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| Date: | Thursday 9 November 1967 |
| Time: | |
| Type: |  Sikorsky HH-3E Sea King (S-61R) |
| Owner/operator: | 37th ARRS, 3rd ARRG, USAF |
| Registration: | 66-13279 |
| MSN: | 61-577 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 5 / Occupants: 6 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | W of Talat Luay, Laos -
 Laos
|
| Phase: | Combat |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | Da Nang AB (VVDN), South Vietnam |
| Talat Luay, Laos |
The HH-3E with call sign JOLLY GREEN 26 was backup on a SAR mission to rescue the five surviving members of a MACV-SOG reconnaissance team (call sign FLATFOOT) in Laos. In the late evening on 8 November another HH-3E with call sign JOLLY GREEN 29 from the same unit recovered three soldiers, but was forced to leave after being severely damaged by ground fire and landed at the nearby USMC base at Khe Sanh, South Vietnam. Its pilot, Capt. John B. McTasney, was awarded the Air Force Cross for his actions on this mission.
After midnight JOLLY GREEN 26 then managed to rescue the remaining two soldiers, Sgt Joseph George Kusick and MSgt Bruce Raymond Baxter, both wounded in the firefight. However, when leaving the area the helicopter was shot down by intense fire from automatic weapons and crashed inverted on Hill 891. Three crewmen (co-pilot Capt. Ralph Wayne Brower, flight engineer SSgt Eugene Lunsford Clay and pararescueman Sgt Larry Wayne Maysey) and both rescued soldiers were killed. Only the pilot, Capt. Gerald O. Young, survived badly burned. He initially assisted another survivor, but had to leave him behind and attempted to lead enemy forces away. A recovery team was inserted into the area the next afternoon, but found no survivors near the wreckage. The pilot evaded capture and on the morning of 10 November was picked up by a UH-1 helicopter, having moved about 5 miles away from the crash site in difficult terrain despite his injuries within 17 hours. Capt. Young was awarded the Medal of Honor and the other three crewmen received the Air Force Cross posthumously for their actions during this mission.
Sources:
https://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/1966.html
https://www.helis.com/database/cn/23660/
https://911gfx.nexus.net/aircraftlosses.html
https://jollygg.blogspot.com/2020/11/53rd-anniversary-of-loss-of-jolly-green.html
http://www.veterantributes.org/TributeDetail.php?recordID=162
http://www.veterantributes.org/TributeDetail.php?recordID=448
http://www.veterantributes.org/TributeDetail.php?recordID=473
http://www.veterantributes.org/TributeDetail.php?recordID=799
Location
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 09-Jan-2010 08:10 | TB | Added |
| 21-Dec-2012 09:32 | TB | Updated [Operator, Narrative, ] |
| 02-Feb-2025 11:04 | Tetrapack | Updated [Cn, Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Location, Phase, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, Category, ] |
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