Air Commando Aircraft Down
Buon Enao Project/Ban Me Thut, Vietnam
15 Oct 1962
The downing of two Air Commandos aircraft on 15 & 16 Oct 1962 left three dead and one who survived. The story is being keep alive by Art Fields for Special Forces history. It was very well known in Air Commando circles but little written about it. This is a series of e-mails between the principal players to relive those days and to correct the historical inaccuracies which have crept into it over the years. Anyone who has data, pictures, orders etc on this incident please send them to aircommando1@earthlink.net for incorporation into USAF Air Commando and USA Special Forces history.
From: "Arthur Fields" <arthur.fields@worldnet.att.net
To: <aircommando1@earthlink.net
Subject: Inquiry into a Special Forces Operation.
Date: Sat, 12 Jan 2002 20:11:25 –0600
I am seeking assistance in clearing up long unanswered questions about the
deaths of Special Forces and Air Commando personnel.
I was in Vietnam form July 1962 to February 1963 on a Army Special Forces
mission to expand the "Buon Enao Project". This was a program to arm and
train the Rhade tribesmen in Darlac Province to secure and defend their
villages against VC attacks. This was very early in the VN war and involved CIA cover and operations.
What I am trying to sort out is facts involving my operation on 15 October
1962 against a VC training camp near Ban Don in the central highlands of
Vietnam.
Aircraft involved in this operation were:
3 H-21C Shawnee helicopter (they flew two lifts each to bring troops into
the battlefield)
1 WWII B-26 Bomber (flew aircover and dropped bombs on VC complex)
1 FARMGATE T-28 (flew aircover for the operation)
1 HELIO U-10 Observation aircraft (This is the plane that the 3 were KIA)
On the late evening of 15 October 1962 I was securing the objective and was
in communication with my superior Special Forces Commander, Cpt Terry
Cordell, coordinating the resupply of ammo and supplies. My Radio Operator
was up in a tree putting up my jungle antenna for better communication. Cpt
Cordell was in a observation aircraft (type unknown) flying overhead low and
slow. I was speaking with him and suddenly he went blank. My Radio man
shouted look, look. I looked up and saw the aircraft going straight up with
fire coming from the nose area. It looped over and started spiraling down
into the jungle. On board the plane was Cpt Terry Cordell (U. S. Army
Special Forces, 1st SFG Okinawa) and two USAF personnel, the pilot and a
enlisted radio operator. All were KIA. It was dark in deep jungle when we
reached the crash site, so I set up a defense peremeriter around the crash
site. The next morning the brass from Siagon started arriving. A FARMGATE
T-26 came in low and slow and was downed. I am sure that it was the same
one that provided air cover the previous day. It was fully loaded. The
pilot had taken off without his Vietnamese counterpart. We pulled him out
of the wreckage alive and almost lost some of our people looking for the
second pilot before we realize there was none. A copter was brought in to
recover the bodies and take the T-28 pilot, who lived, out.
I have found what type of aircraft the people in question were killed in. (open the attachment). Also their names.
When the HELIO was shot down on 15 Oct 1962, in addition to Cpt. Terry D. Cordell, US Army Special Forces there
were two USAF personnel. The pilot, Capt. Herbert Booth Jr. and Radioman, T/Sgt Richard L. Foxx. This should aid
us in answering the remaining questions. Which are:
1. What unit were the USAF personnel assigned to?
2. What was the name and unit assignment of the FARMGATE T-28 pilotthat crashed on 16 Oct 62?
I am thinking that it was the same pilot that provided air cover the previous day.
3. What was the name and unit assignment of the WWII B-26 bomber pilot?
4. What were the names and unit assignment of the 3 CH-21C chopter pilots?
The chopter pilots might have been Army or even Vietnamese.
5.What are the names of any USAF personel that were involved with the
operation?
6. Does the AF have any photos of the crashsite or press releases of the crash? If so I need copies.
If you can help me with any of this it would serve to clear up question and
misinformation that have been around for years.
My contact info is:
Cpt (R) Arthur T. Fields Jr.
5517 Bent Tree Drive
Shreveport, LA 71115-9565
I hope you can assist me in this effort. I will be in communication with you.
Thanks,
Art Fields
To: "Arthur Fields" <arthur.fields@worldnet.att.net>
From: <aircommando1@earthlink.net>
I was at Bien Hoa when Fox, Cordell and Booth were killed on 15 Oct 1962. Fox and Booth were from USAF Det 2 Alpha, 1st Air Commando Group (APO 27 San Francisco, CA). I signed out the PRC-10 radio to TSgt Fox, who was a Combat Controller, and a few hours later he was burned to death in the crash of the U-10 Helio Courier piloted by Capt Fox. The PRC-10 was used by Fox to communicate with the Army on the ground since we didn't have any FM in our aircraft at that time. Same problem we had in WWII , Korea and then in Vietnam. Later a T-28 was shot down and was piloted by Capt Bill Chambers but he survived and he is a cc address on this e-mail. The B-26s also belonged to Det 2 Alpha. We had C-47, B-26, T-28 and U-10 aircraft at Det 2A at Bien Hoa AB in 1962.
Chalie Jones was a Combat Controller and knew Foxx very well and has some pictures-he is Butterfly in cc above.
The H-21 was an Army helicopter. Capt Bennett and Lt Tully were killed in a B-26 on 5 Nov but I can't find any B-26 that went down between 15 Oct and 5 Nov 1962.
There are several books which covers some of these events to include "Air Commando" by Philip D. Chinnery and a lot of material which many of us have keep over the years. I have some things which I will have to look through if you are interested.
I assume that you are writing a book that covers some of these events and I am sure everyone in this e-mail would be glad to contribute to. Could you send something back of your interest in our people who were involved in these events.
