THE WALL OF FACES

Chief Warrant Officer Stephen Anthony De Santis, Served with the 129th Assault Helicopter Company, 268th Aviation Battalion, 17th Aviation Group, 1st Aviation Brigade, United States Army Vietnam.

CWO Stephen Anthony DeSantis is buried in the Old Pine Grove Cemetery in Waterbury, CT.

Your sacrifice is not forgotten.

HOOAH

Thank you for your service to our country so long ago sir. The remembrance from Jayne O'Donnell is touching. As long as you are remembered you will remain in our hearts forever…..

On the late evening of September 12, 1969, a U.S. Army helicopter UH-1H (tail number 67-17257) from the 129th Assault Helicopter Company was launched from Lane Army Heliport, west of Qui Nhon in Binh Dinh Province, RVN, to pick up three Republic of Korea (ROK) army intelligence officers from the Korean Tiger Division and a Viet Cong defector and fly them to an ROK army hospital. The aircraft arrived at the assigned location at approximately 9:55 PM, and departed with its passengers ten minutes later. The flight crew contacted Phu Cat Airbase approach control north of Qui Nhon and notified them that poor weather had caused the aircraft to go into Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) conditions. The pilot stated his altitude was 5,000 feet and sought a priority radar vector for a ground control approach to Phu Cat Airbase. The pilot reported his position as over the Cha Rang Valley. Phu Cat approach control could not make a positive radar identification but had a suspected radar target seven miles out. The aircraft commander radioed he was encountering severe turbulence. At 10:22 PM, Phu Cat control instructed the aircraft to turn inbound toward the airbase beacon and climb to 6000 feet. The pilot rogered the controller's instructions. This was the last communication between the aircraft and the ground. Shortly after, the helicopter impacted on the side of a mountain approximately seven miles south of Phu Cat; there were no survivors. The lost crewmen included aircraft commander CWO Stephen A. DeSantis, pilot WO1 Richard A. Sawran, crew chief SP4 Lawrence D. Jackson, and gunner PFC Stephan L. Hargrave. The three ROK intelligence staff personnel were LTC Kwon Young Hae, CPT Kim The Hwan, and CPT Kim Hyun Shuk; the Viet Cong is unknown. After radio contact was lost, search and rescue ships were launched; however, due to weather conditions, the search aircraft did not arrive at the scene until 12:30 AM. They discovered the helicopter had hit the mountain at 1990 feet, 125 feet below the ridge. The aircraft appeared to have burned on impact. Crew chief Jackson was posthumously promoted to Sergeant. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org, vhpa.org and “Copter Crash Kills 8 Near Qui Nhon.” Pacific Stars & Stripes, September 15, 1969]

Dear CWO Stephen De Santis,
Thank you for your service as an Aircraft Repair Technician, Rotary Wing. It has been too long, and it's about time for us all to acknowledge the sacrifices of those like you who answered our nation's call. Please watch over America, it stills needs your strength, courage and faithfulness. Rest in peace with the angels.