THE WALL OF FACES

Your sacrifice is not forgotten.

Semper Fi, Marine

Some may think you are forgotten
Though on earth you are no more
But in our memory you are with us
As you always were before….

Lance Corporal Danny Robert Hesson, Served with Marine Light Helicopter Squadron 367 (HML-367), Marine Aircraft Group 36 (MAG-36), 1st Marine Aircraft Wing (1st MAW), Third Marine Amphibious Force. Montani Semper Liberi !

Dear Lcpl Danny Hesson, Thank you for your service as an Aircraft CNE/Weapons/DECM Systems Tech. Yesterday was Memorial Day when we honor you. I could not post because the system was overwhelmed. Please watch over the USA, it still needs your courage. Rest in peace with the angels.

On October 10, 1969, a U.S. Marine Corps helicopter UH-1E (tail number 152438) from Marine Medium Light Helicopter Squadron 367 (HML 367) crashed after enemy small arms ground fire shot out tail rotor. Three crewmen died in the incident while the aircraft commander was rescued by a U.S. Army UH-1 helicopter. There are three personal accounts for this incident: First account - My unit, 237th DUSTOFF [Medevac] (U.S. Army), call sign DMZ Dust Off, completed the rescue mission on this sortie. We received the call that a Marine gunship had been shot down in the area of the DMZ. We arrived at the site and found that we could not land due to the trees and that the gunship was in a deep ravine. I volunteered to jump out of our Huey (UH-1 helicopter) to investigate the crash scene. I found that both of the door gunners (crew chief LCP Manley E. “Gene” Siler and gunner LCPL Danny R. Hesson) were dead and the pilot in the left seat (copilot 1LT James L. Rhodes) was also dead. However, the right seat pilot (aircraft commander 1LT E. Bauerfiend) was still alive. As the engine was still running and the ship armed with rockets, I decided to remove the surviving pilot. I carried him up a hill and as my ship hovered as low as they could and lifted the wounded pilot up to my medic. I also climbed aboard. We carried the wounded pilot to the Naval Hospital Ship USS Repose. (Submitted by Charlie Whaley) Second account - About 1515 on October 10, 1969, our squad of 5 men was preparing to occupy a night ambush site over the next hill. We were with "A" Company, 1/11 Infantry, 5th Division Mechanized. Someone picked up a disturbance or a reflection from the vicinity of the proposed ambush site. A section of two Marine gunships from HML-367 [SCARFACE 40] was in the vicinity and was called by our CO (company commander) to assist us in checking out the area of the disturbance. They agreed and made a pass over the hilly area. After one firing pass, two NVA stood up and began firing at the second Huey gunship, apparently hitting and disabling the tail rotor. The aircraft spun uncontrolled into the hilly ground out of our sight. Our CO, Captain Boozer immediately ordered us to go see what we could do. The second Marine gunship arrived at our company position, dropped weight (crew members and ammo) and then carried the five of us to the area of the crash. The terrain was very steep and difficult with enemy bunkers in the vicinity. We set up a hasty secure area at the top of the hill with our one machine gun while four of us, including our medic, slid down the hill to the Huey. The helicopter turbine engine was still running but the blades had been ripped off during the crash. The pilot (1LT Bauerfiend) was observed to be alive and pinned in his seat by cables and wires. He required a medevac to free him from the entanglement and evacuate him. The crew chief (LCPL Siler) seemed to be alive and fastened by his gunner’s belt. He was carried to a small level area where our medic administered first aid. He passed away within minutes. The other two members of the crew on the left side of the Huey were both dead from the crash. The copilot 1LT Rhodes was strapped in his seat and the gunner (LCPL Hesson) was attached by his gunner’s belt. Their bodies were removed from the wreckage and moved to the flat area near our medic. During this time our squad had no idea what the enemy situation was in the immediate vicinity but they were not in contact. We were then reinforced by others from our company. I was concerned about the security of the area and my troops and do not know when or how the pilot was recovered. Our unit stayed in the area until a higher authority made the decision to destroy or disable the Huey after the pilot was recovered by the medevac. After the Huey was destroyed, we returned to our base area. (Submitted by Ed Rego) Third account – 1LT Rhodes launched out on a gunship mission as co-pilot with Ed Bauerfeind as the HAC, and two crewmen, LCPL Danny Hesson and LCPL Gene Siler. They were the second gunship (chase) of a flight of two. The flight was assigned to provide fire on a target near the DMZ, near the Charlie 4, or Con Tien area, when they received heavy fire. This aircraft was hit in the tail boom/tail rotor area, and crashed. A U.S. Army ground team was nearby, and rescued Bauerfeind, the only survivor, who was severely injured. The next morning, LT Unruh, piloting one UH-1E, and LT John Upthegrove, piloting another, flew to the area and photographed the aircraft, observing many large holes shot in the tail boom, back to the tail rotor. This is the only photograph I know of the aircraft. (Submitted by Perry J. Unruh) Note: The U.S Army medic (SP5 Charlie A. Whaley) who assisted in recovering the injured pilot received the Soldier’s Medal for his efforts. The following is the narrative of that citation: Specialist Five Whaley distinguished himself while serving as a crew chief aboard a helicopter ambulance during a rescue mission near Dong Ha just south of the Demilitarized Zone. He and fellow crewmen had been requested to pick up the pilot of a Marine helicopter gunship shot down by enemy ground fire. When the rescue team arrived over the wreckage, they found that the gunship had crashed in a small ravine too narrow to accommodate the air ambulance. The pilot then hovered down the side of the ravine as close to the wreckage as possible and Specialist Whaley disembarked the hovering aircraft and rushed to the crashed helicopter. Finding the gunship's engine still running and fuel leaking from the cells near the loaded rocket pods, Specialist Whaley entered the cockpit and struggled to shut down the engine for fear that the leaking fuel would ignite and detonate the rockets. Unable to free the jammed fuel controls to shut down the engine, Specialist Whaley, fearing for an imminent explosion, dragged the critically injured pilot from the wreckage and carried him to the waiting rescue helicopter for evacuation to medical facilities. Specialist Five Whaley’s heroic actions were in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit and the United States Army. [Taken from popasmoke.com]