Gene Rossel
Chino, CA
From: "Arthur Fields" <arthur.fields@worldnet.att.net
To: "Eugene D. Rossel" <aircommando1@earthlink.net
References: <5.1.0.14.2.20020114203120.02e05140@pop3.norton.antivirus>
Subject: Re: Inquiry into a Special Forces Operation.
Date: Tue, 15 Jan 2002 09:20:01 -0600
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Gene:
Thanks for getting back to me. The info you provided is what I was looking for.
No, the B-26 did not crash, it did however provide air cover and support for the operation.
Maybe Bill Chambers will know who the pilot was. I will try and contact Chambers and Jones.
Did Foxx spell his name with one or two XXs?. I was a MSG (Team Sgt) at the time. I was in
charge of the operation and my team were the only Americans on the ground.
This year we are having the "50th Anniversary of Special Forces", 17 June to 23 June 2002, in
Fayetteville, NC. I am trying to get this all together by then. There has been so much misinformation
written about this operation. Not one of the people on the ground have ever been contacted.
I would greatly appreciate any additional info or material that you might have. You have my other
contact infor. Thanks again.
Green Beret-All The Way!!!
Art Fields
Date: Wed, 16 Jan 2002 13:57:00 -0600
Subject: Re: Special Forces Operation (Booth,Foxx and Cordell KIA) 15 Oct
62
From: Bill Chambers <blchambers@earthlink.net
To: Arthur Fields <arthur.fields@worldnet.att.net
CC: "Eugene D. Rossel" <aircommando1@earthlink.net
Message-ID: <B86B372C.118A%blchambers@earthlink.net>
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on 1/15/02 7:02 PM, Arthur Fields at arthur.fields@worldnet.att.net wrote:
Bill:
I am the SF guy who was in charge on the ground when the U-10 Helio that was
piloted by Capt Booth was shot down on 15 Oct 62. I understand from Gene Rossel that you were the
pilot of the FARMGATE T-28 that went down the next morning. I would like to speak with
you about this. There has been much misinformation written about this operation and I want
to get the record straight. I would greatly appreciate it if you would get in contact with me.
My additional contact info is:
Arthur T. Fields Jr.
5517 Bent Tree Drive
Shreveport, LA 71115-9565
Green Beret-All The Way!!!
Art
Hi, Art. Glad someone is getting all the story out. I'll be glad to see your
finished product since I don't have all the story either. Here is what I
remember from this old brain of mine. Bob Walker and I was sent up to Ban Me Thut (that isn't the proper spelling,
but I'm sure you know it since you were there- where the Montagnard villege
was) on 12 Oct. We were told that we were to fly support missions for the
Special Forces who would be leading a group of Montagnards to try to find a
vc training area. Intelligence had heard that there were at least one
Chinese who were instructing the VC. Bob and I flew into the little airfield outside the villege and were taken
to the Montagnard camp. We met the SF Capt. in charge of the camp (don't
remember his name but I'm almost positive he was in the U-10 with Capt Booth
and Sgt. Foxx) and a couple of Sgts. who worked for him (probably you) and a
spook from the CIA who, among things, was in charge of the weapons he gave
to the Montagnards. I remember he gave me an M-1 carbine and a small machine
gun which I put in the baggage compartment of my T-28. We finalized our
signals we would use for the ground forces to direct us in delivering our
ground support fire (using panels on the ground) since we couldn't talk on
the radios. We didn't hear anything on the day after we got there. We were told that no
contact had been made with the VC. But one thing interesting did happen.
This SF Capt. walked into the camp from the jungle out of nowhere in the
afternoon. He was very pleasent and introduced himself as George Patton. We
visited a while and I noticed that he was at least six ft. tall and looked
like a carbon copy of THE George Patton. After he left, I found out he was
the son of Gen. Patton. A Sgt. told me he would disappear for a few days and
then come walking in again to get a shower and some food, then leave again,
never saying where he was going or where he hadf been. You SF types are
wierd! Thank God we have them! Bob Walker and I were getting bored sitting around and nothing happening.
The U-10 was sitting on the ground also waiting for some word from the field
that they had contact with the bad guys (you were out in the field with
them??) Your Capt. said he was sure he could find some targets for us, and
he went with Capt Booth and Sgt. Foxx in the U-10. They were going to make
contact with the forces on the ground and find us some targets. We were to
take off about 30 minutes after they did. The CIA guy was going to fly in the back seat with me, but he had finished
off too many bottles of gin the night before and could not even climb up on
the wing of my aircraft. We decided he could fly with me later- that was one
time that the gin saved his life.(By the way- of the seventy some-odd
missions I flew there, I had a Vietnamese in the back seat two times and
they were privates We hardly ever flew with them in the aircraft)
We took off and tried to contact the U-10 on the radio and could not raise
them. We called the camp to see if they had contact with them but they
couldn't contact them either. So Bob and I flew around the area looking for
them. Finally we saw this smoke coming up from the ground and it was their
aircraft. One wing was folded over the cockpit. You know the rest.
The next morning Bob and I were flying cover for the recovery team, which
included Lt. Col. Miles Doyle, our commander from Bien Hoa who had flown in
the night before. We had contact with the recovery team on the ground and they reported no
contact with hostile forces. I was making passes over our people, really
just "showing the Eagle" to try to keep the VC from trying anything. I was
in the middle of one pass when my engine lost power and smoke started
streamming out of it. I didn't know whether I'd blown a jug or what. I let
Walker know I was going down and apparently the Chopper was on our frequency
and took off immediately. I was too low to bail out (no ejection seat) and
had to ride it in. About all that was left of the T-28 was the cockpit
laying on it's side. I couldn't get the canopy open more than about one
third. I would never have been able to get the CIA guy out of the back seat.
I was later told that they found only one bullet hole in the aircraft- right
in the carb. What a lucky (or unlucky) shot.
I know this has been windy but I wanted to tell you everything I remembered.
