The Sikorsky HH53 Super Jolly Green
Giant was the largest, fastest and most powerful heavy lift helicopter in the US
Air Force's inventory. In 1967, a program to develop a night rescue capability
was initiated. By late 1970, that program successfully installed night recovery
systems aboard five HH53C Super Jolly helicopters in Southeast Asia. These
helicopters were used in such vital operations as the US raid on the San Tay
Prison Camp near Hanoi in November 1970 and the assault mission to free the
Mayaguez crew in Cambodia in May 1975.
On 27 March 1972, Capt. David E.
Pannabecker, pilot; Capt. Richard E. Dreher, co-pilot; Sgt. James Manor, flight
Engineer; Sgt. Raymond J. Crow, Jr., pararescueman; and A1C Raymond A. Wagner,
pararescueman/recovery specialist; comprised the crew of a HH53C Super Jolly
Green Giant Serial # 68-10359 (Call Sign Jolly 23) on an morning escort mission
into Cambodia. The aircraft departed Nakhom Phanom Airbase at 0830 hours as the
#2 aircraft in a flight of two.
Following aerial refueling over
southern Thailand, the two Super Jolly's rendezvoused with the rest of the
flight. Upon sighting the aircraft to be escorted, Lead radioed "Tally
Ho," the signal acknowledging he had visual contact with the other
aircraft. When there was no response from Capt. Pannabecker's helicopter, Lead
attempted to locate him visually. After completing a 180-degree turn, Lead
reported seeing a column of black smoke rising from the dense jungle 5 miles
away. The location of the crash is 20 kilometers east of Siem Pang, 7 kilometers
northeast of Chan Tuy and 15 meters north of Kiribongsa villages, Stoeng Treng
Province, Cambodia. It was also 3 miles north of the O Smang River, 11 miles
east of the Tonle Kong River, 4 miles northeast of Highway 194 and 78 miles
southwest of the tri-border region where South Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia meet.
Small hamlets and villages were scattered throughout the area along with small
clearings, rice fields and patches of bamboo.
A search and rescue/recovery (SAR)
pararescue team from the Lead helicopter was lowered to the ground at the crash
site to check for survivors. During the over three hours the team spent on the
ground, they could not approach near enough to the burning wreckage to determine
if there were crew members trapped inside the aircraft due to the intense heat.
However, the team searched the surrounding area and reported finding two
partially deployed parachutes, but no trace of the men who had used them, near
the burning helicopter.
Later that afternoon, a second rescue
team was deployed in the immediate area of the crash. They reported the fire was
out and the aircraft had been completely destroyed. They also reported no
remains were visible. There were no further attempts to locate or recover any
crewmen from the downed Super Jolly Green due to the presence of hostile forces
who had moved into the area. At the time the formal search effort was
terminated, Richard Dreher, David Pannabecker, Raymond Wagner, James Manor and
Raymond Crow were all declared Killed in Action/Body Not Recovered even though
it was never determined if they all actually died in the crash.
The Americans missing in Cambodia pose
a special problem. The US has never recognized the Cambodian government, nor has
it negotiated for the Americans who were captured, or otherwise unaccounted for,
in that country. It is generally believed by the US government that any POWs who
were held in Cambodia after the end of our country's involvement in Southeast
Asia probably perished in the genocide committed by Pol Pot in the mid 1970's.
In 1988, the Cambodian government
announced it had the remains of a number of American servicemen it wished to
return to the United States. The US did not respond officially because there is
no diplomatic relations between our countries. Several US Congressmen have tried
to intervene in the deadlock in order to recover the remains on behalf of the
men's families. Cambodia, however, prefers to hold out for a
government-to-government repatriation of the remains.
In December 1993, a US team under the
auspices of the Joint task Force for Full Accounting (JTFFA) investigated and
conducted a site survey of Jolly Green 23's crash site. In addition to snaps,
zippers, lap belts, adjustment buckles, a pilot's seat inflation bag, a metal
set of parachutist wings, and parachute "D" ring, they found two data
plates which are from the sleeve and spindle assembly of a HH53C main rotor hub.
Since no other HH53C was lost within a 160-kilometer radius of this crash site,
there is no doubt of its identity.
Several small bone fragments were also
recovered, with one appearing possibly to be human. Also during this Joint Field
Activity (JFA), a local villager turned over one tooth fragment allegedly
associated with a member of this aircrew to the survey team. While the villager
provided the tooth fragment, he provided no tangible information about the fate
of the person it came from. To date none of the bone or tooth fragments have
been identified as coming from any of the men aboard the helicopter. Further,
because of their size and condition, there is no way to determine if human, are
they American or Asian.
If all the men aboard Jolly Green 23
died in the loss of their aircraft, each man has the right to have his remains
returned to his family, friends and country if at all humanly possible. However,
if they survived, their fate, like that of other Americans who remain
unaccounted for in Southeast Asia, could be quite different. Above all else,
each man has the right not to be forgotten by the nation for which he gave his
life.
Since the end of the Vietnam War well
over 21,000 reports of American prisoners, missing and otherwise unaccounted for
have been received by our government. Many of these reports document LIVE
American Prisoners of War remaining captive throughout Southeast Asia TODAY.
Pilots and aircrews were called upon
to fly in many dangerous circumstances, and they were prepared to be wounded,
killed or captured. It probably never occurred to them that they could be
abandoned by the country they so proudly served.
Incidental Information
