The
first HH3E Jolly Green
Giant helicopters
specifically outfitted for
search and rescue arrived
in Vietnam in the fall of
1965. By the
beginning of 1967 there
were 50 Aerospace Search
and Recovery Squadron (ARRS)
rescue aircraft in five
squadrons in Southeast
Asia. Later models
of the HH3 were equipped
with aerial refueling
capability which gave them
the range necessary to fly
missions deep into North
Vietnam.
At
1505 hours on 8 November
1967, two Air Force HH3H
helicopters (call signs
“Jolly Green 26” and
“Jolly Green 29”) were
scrambled from the 37th
Aerospace Rescue and
Recovery Squadron, DaNang
Airbase, South Vietnam for
an emergency extraction of
a 12-man Special Forces
road-watch reconnaissance
team. The team had
suffered heavy casualties
while operating deep in a
denied area along the
infamous Ho Chi Minh Trail
in Laos and was under
intense and relentless
attack by the communists.
This recovery effort would
be recorded by the 37th
Air Rescue and Recovery
Squadron as one of the
largest and most hazardous
on record.
The
Special Forces team
members were assigned to
MACV-SOG. Military
Assistance Command Vietnam
- Studies and Observation
Group (MACV-SOG) was a
joint service
unconventional warfare
task force engaged in
highly classified
operations throughout
Southeast Asia. The 5th
Special Forces channeled
personnel into MACV-SOG
through Special Operations
Augmentation (SOA) that
provided their
"cover" while
under secret orders to
MACV-SOG. These teams
performed highly
classified, deep
penetration missions of
strategic reconnaissance
and interdiction that were
called, depending on the
location and time frame,
"Shining Brass,"
“Salem House,”
“Daniel Boone” or
"Prairie Fire"
missions
This
area of Laos was known to
be a major artery of the
Ho Chi Minh Trail.
When North Vietnam began
to increase its military
strength in South Vietnam,
NVA and Viet Cong troops
again intruded on neutral
Laos for sanctuary, as the
Viet Minh had done during
the war with the French
some years before.
This border road was used
by the Communists to
transport weapons,
supplies and troops from
North Vietnam into South
Vietnam, and was
frequently no more than a
path cut through the
jungle covered mountains.
US forces used all assets
available to them to stop
this flow of men and
supplies from moving south
into the war zone.
The
two Air Force rescue
helicopters were advised
by the on site Forward Air
Controller (FAC) to remain
in the holding area while
three Army UH1B gunships
softened the area with
rockets and machine gun
fire. Meanwhile, an
Air Force C130 gunship
provided flare support for
the operation.
During this time 2
helicopters - 1 American
UH1B and 1 ARVN H34 –
were shot down by
automatic weapons fire
very near the road watch
team approximately 45
kilometers east-southeast
of Muang Nong and 5
kilometers southwest of
Achiang, Salavan Province,
Laos.
At
0030 hours on 9 November,
Jolly Green 29
successfully extracted
three indigenous personnel
before being severely
damaged and driven off by
heavy enemy automatic
weapons fire. It
departed the area and made
an emergency landing at
Khe Sanh, South Vietnam.
The
crew of the second rescue
helicopter, Jolly Green
26, was comprised of Capt.
Gerald O. Young, aircraft
commander, Captain Ralph
Brower, co-pilot, SSgt.
Eugene Clay, flight
engineer, and Sgt. Larry
Maysey, pararescueman.
As
he was departing the area,
the pilot of the damaged
SAR helicopter advised
Capt. Young that the
endangered team was
positioned on the side of
a steep slope which would
require unusual airmanship
on the part of Capt. Young
to effect pickup. He
further advised that any
additional rescue attempts
be abandoned because it
was not possible to
suppress the concentrated
fire from those weapons.
20
minutes later, and with
full knowledge of the
danger involved and that
the supporting helicopter
gunships were low on fuel
and ordnance, Capt. Young
hovered under intense
enemy fire until Sgt.
George Kusick and MSgt.
Bruce Baxter, who were
both wounded, were aboard.
As he maneuvered the
aircraft for takeoff, the
enemy appeared at
point-blank range and
raked it with automatic
weapons fire. The
Jolly Green Giant crashed
inverted in flames.