An interesting note- While I was in the hospital at Clark AFB having X-rays
taken, I was visited by another CIA type. He wanted to let me know what to
say if anyone asked me questions. I was to say that I did have a Vietnamese
in the back seat with me, etc. As you know, I can't verify any of what he
told me (maybe you can), but he told me they had captured two Chinese
advisors. He futher said that they (CIA,or whoever "they" were) had turned
the interrigation of the two over to a French team who took them up in a
chopper. When the procedure was started on the second, they couldn't stop him from
talking. Interesting story, whether the CIA type was trying to impress me or
what.
Let me know if I can help in any way. I'd like to know what you find out.Was
Cordell the SF Capt. on the U10? That name rings a bell.
Bill Chambers- You have my e-mail. My address is 6751 S. 70th. E. Ave.,
Tulsa OK 74133.
From: "Arthur Fields" <arthur.fields@worldnet.att.net
To: "Eugene D. Rossel" <aircommando1@earthlink.net
References: <5.1.0.14.2.20020117055058.027d02f0@pop3.norton.antivirus>
Subject: Re: RE: Re: Special Forces Operation (Booth,Foxx and Cordell KIA) 15 Oct 62
Date: Thu, 17 Jan 2002 10:15:54 –0600
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Gene:
With your help it's coming together. I would still like to find out who
flew the B-26 on 15 Oct 62. Do any of your contacts know to what
unit the CH-21 Army helicopters were assigned? That's still a missing link.
I would bet that one of the 3 choppers that flew us in to the battlefield on
15 Oct, was used for recovery on 16 Oct. Rumor has it that the recovery
helicopter was flown by an ex SF Msg that had gone to flight school. by the
name of "Mississippi" Woods. Can any of your contacts recall ever hearing of
him? I will keep it going until we have all the facts and information nailed
down.
I have some photos of both crash sites. I will have copies made and send
Them to you. It's been so long ago that I can no longer tell which plane is
which, both were badly damaged. Maybe you and Bill Chambers can tell the
difference.
Green Beret-All The Way!!!
Art
Date: Thu, 17 Jan 2002 12:52:27 -0600
Subject: Re: BUON ENAO PROJECT, 1962
From: Bill Chambers <blchambers@earthlink.net
To: Arthur Fields <arthur.fields@worldnet.att.net,
"Eugene D. Rossel" <aircommando1@earthlink.net
Message-ID: <B86C798B.11B6%blchambers@earthlink.net>
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on 1/16/02 8:29 PM, Arthur Fields at arthur.fields@worldnet.att.net wrote:
Bill,
Thanks for getting back to me. With your help I think we can fill in the
missing parts. Here is my version, from the ground, of what happened.
My team from the 1st SFG on Okinawa was sent Vietnam to expand the Buon Enao
Project, in August 1962. Teams back then wore civilian clothes, civilian ID
and cover story. We were located in the Rhade village of Buon Tha Mo,
Darlac Province, Vietnam. Ban Me Thout was the largest town around and Buon
Enao was located just a few clicks from there. The airfield was located
between the two. My base camp of Buon Tha Mo was located some distance from
Buon Enao. I was a MSG at the time and Team Sgt.
On this mission there were four A teams (1 from "B" Company and 3 from "C"
Company), 1st SFG deployed to relieve Cpt Ron Shackleton's team (who had
set up the initial base at Buon Enao) and to expand the project. Shackleton
only had half a team (7) with him.
The "Buon Enao Project" as we knew it was formally named "The Tribal Area
Development Program", then the "Village Defense Program" and finally the
"Civilian Irregular Defense Group" (CIDG).
We flew out of Kadena AFB on an unmarked C-47 with a Taiwanese pilot. We
landed at Ban Me Thout (bypassing Saigon) where we were met and taken to
Buon Enao. There we were given one old green WWII Jeep and one old WWII two
and a half ton truck. We were introduced to the village chief of Buon Tha
Mo and told that we would be going there to establish a base. We piled our
gear and what supplies that were given us onto the vehicles and with a small
lightly armed group of Rhade setout, through the jungle, for the village.
There were no roads so the going was slow and rocky. The Rhade had no
vehicles and therefore did not need roads. Foot and animal paths sufficed.
The village chief had already started the village fortifications. Upon
arriving we built our team house, a commo bunker, a ammo storage bunker,
infirmary, and other facilities that were needed. We did this in
conjunction with training the men of the village in the use of weapon and
tactics. We also trained and armed a strike force battalion. Then we
started reaching out and bringing in the surrounding villages. We trained
and armed them and then sent them back to their village, along with a strike
force unit to defend them while they fortified their village and made it
secure. All the while we kept up our patrols in ever increasing range,
using secured villages as patrol bases in a stepping stone fashion. In doing
so we developed new techniques and tactics as we went along. As we advanced
toward the Cambodian border the VC started emptying out the villages that we
had not got to; taking the villagers into the jungle and going underground.
We discovered the VC had established a training camp in the foothills of the
Chu Kai mountains near Ban Don along the Song Srepok River. It stood in the
way of us and Ban Don. So, we decided to take it out. We cleared a Landing
Zone at our primary base in Buon Tha Mo and readied our Strike Force,
equipping them with German 9mm MP-40 submachine guns, new web gear, black
uniforms, bush hats and Bata boots. In the early morning of 15 Oct 1962,
three C-21C Shawnee helicopters flew in. I had organized the Strike Force
into two companies of three platoons each (one platoon per helicopter and
one American per platoon). The three Americans with each company consisted
of one NCOIC , one Medic, and one Commo/Radio Operator. There were no
officers on the ground on this one. The plan was to hit and destroy the VC
training camp and then one company would sweep north in a "U" and the other
company would sweep south in a "U", with both companies returning by foot
back to base camp at Buon Tha Mo. For air support we had one WWII B-26
bomber and one FARMGATE T-28.
