THE WALL OF FACES

Thank you for your service to our country so long ago sir. While all deaths in Vietnam are tragic that you died just six days before your 22nd birthday is especially so. May you rest in eternal peace.

I served in Vietnam with Andy when he was assigned to "A" Co, 9th Avn. BN, 9th Inf. Div. at Dong Tam base. Andy from Kentucky, Harper from Oklahoma, Allen from New Hampshire and myself, Bill from Kansas, were "roommates" in a barracks. Lots of laughs as we tried to talk to each other with all those different accents! All of us had returned home by mid-August, 1969, except for Andy, who was reassigned to a new unit since "A" Company was being deactivated. It was awhile before I got word of what happened to Andy. Today, in Kansas City, I visited a replica of the "The Wall" in D.C. and I found Andy's name. I decided I needed to let everyone know that Andy was a good man and that I will always remember him.

During the period of July 1 - October 31, 1969, the 3rd Brigade, 9th Infantry Division, conducted combat operations in Long An Province, RVN, and the border areas of the three adjacent provinces; Hau Nghia, Gia Dinh, and Dinh Thuong. The brigade participated in Operation Toan Thang (“Complete Victory”) Phase III. The mission objective was to aggressively seek out the enemy to prevent his employment of men and equipment. The brigade was involved in combat during every day (123 total) of the period. On September 17th, the 3rd Brigade suffered the loss of its commander, COL Dale J. Crittenberger, when his Command-and-Control UH-1H helicopter collided with an AH-1G Cobra gunship while monitoring a unit from 5th Battalion, 60th Infantry Regiment, in contact with the enemy. Company A, 5/60, was conducting air mobile operations in the Plain of Reeds, an area of 2500 square miles across several provinces which served as a base for Viet Cong forces. The troop lift was provided by aircraft from B Troop, 3rd Squadron, 17th Air Cavalry. Immediately upon landing, the Americans came under heavy fire from a large Viet Cong force in well entrenched positions. The contact was supported by artillery and three hunter-killer teams consisting of one AH-1G Cobra attack helicopter and one OH-6A “Loach” light observation helicopter from B/3-17 Cavalry. The collision occurred when an AH-1G in the hunter-killer team was covering an OH-6A at tree top level over the contact area. The Cobra was orbiting at an altitude of approximately 800 feet south of the target area when it began a dive for a rocket run. Crittenberger’s Command-and-Control aircraft was using approximately the same orbit pattern as the AH-1G, only much lower. As it came inside the orbit of the Cobra, it began climbing, striking the attack helicopter in the underneath left side with his main rotor blade. A total of twelve U.S. were killed in the accident. The lost UH-1H crew included aircraft commander WO1 Robert P. Mayer, pilot 1LT Richard A. Snowdon, crew chief SP5 William A. Fitch, and gunner SP5 Gary L. Haught. The passengers were Crittenberger, LTC Leo P. Sikorski, MAJ David R. Mackey, MAJ William T. McNair, MAJ Dana W. Mitchell, and CPT Donald W. Dietz. The crew of the AH-1G were aircraft commander AC WO1 Gary J. Davis and co-pilot WO1 Theodore V. Skiles. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org, vhpa.org, and “Lessons Learned, (Headquarters, 3d Brigade,) 9th Infantry Division, period ending 31 Oct 1969” at dtic.mil]

Specialist Five William Andrew Fitch, Served with the Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 3rd Brigade, 9th Infantry Division, United States Army Vietnam.

I met Andy at Morehead when we were in collage. We talked to each other in class and I discovered that we were distantly related. The name Fitch was short for Fitzpatrick. That was my grandmothers maiden name. I was grieved beyond measure when I heard about his death. He was a sweet happy young man who was always smiling.