MACV-SOG MIA/KIA Chronological
List
1971
17 Jan 71- Perry M. Smith,
SGT E-5, USASF, CCS-KIA
21 Jan 71- Joseph J. Slifka,
Jr. ILT 0-2, USASF, CCS, OPS 35. died during
an Remain Over Night (RON) incident where 1Lt Slifka
stepped out of the perimeter to relieve himself. The
team had taken along a Captain who was unaware of
the team’s procedures, as a strap hanger, who heard
a noise and fired in the direction of the noise, killing
Lt Slifka. However, other records have Lt Slifka as
being killed as a result of a motor vehicle accident
on 21 Jan 72 (Details furnished by a CCS member)
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 These three individuals
were attending the SOG Reconnaissance Team Leader’s
Course and while a on Recon, they were engaged by
an unexpected enemy which overwhelmed them by number.
28 Jan 71- Arthur A. Smith,
SGT E-5, USASF CCN, Da Nang, Ops 35, died as a result
of Non Hostile Action
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.
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, 159th Avn Bn, 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.
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, CA A/101US Army Aviation,
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]
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, OPS 32/75 and William "Jose" M. Fernandez,
SFC E-7, USASF FAC Covey Rider, TF2AE- Kontum (CCC),
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)
10 Apr 71- Robert N. Fiesler,
SGT E-5, USASF, TF2AE (CCC), Recon Mission-KIA
20 Apr 71- Kevin D. Grogan,
SGT E-5, USASF, Co C TA2AE (CCC)-KIA
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 with 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..
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
10 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.
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 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 a
recon team.
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 and the scout was KIA-RR.
RT Alaska was inserted in
the Da Krong Valley on 15 May and the team was attacked
by an enemy force three days later 1 mile from the
Laos boarder. Two surviving commandos, Truong Mihn
Long and interpreter Trong Th Ha reported they rolled
downhill after a hostile search party detected them
hiding in a bush, at which point Entrican was apparently
wounded and yelled at them to move out. This action
resulted in the separation of the team members. Lt
Entrican was last seen wounded, but alive and attempting
to evade the enemy. A search was initiated but all
attempts were unsuccessful. One Special Commando
Scout (name unknown) was killed while performing
Body Recovery of the downed helicopter and for SSG
Dehnke's remains. SSG Dehnke was originally assigned
to CCS; however, when CCS was closed, he transferred
to CCN July 70.
Note: an email was received from a personal close
friend of Dale's and some of the information he
shared, I feel needs to be listed. "I never knew
what happened to Dale until I found your site...Dale
grew up in Santa Monica, CA and was a good student
and a very good baseball player. His dad pushed
him very hard to go on with baseball, and Dale got
very frustrated and quit playing and joined the
army. Dale was killed on his 23rd birthday and one
year later, his father sat on Dale's grave and took
his own life. It was so sad, because they were a
great family and even now, his mom is unable to
talk about Dale or his dad. I named my 1st son after
Dale, and am very proud that I did. Never a day
goes by that I don't think about him and wished
he were still here." Jim Hollingsworth, Gary's son
sent this email, 03/29/00: "Thank You for a fantastic
site. My dad Gary Lynn Hollingsworth was KIA on
18 MAY 71. I have been searching for information
regarding the mission he was on when he was killed
and never found *anything* until I discovered your
site..."
Additional Information: Few more bits of info
on the 18 MAY op. Have some vivid bits, as well
as some pretty hazy recollections -- so beware of
"holes". When Alaska called in that they were being
hit, MSG Budrow (MLT #1 1SG) sent in 4 or 5 birds
for the extraction. It was approx. 1600hrs -- getting
late. I think Cheney was flying covey (Cheney, Budrow,
and XXX? -- name slips my memory this moment --
flew covey for over 24 hours straight). Jim Woodham
was flying Chase medic on Bird #2; I was Chase Medic
on #4. As bird #1 went in to attempt the extraction,
the green was very heavy and it was shot down in
triple canopy jungle. Woodham took a round through
his leg, and Covey called off the attempt to regroup
and send in a Bright Light. It slips my mind which
team that was, but the 10 was a 1LT (that ought
to be easy to figure out which team -- very few
LTs in CCN). I went as the medic. We were on the
ground around 1800 -- dark already. We moved off
the LZ and set up a perimeter to wait for first
light. At first light, we started up a forested
hill and ran into automatic fire. The Point was
hit in the face and neck, and our 11 took fragments
to his face. I saw that the 11's wounds didn't involve
the eye and were mostly small bleeders, so I worked
on the Point trying to get an airway started; the
11 patched himself up with the help of one of the
Yards and the LT. We called for extraction, and
a bird sent up from MLT 2 with their Chase Medic
(Buddy Richmond) came in for the wounded. We also
left. MSG Budrow then immediately got together another
Bright Light (Rick Hendrix's team), and I went with
them within about 2 hours. We located one American
and one Yard -- both killed and stripped. As I recall,
they were both shot in the temple. Rick identified
the American because of a "Grade A Government Inspected"
tattoo on the American's buttock (Hendrix will remember
who this was, for sure). We then worked our way
to the downed chopper and we found no bodies. I
think that they might have been picked up by one
of the first choppers on the first day -- but it's
now hard to believe they didn't suffer some serious
injuries in the crash, and since there was no place
for the pickup chopper to land, it would have meant
chopper crews leaving their aircraft and entering
the woods for some distance -- not likely. I'd like
to know what happened to them, as well as other
details and corrections to my memory. by Steve Yevich.