Aircraft involved in this operation were:
3 H-21C Shawnee helicopter (they flew two lifts each to bring troops into
the battlefield)
1 WWII Douglas B-26K (A-26A) "COUNTER INVADER" (flew air cover and dropped
bombs on VC complex)
1 FARMGATE T-28A "TROJAN" (flew air cover for the operation)
1 HELIO U-10D "SUPER COURIER" (This is the one that 3Americans were KIA)
On the late evening of 15 October 1962, I was securing the objective and was
in communication with the senior Special Forces Commander, Cpt Terry
Cordell, coordinating the resupply of ammo and supplies. My Radio Operator
was up in a tree putting up the jungle antenna for better communication.
Cpt Cordell was in a HELIO U-10D observation aircraft flying overhead low
and slow. I was speaking with him on the FM radio and suddenly he went
blank. My Radioman shouted look, look!! I looked up and saw the Helio
going straight up with fire coming from the nose area. It looped over and
started spiraling down into the jungle. On board the plane was, Cpt Terry
Cordell (U. S. Army Special Forces, 1st SFG Okinawa) and two USAF personnel,
Capt. Herbert W. Booth Jr., the pilot and T/Sgt Richard L. Foxx, the Combat
Air Controller. (USAF Det. 2 Alpha, 1st Air Commando Group) All were KIA.
It was night and very dark in deep jungle when we reached the crash site. I
found all three aboard dead with their bodies severely burned. I set up a
defense perimeter (circle) around the crash site to keep the VC from the
bodies and wreckage. The VC probed our defenses all night.
The next morning the brass from Saigon started arriving. A FARMGATE T-28
came in low and slow and was downed. I am sure that it was the same one
that provided air cover the previous day. It was fully loaded. The pilot
had taken off without his Vietnamese counterpart. We pulled him (Capt. Bill
Chambers) out of the wreckage alive and almost lost some of our people
looking for the second pilot before we realize there was none. Ammo was
exploding like the 4th of July in the burning wreckage. A CH-21 helicopter
was brought in to take out the bodies. Later that day we tracked down the
group of VC that had shot down the two aircraft. They were holed up in a
straw shack at the edge of a rice-field. We surrounded and destroyed them.
That was when we discovered that the weapon used to bring down the aircraft
was an American BAR left over from the Indo-China War.
I returned to base camp (Buon Tha Mo) with over four hundred villagers that
we had liberated from the VC. We were greeted by the brass from Saigon and
debriefed. So far as can be determined this was the first helicopter
assault of the Vietnam War led by an American.
In November my team split sending half (six) to open a base camp at Ban Don.
We continued to secure and train villagers and kill VC until we deployed
back to Okinawa in February 1963.
I am in the process of setting the record straight on the death of Cpt.
Terry Cordell and the two Airmen. The any information that you can furnish
will go a long way toward that goal.
The remaining questions are:
1. Are you the same T-28 Pliot that flew air support on 15 Oct 62? From
your message I know that you were the Pliot of the T-28 that went down on
the 16 Oct 62, the morning after the U-10 went down.
2. Do you know who was the Pliot of the B-26 that flew air support for us on
15 Oct 62?
3. Do you remember to what unit the CH21 Choppers were assigned or any of
the Pliots?
4. Do you remember us pulling you out of the burning T-28 or anything about
your evacuation?
Green Beret-All The Way!!!
Art Fields
Art,
Yes, I did fly air support on 15 Oct. but we didn't expend any ordnance. We
saw you on the ground but you had not made contact with the VC. It may have
looked like there were only one aircraft (you probably never saw us close
together- we always flew spread out quite a bit) but we always flew two
T-28s together.
I'm not sure of the B-26 pilot, but I think it might have been Capt. Van
Hovel from our unit. We were the only ones flying B-26s and AT-28s at that
time. I think that Air America later flew them. Gene Rossel might know about
Van Hovel. I was told that the B-26 later finished off my T-28 (bombed).
I have no idea what unit the CH-21 was assigned to. In 1962 the Army was the
only ones flying this aircraft there. The Marines flew the H-34s. I was told
it was the same bird that flew the brass into the U-10 crash site. The B-26,
AT-28s and the U-10 were all FARMGATE aircraft and crews.
My memory of the crash is different than yours. I remember when the aircraft
finally stopped, I tried to blow the canopy but it wouldn't move.(it used
compressed air to blow back the canopy and the air line was apparently
ruptured).I then moved the canopy handle to manual and tried to pull it
open. It opened a few inches, enough to get part of my shoulder on it. I
finally got it opened enough to try to squeeze out, but the shoulder holster
hung up on the railing. I had to get back inside and move the holster under
my arm pit, then was barely able to get out. (Remember my saying I would not
have been able to get the CIA guy out) I then moved- bent over because my
back was injured and I couldn't stand up- to the nearest undergrowth and
prepared to fight it out as long as I could. We had been told by our Intel.
that the VC would capture you if you could move with them, otherwise they
would put a bullet in your head. Almost immediately, I saw the H-21 coming
into the landing. A crewman was standing the doorway with a machine gun. I
stood up as much as I could and waved my arms and started moving toward the
Chopper.The guy in the Chopper waved me to stay put. A couple of the crew
came over with a stretcher and got me into the Chopper and flew me to the
airport where a C-47 was standing by to fly me out.
I was glad to get your research results. It cleared up some things. Since
your people were wearing civilian clothes, were you passing off as CIA? The
man passing out the guns there was identified as CIA, but it sure sounds
like you guys. You were setting up the camps and arming the Montagnards.When
we were on the mission, we were also told that this operation would be under
the control of the Special Forces fot the first in the war.
Hope this helps you. Let me know if I can do anything else. ANY PLACE, ANY
TIME Bill.
