with calm presence of mind, resolutely maintained his dangerously exposed position, despite a fanatical assault by two North Vietnamese Army soldiers who were killed by the reconnaissance team. Assuring that the ground unit was safely aboard, he then quickly lifted from the zone under an increasingly intense volume of fire from the frustrated enemy which damaged a vital control section of his helicopter. In a brilliant display of superb airmanship and unwavering devotion to duty, First Lieutenant Peters saved his fellow Marines from serious injury or possible death and thereby upheld the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and the United States Naval Service. Source: http://www.popasmoke.com/kia/690621/notforgotten.html

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Date posted on this site: 10/14/2014