Capt. Young escaped
through a window of the
burning aircraft.
Disregarding his own
serious burns, Capt. Young
aided one of the wounded
men and attempted to lead
the hostile forces away
from that man’s
position.
The
number of US and allied
personnel on the ground
and under attack was now
12 men from the Special
Forces road-watch team, 4
US crewmen from the UH1B,
3 ARVN from the ARVN H34
and 4 US crewmen from the
HH3H.
Between
0900 hours and 1700 hours
on 9 November, 17 of the
23 embattled men
were rescued. Those
6 men still on the ground
included 2 trail-watch
team members, 1 UH1B
crewman and 3 HH3H
crewmen. Later, when
another rescue attempt by
air was planned, Capt.
Young declined to bring
the aircraft in because he
had observed hostile
forces setting up
automatic weapons
positions to entrap any
rescue aircraft.
By
late afternoon a strike
team was landed some
distance away to rescue
the remaining Americans,
but had difficulty making
contact with the
survivors. When they
did link up, it was
impossible to inspect the
wreckage for survivors or
remains because of fading
light.
On
10 November, over 17 hours
after the HH3H was shot
down, the remaining
survivors were evacuated
by rescue helicopter.
Capt. Gerald O. Young, the
pilot of Jolly Green Giant
26, was awarded this
nation’s highest
decoration, The
Congressional Medal of
Honor, for his
extraordinary heroism both
in the air and on the
ground during this
mission.
Later
the wreckage of the Jolly
Green Giant was searched.
Three charred remains were
found, two of them had
identification tags which
identified them as members
of the aircrew. The
third set of remains had
no tags, but was
identified as Sgt. Kusick,
the reconnaissance team
radio operator, as the
long antenna from his
PRC-25 radio were found on
his body.
Approximately 34 meters
downhill from the
wreckage, another set of
remains was found.
It was readily identified
as MSgt. Baxter by his
facial features.
Even though the area was
well searched, no trace of
the third crewman was
found, either alive or
dead.
The
remains found in the
helicopter were removed
from the aircraft and
placed with MSgt. Baxter's
remains so they could be
hoisted as one lift into a
hovering helicopter.
The identification tags of
the crewmembers were
placed with the remains.
Weather conditions on 9
November were clear with 7
miles visibility and light
to variable winds.
By 10 November there was a
1000-foot overcast of
clouds with only 3 miles
of visibility and light
rain. During the
next 2 days, weather
conditions and enemy
action would not permit
helicopters to extract the
remains of the dead.
Ultimately the strike team
was forced to leave the
remains where they had
been placed, and depart
the crash site area. On 13
November 1967, George
Kusick, Bruce Baxter;
Ralph Brower; Eugene Clay
and Larry Maysey were all
declared Killed in
Action/Body Not Recovered.
For
every insertion like this
one that was detected and
stopped, dozens of others
safely slipped past NVA
lines to strike a wide
range of targets and
collect vital information.
The number of MACV-SOG
missions conducted with
Special Forces
reconnaissance teams into
Laos and Cambodia was 452
in 1969. It was the
most sustained American
campaign of raiding,
sabotage and
intelligence-gathering
waged on foreign soil in
US military history.
MACV-SOG’s teams earned
a global reputation as one
of the most combat
effective deep-penetration
forces ever raised.
George
Kusick, Bruce Baxter;
Ralph Brower; Eugene Clay
and Larry Maysey are among
nearly 600 Americans who
disappeared in Laos.
Many of these men were
known to be alive on the
ground. The Laotians
admitted holding
"tens of tens"
of American Prisoners of
War, but these men were
never negotiated for
either by direct
negotiation between our
countries or through the
Paris Peace Accords which
ended the War in Vietnam
since Laos was not a party
to that agreement.
While
the fate of four of the
five men is not in doubt,
each man has a right to
have his remains returned
to his family, friends and
country. For other
Americans who remain
unaccounted for in
Southeast Asia, including
the third crewman who
vanished without a trace,
their fate could be quite
different.
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.
American
servicemen in Vietnam were
called upon to operate in
many dangerous
circumstances both on and
off duty, 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