From: BTRFLYFAC@aol.com
Message-ID: <176.2404afb.2978de25@aol.com>
Date: Thu, 17 Jan 2002 21:10:45 EST
Subject: 1962 shootdown
To: blchambers@earthlink.net, arthur.fields@worldnet.att.net,
RLGleason21@cs.com, aircommando1@earthlink.net, Zebrasix52@aol.com
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Dear Art,
I am Charlie Jones. I am tickled to get the inquiry, because I have been
trying to reestablish contact with our "Boun Enao Brothers. " I have been
successful in locating P.T Wilson, the Radio Operator. Was knowledegable of
Haney for awhile. Colt Terry, the A team boss who came in to replace Cordell
is in constant contact with me. He tells of Roberg and some of the others.
SGTMajor O'Donovan is dead. I have talked with his son. OD is buried near
Pensacola. Luckhurst is in New York. He got out and did not retire as we did.
Lost all contact with Cody who came in to replace Foxx.I made Warrant Officer
in the SF, and got up with Helmick at Bragg who was still there and had made
Warrant. Col. Colt Terry is CC to this email. He came as a Capt. to the team
to replace Cordell. Cordell is buried in Sanford, FL. He is well remembered
there. They people there named a school or a gym after him. Foxx's name is on
a monument in Columbia SC, to commemorate him. We here at Hurlburt dedicated
a large monument to Forward Air Controllers KIA in SVN. I got Capt Willoughby
Booth's and TSGT Dick Foxx's names on it. They are the first entries on the
stone.
Here's some of my memory of the shootdown. The operation was to involve the
airlift of Rhade tribesmen into the area west of the Mewal Plantation, also
west of a ridge line. I still have the map I used. The helicopter guys were
airlifted into their assigned area. An element of us, about twenty or so of
Rhade, and me, and Helmick and a SF corporal whose name I cannot remember
were to move by foot from the east to join up with the western element after
the VC company was located and engaged. We went as far as a truck could go,
and were dropped off near the grass strip at the plantation. We moved through
the jungle trails and took over a village at day break. Capt Willoughby
Booth, Air Commando Pilot, Capt. Terry Cordell, our A team boss at Boun Enao,
our village, and TSGT Dick Foxx were airborne for air strike cover. They
overlflew our village position and asked if we needed anything by airdrop. We
ordered up some ammo and chow, which request was radioed back to Luckhurst
who was operating the radios and coordinating the Air Commando T-28s who were
using the paved strip east of Ban MeThout. In the village that morning, we
heard what was obviously a radio call from the west element that the L-28 was
on fire and going down. Helmick and I got several of the Rhade, and left the
others to continue with the plan if it was still to be worked. The SF
corporal set our with two or three of the Rhade to get word back in case the
guys back there did not know. While moving along the trails we came under
observation of the two T-28s which had been scrambled. We were frightened at
the possibility that they would mistake us for the VC and attack us. They
left about dark. Before we contacted the troops from the western element, who
as you pointed out were moving toward the crash, too, we came to an abandoned
village, Boun Dhung, and set it afire as a marker for the planes we felt sure
would arrive the next day. Then we made contact with the Rhade from the
western element. We left the bodies in the wreckage til the next morning.
Helmick and I propped a part of the plane against a tree and leaned on this
all night at the VC probed and blew whistles. We removed the bodies the next
morning, and a Vietnamese H-19 (or 34) arrived with Commando Commander LtCol
Miles Doyle and Commando Medic Hap Lutz. Doyles wanted to see the wreckage,
which we walked him to the scene. The Chopper came under fire and went around
a couple of times before he got back in and we loaded the bodies aboard. I
fell aboard the chopper just as a T-28 flown by Commando Billy Chambers
screamed into the ground almost hitting us. We dropped the bodies off at a
masonry building near BanMeThout and went back to check on Chambers. An Army
H-21 had wobbled in and picked him up, as we were told when we arrived back
at the scene. The only recollection I have of the involvement of the Commando
B-26 was it bombed the downed L-28 into smithereens after the event was over.
I'm glad to hear from you. I had it in my mind that the western element also
had an SF guy named something like "Chickering" or the like, but memory is
goofy after so many years. There were three of us Commando Combat Controllers assigned to the A team at
Boun Enao: Dick Foxx, TSGT, our boss, myself, then a SSGT, and Chuck
Luckhurst, an AIC. Every once in awhile Capt Nelson Gough, CCTer would come
in to the village too. We worked with, lived with, fought with, and as the
case came, died with the SF! If you are writing some memoirs or the like,
Wilson, Lutz and one or two others can possibly be run down for their
recollections, too. Do you remember Dooly from the Leprosarium? and
MacFadden, I believe? I tremendously enjoyed that tour there in Det. 2, Air Commandos from Aug. 62
to Feb 1963.
We can share more details as we go along. I remember Lucky and I chopping
down trees near the village so the L-28 could land there and not have to go
to the paved strip east of BMT.
God Bless!
Charlie Jones
From: "George Lattin" <glattin@charter.net>
To: "Eugene D. Rossel" <aircommando1@earthlink.net>
References: <5.1.0.14.2.20020117133131.0259cec0@pop3.norton.antivirus>
Subject: Re: Re: BUON ENAO PROJECT, 1962
Date: Thu, 17 Jan 2002 17:56:24 -0600
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Gene
My best guess would be the 81st Trans. Co flying the CH-21's out of 'Old
Pleiku' this was later called 'Camp Holloway'. They arrived by ship (USNS
Croatan) in Saigon, from Schofield Barracks in Hawaii, the last part of
Sepetmber 1962. Within the first week of October 1962 they were operating
out of Old Pleiku and the base was considered "fully operational" 15,
October 1962 under the command of Major George Aldridge Jr. USA
During November 1961, the JCS directed the deployment of three
Transportation Companies (Light Helicopter) equipped with CH-21's to the
RVN. By the end of January 1962 the companies had arrived and by 15 April
had been augmented by a Marine helicopter squadron.
http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/documents/abnops/tabg.htm
http://www.vietnam.ttu.edu/vietnamarchive/Finding-Aids/VHPA/VHPA%20Printed%2
0Material.htm
George Lattin
The H-21 was the first American military helicopter type to be deployed in
appreciable numbers to South Vietnam: the first four Shawnee units arrived
in that country between December 1961 and September 1962. Inevitably,
perhaps, the H-21 also gained the dubious distinction of being the aircraft
in which America's first Vietnam casualties were killed; four Army aviators
died in July 1962 when their Shawnee was shot down near the
Laotian-Vietnamese border.
http://avia.russian.ee/vertigo/piasecki_h-21-r.html
Charlie:
Received a nice phone call from Leffler L. Ramsey, (361) 853-9598, last
night. He told me that he and
Booth flew the first two U-10s to VN and that he was the OIC of the unit.