I remember Gary, quite well. He was in my One
Zero class. Gary had a tattoo on his butt that looked
like a Gov't food stamp (the kind they used to stamp
on meat). The tattoo said, "US Gov't inspected prime
meat". The tattoo was used to ID his body because
his head was mostly blown off. Gary was captured
and assassinated. I think that MacGlothern was on
the Bright Light that recovered him-By: Robby Robinson.
There is a web site dedicated to Daniel Day Entrician
put together by a high school kid named Trevor.
He has interviewed almost everyone who was involved
with Danny, Dale, and Holly. Danny was not wounded
during the initial attack. Dale was killed and Holly
was severely wounded. Danny and the surviving team
members refused to leave Holly. During the night
the NVA came into their positions and one was actually
shot as he pilfered a canteen of water from one
of the dead scu. (This is right out of the AAR)
Despite everyone telling Danny to E&E, Danny didn't
leave the hilltop until first light the next morning.
One of the surviving SCU said that as they ran,
the NVA started shooting. He thought he heard Danny
scream OHH! In Veith's book, BRIGHTLIGHT, he quotes
an NVA soldier who describes an American in a cage
in an area on the trail close in location. By: James
E. Butler.
I was on stand-down having just returned from
a mission and Pat Hemminger, who was recovering
from wounds, and I went to Thailand for RR. Pat
and I made our way to Bangkok and then from there
north to where Pat's wife and family lived. I stayed
the night and the next day Pat's sister-in-law escorted
me on the train to Ubon where I met up with my father
who was a Lt.Col in the Air Force and the Commander
of an AC-130 Gun Ship. On the night of May 18th
my father arranged it for me to fly with him and
his crew. We departed after dark and were over the
Trail having a whale of a time shooting up Ho's
trucks, guns and anything else that would pop up.
I don't remember the exact time but "Moonbeam" (the
air borne C&C ship) called and requested that we
divert and support a TIC (Troops in contact). As
I remember at first the crew was disappointed because
normally there was not much to see in the support
of a TIC and they usually received to feed back
as to how well they did. Upon arriving on the scene
my dad was given the frequency of the ground commander.
At that time we did not know it was a CCN recon
team. When my dad tried to establish contact, I
was standing behind him with an headset on, we could
barely make out what was going on. My dad asked
him to mark his perimeter but the ground commander
said he was surrounded and couldn't do that. The
ground commander finally requested that Spectre
fire danger close. As was the procedure then, my
dad asked him for his unit ID and initials. Only
then did the light bulb go off and I explained to
my dad what was probably going on. My dad told Gary
that he had one of his own on board and that he
understood. Gary acknowledged and Spectre began
to fire when and where Gary wanted. It was very
hard to understand Gary at the time. He was speaking
low and soft. My dad had to keep asking him for
strike reports and what he wanted them to do next.
Keep firing and close the ring as tight as possible
is what it boiled down to. Gary reported several
times that Spectre was chopping the enemy to pieces
and then would direct Spectre to keep firing. As
I recall Gary did say that as far as he knew he
was the only friendly left alive. As dawn approached
and fuel was running low my dad told the engineer
to quit reminding him that fuel was low and just
tell him when he had absolutely the bare minimum
to return home. We continued to fire support for
Gary and as far as I know he was still alive when
we finally left that morning. When the engineer
called it my dad broke out of orbit and we headed
for Ubon. The crew was chuted up and quite, I think
begin low on fuel and saddened that we couldn't
remain on station. We listened as long as we could
to radio traffic from Gary's location and knew that
the Bright Light had been launched and was in route.
I don't know how long it was from the time we left
till someone showed up. The Spectre gunships of
those days are quite different from those of today.
To the brave men who flew those gunships and supported
Special ops teams, my hats off to them. Everytime
the guns fired or the radio was keyed the recorders
and cameras on board came on. The historic files
of the 16th SOS should contain the after action
reports, recordings and films from that mission.
I know I saw the films and listen to the tapes at
the after mission debriefing which were conducted
after every mission. The Spectre crews and the fast
movers who flew cover for them were in attendance.
By: Bob Castillo RT Idaho, CCN
20 May 71- Scott H. Newport,
CPT 0-3, TF3AE (CCS), Ban Me Thout, Ops 35 Killed
while participating in SOG activities, RR
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, 75th 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.
22 Jun 71- Madison Alexander
Strohlein, SGT E-5 of Philadelphia, PA, 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.
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.
06 Jul 71- Daniel W. Thomas,
1LT 0-2, Pilot, Covey, 23rd 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
2nd, 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 Aug 71- One American FAC
and one Vietnamese Observer (names unknown)
TF3AE (CCS), Ban Me Thuot, flying visual Recon over
Cambodia came under intense enemy fire and crashed.
KIA-RR
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.
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
? 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.
? Oct 71- Two Special Commando
Scouts (names unknown) MIA.
? Oct 71- Five Special Commando
Scouts (names unknown) KIA
29 Oct 71- Gene W. Stockman,
SFC E-7, USASF, TF1AF (CCN), Died as a result of a
vehicle accident (?)
? 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
12 Dec 71- Benard J. Moran,
Jr., MSG E-8, USASF, SOG, Ops 20, NCOIC-KIA
19 Dec 71- Peter Charles Forame,
2LT 0 1 and Thomas William Skiles, WO-
1 MACVSOG, MACV, Saigon, MIA. These men were lost
in Cambodia while flying a SOG mission.
