LOSS OF UH-1H 69-15619 62ND AVIATION COMPANY (CORPS) 8 JANUARY 1973
On 8 January 1973, just 3 weeks before the official Cease Fire to the Vietnam War, the 62nd Aviation Company (CORPS) lost a UH-1H (Huey), tail number 69-15619, with a crew of 4 and 2 passengers to hostile ground file. In retrospect, this was the last U.S. Army Huey lost in the conflict. The crew was W01 Mickey A. Wilson (Aircraft Commander), W01 Richard A. Knutson (Pilot), SP5 Manuel A. Lauterio (Crew Chief), and SP5 William S. Stinson (Gunner). The passengers were MAJ William L. Deane and SSG Elbert W. Bush, both assigned to the American Senior Advisor to the Vietnamese Airborne Division in the Quang Tri and Thua Thien Provinces.
Even though the remains of all six personnel were recovered and identified by October 1999, it did not mark the end of the search for the answers as to what happened to the crew and passengers. Since being notified of the loss of her brother, the sister of W01 Mickey Wilson has been searching for answers to the incident and what happened to the crew and passengers. Linda (Wilson) Moreau has made over 11 trips to Vietnam and the Quang Tri area to search for closure. In addition she has searched for Mickey's Vietnamese wife and son (they had been married shortly before he was shot down). While she has been successful in finding Mickey's family, she continues to search for answers to her family's questions as to what happened to her brother, his crew and his passengers. The following video is to an interview Linda made several years ago about her continued search for answers to her questions about her brother.
The following is a synopsis of the incident which occurred on 8 January 1973. This information is a compilation of data from several different reports filed about the mission flown that day, and those actions taken subsequent to the loss.
On 8 January 1973, the crew of UH1H helicopter 69-15619 was tasked to fly in support of the Senior American Advisor to the Vietnamese Airborne Division in Quang Tri and Thua Thien. All four crewmen were assigned to the 62nd Aviation Company, 212th Aviation Battalion, 11th Combat Aviation Group. Also on board the Huey were two passengers who were assigned to Army Advisory Group, Headquarters, Military Assistance Command - Vietnam. The flight was a support mission to several Landing Zones (LZs) in the vicinity of Quang Tri City, Trieu Phong District, Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam.
For unknown reasons, the pilots did not establish the usual radio contact with the 2nd Battalion Technical Operations Center prior to or during the flight. When no radio contact was received by 1500 hours, the operations center queried all LZs on the aircraft's brief route in an effort to determine its whereabouts. The operations center personnel learned that at 1430 hours the Huey departed LZ Sally enroute to Quang Tri City, but they were also informed the helicopter failed to land at the two designated LZs between LZ Sally and the city.
Even though there was no radio contact, the Huey was observed by ground forces as it flew northwest toward Quang Tri City. But instead of turning to the west as briefed, the witnesses saw the helicopter cross the Thach Han River into enemy held territory. While it was northwest of the river, it was seen to circle twice with its door guns blazing at an unknown ground target. Enemy automatic weapons fire was heard by friendly ground troops who also reported seeing three SA-7 ground-to-air missiles fired at the helicopter. The first missile missed the Huey, but the second struck the helicopter's tail boom crippling it. A third missile impacted the Huey's fuselage prior to its crash into a populated area near the South Vietnam Army's Ai Tu Combat Base. The Huey disappeared in the hotly contested and densely populated area just to the west of the Thach Han River and approximately 1/2 mile west of the southern portion of Quang Tri City. Highway 1, the principal north/south highway that ran nearly the entire length and along the eastern edge of Vietnam, was located a few hundred yards east of the river.
A Search and Rescue (SAR) operation was immediately initiated and continued through 9 January. As SAR aircraft approached the area in which the Huey was downed, they were repeatedly driven off by small arms and automatic weapons fire as well as multiple SA-7 launches. And because the area was under total enemy control, no ground team was able to reach the crash site. When formal SAR operations were terminated, all personnel on board the Huey were listed as Missing in Action.
Almost immediately after the incident U.S. intelligence began receiving reports indicating that of the six men aboard the Huey, four were seen alive on the ground. But in early 1973 when 591 American Prisoners of War were released during Operation Homecoming, all the returnees were debriefed for any information they might have had about other Americans who were known or believed to be prisoners and who were not released from captivity. While two returnees stated they might have seen W01 Knutson and MAJ Deane, none of the returnees were able to provide positive information about the crewmen or passengers.
No further information was forthcoming until January 1994 when an investigative team from the Joint Task Force for Full Accounting (JTFFA) recovered remains from the area of the aircraft crash site. On 28 November 1995 these remains were identified as W01 Rick Knutson. For the remainder of the crew and passengers unanswered questions remained until July-August 1996 when members of the JAFFA returned to Quang Tri City. This investigation team was able to locate the partial commingled remains of what they believed to be the remaining crewmen and passengers. On 4 October 1999 the U.S. Army's Central Identification Laboratory in Hawaii identified the remains as the remaining crewmembers (W01 Wilson, SP5 Lauterio, and SP5 Stinson) and the passengers (MAJ Deane and SSG Bush).