He lives in Corpus Christi, TX.
I did not get his E-mail address, do you have it.. If not I will call him
back and get the additional info that I
need. We got to talking and I forgot to ask questions.
Can you send me the names of all the USAF personnel that were at Buon Enao,
their ranks, job titles and
unit of assignment. Who was the OIC and NCOIC?
Do you recall any ARVN LLDB stationed at the Village? If so do you remember
any of their names?
Do you recall any additional SF (other than the assigned Team members) that
were assigned to the camp?
How about MAC personnel?
I am trying to nail down all the American personnel that were at the camp
and were a part of the Boon Bane Project.
Do you recall when the change over was officially made naming the L-28 the
U-10? I can now see how the mistake was
made in the material now written about the crash on 15 Oct 62. Almost all
writings refer to Cordell being KIA in a T-28.
I can see how a mix-up could occur between the I-28 and the T-28.
I have sent Bill Chambers copies of what photos I have left of both crash
sites. (UP-10 & T-28)
Green Beret-All The Way!!!
Art
Guys.... These two "posts" have opened up my "memory spaces".
Most of the missions in that area were flown by the 81st Transportation
Company (CH-21C), based at Camp Holloway, Pleiku (named after my friend
Chuck Holloway).
CPT Ed Spencer was usually involved in those type of missions. He was
pictured in Nat Geo Mag, during the 'yard uprising.
I have several clippings and a photo of Terry Cordell, prior to his
death, in my scrapbooks. He was briefing Gen Max Taylor, in the photo.
At Ft Eustis, VA, from '71 until '75, when I retired, I worked in
"Cordell Hall", a classroom used to instruct Air Transportability. His
photo "graced" the entrance hall. He was a Regular Army Transportation
Corps officer, who needed "combat arms" time, so he was "detailed" to
INF for a year.
The UTT Armed Helicopter Co, arrived in Saigon in Sep '62, from Korat
RTAFB, Thailand, wher it had been based, along with my 1st Aviation Co
(Caribou), that moved to Vung Tau on 31 Dec '62.
"icihicpcl".... please identify yourself....we old CH-21C pilots are a
vanishing "breed".
The late CW4, Ret, Max Hall, brought his CH-21C to Rucker several years
ago, during the annual June W4 Reunion. It was great to see the old bird
fly!
I was there with CW4, Ret, Billy Fulbright, my H-21 IP at Riley in
'56.... Dega Vu!
I also have e-mail addresses for Rex Flohr (my 55-F Classmate), John
Daneker, Billy Fulbright and Marv Farmer....8th TC.
Don Joyce
CW4, US Army Aviation, Retired.
8th Trans Co, Ft Bragg, '55-'56, H-25 & H-21.
3rd Trans Co, Ft Belvoir, VA '62-'63 H-21.
179th ASHC, Pleiku, '67-'68, 3rd Tour Guy
Always something new at "The Aerie"....
http://community.webtv.net/GoldEagle4/GoldEagle4sAerie Changed: 22
December 2001
BOB,
IT WASN'T ME! I ARRIVED IN COUNTRY IN LATE NOVEMBER '62. HOWEVER,
THERE WERE TWO CH-21 COMPANIES OPERATING IN THE 2 CORPS AREA; THE 81ST
TRANS. COMPANY WAS BASED IN PLEIKU (HOLLOWAY FIELD) AND THE 8TH TRANS.
COMPANY WAS BASED IN QUI NHON. I WAS IN THE 8TH.
THERE WERE COMBAT ASSAULT MISSIONS FLOWN PRIOR TO THIS ONE, BUT SINCE
THERE WERE NO U.S. COMBAT TROOPS IN COUNTRY, THESE MISSIONS WERE ALL
ARVN WITH U.S. ADVISORS SITTING SOMEWHERE BACK IN A CP WAITING FOR THE
RESULTS, COMMONLY KNOWN AS MAAG(ITS), IF YOU GET MY DRIFT!
THE UTT (UTILITY TACTICAL TRANSPORT COMPANY) HAD ARRIVED IN COUNTRY
WITH UH-IB AIRCRAFT, AND ARMED WITH 12 ROCKET TUBES, AND FOUR M-60
MGS. THIS WAS THE FIRST ARMED HELICOPTER IN COUNTRY, AND FOR A WHILE
WE WERE ABLE TO FLY INTO AREAS WITH VERY LITTLE GROUND COMING BACK AT
US, BUT THAT CHANGED. WE HAD A PLATOON OF FOUR OR FIVE OF THESE
AIRCRAFT ASSIGNED TO US, AND THEY SUPPORTED ALL MISSIONS FOR THE 81ST
AND THE 8TH UNTIL WE EVENTUALLY GOT OUR OWN UH-I'S IN EARLY '64.
IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN THE 81ST, AND PERHAPS IT HAPPENED BEFORE THE UTT
ARRIVED IN II CORPS. I RECALL T-28'S SUPPORTING US AT TIMES, AND
B-26'S. I DO RECALL A B-26 ENTERING A DIVE THE EXCEEDED RED LINE DIVE
ANGLE, AND WATCHING THE WING LEAVE THE AIRCRAFT, AND THEN WATCHING HIM
GO TO STRAIGHT TO THE GROUND. HELL OF A SIGHT! ALL WE COULD DO WAS
WATCH, AND WE COULDN'T EVEN FIND THE BODY!
I ALSO RECALL THERE BEING A "B" DETACHMENT LOCATED IN NHA TRANG (LT.
ANDERSON (OCS TYPE WITH CIB FROM KOREA), AND SERVED AS A SUPPLY
FACILITY FOR THE GUYS OUT OF OKINAWA, AND BRAGG. AND, I RECALL FLYING
A NUMBER OF "HOG" MISSIONS FOR THE "YARDS", WHO WERE LOCATED AT GIA
VUC "A" DETACHMENT. THEY WERE CARRYING SMYSERS (SPELLING?) SWEEDISH
K'S, WINCHESTER PUMP SHOTGUNS, GREASE GUNS AND THOMPSONS, AND SOME
EVEN HAD SPRINGFIELD 03-A3'S. THERE WAS A CAPT. GARNER AS THE "A" DET.
CO, AND A SFC SNOWDON AS DEMO MAN. LONG TIME AGO; I THINK MAYBE I'M
SUFFERING FROM ADVANCED CRS.......
IF YOU LIKE, I'LL FORWARD THE ORIGINAL MESSAGE TO SEVERAL GUYS THAT
I'M IN CANTACT WITH WHO FLEW THE "HOG-21" BACK IN THE GOOD OL' DAYS!
FOR ALL I KNOW, THEY MIGHT KNOW THE CREWS OF THE "HOGS", OR MIGHT HAVE
BEEN FLYING THAT DAY. HELL! IT'S A SMALL WORLD!
BEFORE I DIE, I WOULD LOVE TO FLY ONE AGAIN: IT IS/WAS A WILD, CRAZY,
HARD-TO-FLY, WONDERFUL AIRCRAFT......
BARC
You are the only tiger I know that flew the 21s. I didn't read it all
but thought you may know something about it!??
Mo
Dan,
I am sending you copies of an internet email exchange regarding some of the first Special Forces/Air Commando operations in Vietnam that you may find interesting and hope that you may be able to provide additional information.
In this exchange T/Sgt. Foxx was a member of our Combat Control Team, they served as both ground and airborne FAC's and were among the first in Vietnam. Foxx was killed while being an airborne FAC for the Buon Enao Project and could well be the first FAC killed in the war.
I've been doing some research and as near as I can tell, the only FAC's that were on a combat jump, as a FAC, were LTC Henry W. Burrow, 173rd ALO and CPT James T. Callaghan, Asst. ALO. They jumped with the 173rd on "Junction City" (The other combat jumps were: Harvest Noon, Blackjack, Oregon, Blue Max, Teams.) This one was on 22 February 1967 in the vicinity of Katum, Republic of Vietnam, (GO 444, 12 March 1967). (Jim went on to become an AF three star general, he passed away last February)
http://www.173rdairborne.com/manifest.htm
George Lattin
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1/16/02 8:29 PM, Arthur Fields at arthur.fields@worldnet.att.net wrote:
Bill,
Thanks for getting back to me. With your help I think we can fill in the missing parts. Here is my version, from the ground, of what happened.
My team from the 1st SFG on Okinawa was sent Vietnam to expand the Buon Enao Project, in August 1962. Teams back then wore civilian clothes, civilian ID and cover story. We were located in the Rhade village of Buon Tha Mo, Darlac Province, Vietnam. Ban Me Thout was the largest town around and Buon Enao was located just a few clicks from there. The airfield was located between the two. My base camp of Buon Tha Mo was located some distance from Buon Enao. I was a MSG at the time and Team Sgt.
On this mission there were four A teams (1 from "B" Company and 3 from "C" Company), 1st SFG deployed to relieve Cpt Ron Shackleton's team (who had set up the initial base at Buon Enao) and to expand the project. Shackleton only had half a team (7) with him.
The "Buon Enao Project" as we knew it was formally named "The Tribal Area Development Program", then the "Village Defense Program" and finally the "Civilian Irregular Defense Group" (CIDG).
We flew out of Kadena AFB on an unmarked C-47 with a Taiwanese pilot. We landed at Ban Me Thout (bypassing Saigon) where we were met and taken to Buon Enao. There we were given one old green WWII Jeep and one old WWII two and a half ton truck. We were introduced to the village chief of Buon Tha Mo and told that we would be going there to establish a base. We piled our gear and what supplies that were given us onto the vehicles and with a small lightly armed group of Rhade setout, through the jungle, for the village. There were no roads so the going was slow and rocky. The Rhade had no vehicles and therefore did not need roads. Foot and animal paths sufficed.
The village chief had already started the village fortifications. Upon arriving we built our team house, a commo bunker, a ammo storage bunker, infirmary, and other facilities that were needed. We did this in
conjunction with training the men of the village in the use of weapon and tactics. We also trained and armed a strike force battalion.
Then we started reaching out and bringing in the surrounding villages. We trained and armed them and then sent them back to their village, along with a strike force unit to defend them while they fortified their village and made it secure. All the while we kept up our patrols in ever increasing range, using secured villages as patrol bases in a stepping stone fashion. In doing so we developed new techniques and tactics as we went along. As we advanced toward the Cambodian border the VC started emptying out the villages that we had not got to; taking the villagers into the jungle and going underground.
We discovered the VC had established a training camp in the foothills of the Chu Kai Mountains near Ban Don along the Song Srepok River. It stood in the way of us and Ban Don. So, we decided to take it out.
We cleared a Landing Zone at our primary base in Buon Tha Mo and readied our Strike Force, equipping them with German 9mm MP-40 submachine guns, new web gear, black uniforms, bush hats and Bata boots.
