Final Mission of PFC Raymond F. Carroll
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POSTED ON 2/26/17 - BY WKILLIAN@SMJUHSD.ORG


 On February 11, 1971, a U.S. Army helicopter UH-1H (tail number 67-17768) from D Troop, 3rd Squadron, 5th Cavalry, call sign Charlie Horse 21, was shot down one mile northwest of the Rockpile in Quang Tri Province (I Corps), RVN, while attempting to rescue the crew of a downed OH-58A Kiowa scout helicopter (#69-16091). The UH-1 aircraft commander, CW2 Kenneth A. Barger, and the crew chief, PFC Raymond F. Carroll, were killed in the incident. While approaching the Kiowa, the UH-1 radioed it was OK, then seconds later was hit by .51 caliber fire. It crashed inverted and began burning, trapping Barger and Carroll. The co-pilot, 1LT Melvin B. Pobre, survived the crash and was rescued. According to Pobre, who was flying in the right seat, the aircraft had eight ARVN soldiers on board when hit. The three most seriously hurt were lifted out by another Huey (UH-1) using a jungle penetrator. The Huey with the jungle penetrator was the second medivac on the scene, the first one was fired on and driven away. The other survivors walked to a clearing to get picked up. Pobre’s injuries required that he be medevacked to Tripler Army Medical Center Japan. [Taken from vhpa.org]