THE WALL OF FACES

To my old friend the years have pa but you are not forgotten today my thirteen-year-old daughter visits the wall in Washington DC she asked me whose name to rub off and of course I chose yours your sacrifice allows her a life to cherish .

The war may be forgotten but the warrior will always be remembered !!!! All gave Some-Some gave All. Rest in peace Steven. :-(

Steven is buried at Forest Hill Cemetery, Piqua, Miami County, OH. Plot H-150

Dear CWO Steven Dale Karnehm, sir

As an American, I would like to thank you for your service and for your sacrifice made on behalf of our wonderful country. The youth of today could gain much by learning of heroes such as yourself, men and women whose courage and heart can never be questioned.

May God allow you to read this, and may He allow me to someday shake your hand when I get to Heaven to personally thank you. May he also allow my father to find you and shake your hand now to say thank you; for America, and for those who love you.

With respect, and the best salute a civilian can muster for you, Sir

Curt Carter

At 1630 hours on 27 September 1971, a flight of eight (8) UH-1H helicopters lined up staggered trail (right) for a 270 degree departure from Song Be airstrip. The flight had been released at 1615 hours to return to Di An. The command and control ship had departed minutes before the flight for the expressed purpose of obtaining weather information, which he relayed to the lead aircraft. Upon departing, the command and control ship called lead and reported 1000 feet ceiling and .5 to 1 mile visibility. The lead issued instructions for takeoff and departed turning to a 225 degree heading. The lead ship then issued detailed instructions for inadvertent IFR break-up. Approximately 1645, the ceiling and visibility forced the lead ship down to 600 feet indicated. In this area this would be approximately 400 feet AGL. Just prior to the crash, several of the aircraft began accelerating and decelerating due to the heavy rain and poor visibility. During the period of limited visibility, Chalk Six was observed executing a steep right turn from directly below Chalk Five. Chalk Six was then observed as it struck the trees with the main rotor blade making contact first. Chalk Six made no calls prior to the strike. The aircraft then burst into flames as it made contact with the ground. A call was made to the lead aircraft from Chalk Five that an aircraft had gone down. Lead called for a count of chalks and received seven replies indicating all the aircraft were accounted for. After the flight determined that one of the chalks had answered twice, lead split the flight to initiate a search. The lead ship with chalks 2, 3, and 4 continued to Di An, as they had cleared the bad weather. Chalks 5, 7, and 8 then began a search, but were unable to find the downed aircraft due to weather. Chalks 5, 7, and 8 then proceeded to Phuoc Vinh to wait for the weather to clear. After approximately an hour and a half, the weather cleared and the wreckage was found. One crewmember was observed standing near the wreckage but the height of the trees prevented a landing. A medivac helicopter had been contacted and using a jungle penetrator, rescued the survivor approximately two hours after the crash. The bodies of the other crewmembers, WO1 Steven D. Karnehm, CAPT Jon J. Kintaro, and SP4 Luis H. Campos, were recovered on 28 September. Due to rapidly deteriorating weather on the 28th, the recovery team was forced to leave the crash site and the tactical situation prevented further ground inspection or recovery of wreckage parts. [Taken from vhpa.org]