In the early morning of 15 Oct 1962, three C-21C Shawnee helicopters flew in. I had organized the Strike Force into two companies of three platoons each (one platoon per helicopter and one American per platoon). The three Americans with each company consisted of one NCOIC, one Medic, and one Commo/Radio Operator.
There were no officers on the ground on this one. The plan was to hit and destroy the VC training camp and then one company would sweep north in a "U" and the other company would sweep south in a "U", with both companies returning by foot back to base camp at Buon Tha Mo. For air support we had one WWII B-26 bomber and one FARMGATE T-28.
Aircraft involved in this operation were:
3 H-21C Shawnee helicopter (they flew two lifts each to bring troops into the battlefield)
1 WWII Douglas B-26K (A-26A) "COUNTER INVADER" (flew air cover and dropped bombs on VC complex)
1 FARMGATE T-28A "TROJAN" (flew air cover for the operation)
1 HELIO U-10D "SUPER COURIER" (This is the one that 3 Americans were KIA)
On the late evening of 15 October 1962, I was securing the objective and was in communication with the senior Special Forces Commander, Cpt Terry Cordell, coordinating the resupply of ammo and supplies. My Radio Operator was up in a tree putting up the jungle antenna for better communication.
Cpt Cordell was in a HELIO U-10D observation aircraft flying overhead low and slow. I was speaking with him on the FM radio and suddenly he went blank. My Radioman shouted look, look!! I looked up and saw the Helio going straight up with fire coming from the nose area. It looped over and started spiraling down into the jungle. On board the plane was, Capt Terry Cordell (U. S. Army Special Forces, 1st SFG Okinawa) and two USAF personnel, Capt. Herbert W. Booth Jr., the pilot and T/Sgt Richard L. Foxx, the Combat Air Controller. (USAF Det. 2 Alpha, 1st Air Commando Group) All were KIA.
It was night and very dark in deep jungle when we reached the crash site. I found all three aboard dead with their bodies severely burned. I set up a defense perimeter (circle) around the crash site to keep the VC from the bodies and wreckage. The VC probed our defenses all night.
The next morning the brass from Saigon started arriving. A FARMGATE T-28 came in low and slow and was downed. I am sure that it was the same one that provided air cover the previous day. It was fully loaded. The pilot had taken off without his Vietnamese counterpart. We pulled him (Capt. Bill Chambers) out of the wreckage alive and almost lost some of our people looking for the second pilot before we realize there was none. Ammo was exploding like the 4th of July in the burning wreckage. A CH-21 helicopter was brought in to take out the bodies.
Later that day we tracked down the group of VC that had shot down the two aircraft. They were holed up in a straw shack at the edge of a rice-field. We surrounded and destroyed them.
That was when we discovered that the weapon used to bring down the aircraft was an American BAR left over from the Indo-China War.
I returned to base camp (Buon Tha Mo) with over four hundred villagers that we had liberated from the VC. We were greeted by the brass from Saigon and debriefed. So far as can be determined this was the first helicopter assault of the Vietnam War led by an American.
In November my team split sending half (six) to open a base camp at Ban Don. We continued to secure and train villagers and kill VC until we deployed back to Okinawa in February 1963.
I am in the process of setting the record straight on the death of Cpt. Terry Cordell and the two Airmen. The any information that you can furnish will go a long way toward that goal.
The remaining questions are:
1. Are you the same T-28 Pilot that flew air support on 15 Oct 62? From your message I know that you were the Pilot of the T-28 that went down on the 16 Oct 62, the morning after the U-10 went down.
2. Do you know who was the Pilot of the B-26 that flew air support for us on 15 Oct 62.
3. Do you remember to what unit the CH21 Choppers were assigned or any of the Pilots?
4. Do you remember us pulling you out of the burning T-28 or anything about your evacuation?
Green Beret-All The Way!!!
Art Fields
Billy and Art. The "Agent" who worked with us was named Be............I will
not give his entire name till when we meet in person. There was also the
famed Dave Knuttle there at Boun Enao with us. Have some good pics of him
somewhere.
Charlie Jones
ART :
Cody's name is William Cody, SSgt at the time. Col. Doyle is deceased, I
believe. I see Hap Lutz all the time. He is active in the Air Commando
Association. Email is AirComando@AOL.COM (one "m" only in the spelling). This
is the ACA office email address, and Hap does not read it all the time.I
believe Pete Bowman the secretary will notify him if you wish to send him a
message. As I remember it there were only the pilot (right seat, American),
and the Vietnamese "advisee," (left seat), plus the American NCO crew chief.
Also, I think Hap and Col. Doyle were the only others aboard. I did fly out
with the bodies to BanMeThout, and returned to Chambers shootdown site with
the same chopper only to be told (by you, or Helmick?) that the H-21 had
picked up Chambers. The Chopper was an H-34, but could have been an H-19.
Charlie Jones
Dear Jim,
Booth's details were less known about to me than the others. I plan to go to
Cordell's hometown and visit his grave as well as Dick's. Dick and I were
very close friends. We did dedicate a CCT monument at Hurlburt with
Dick's name on it. Same with the FAC monument. Dick's closest "relative," still alive, is a sorta "foster" brother, who was raised by Dick's parents (deceased) along with Dick. I have
been in contact with him. He has provided me a copy of the telegrams sent to
Dick's mother advising her that Dick was MIA the first day of the shootdown,
then the second telegram after we got the bodies out, telling her that Dick
was dead. I discovered all this through endless calls and the like to officials there in Gaffney. I am going to Dick's grave, too. His name is on a monument in Columbia, SC. We were
instrumental in getting the highest award conferred on a graduate from the
Combat Control School named after Dick. Also, got a street named after him on
Hurlburt. I can tell so many stories about him including the wild ride we
made together on the planes to Vietnam.
God Bless!
Charlie Jones