THE WALL OF FACES

On the evening of 17 October 1971, aircraft UH-1H, SN: 68-15237 was being flown on the night perimeter mission for the Chu Lai defense command. The aircraft commander for this mission was 1LT Robert J. Barton, pilot WO1 LN Pate, crew chief SP4 Wesley S. Shelton, and gunner SP4 Patrick J. Breslin. The mission entailed flying at 300 feet MSL or below, checking the perimeter with landing and search light. 1LT Barton took off at 2230 hours, although he had attempted to remain on 5 minute standby because he felt the weather was too bad to fly. Arriving on station it was found that the weather was not as bad as was believed, and the mission was continued. Prior to midnight the aircraft was landed and refueled. After arriving back on station, it was found that the weather was deteriorating and it was decided, after a radio transmission with the division tactical operations center, to return to the airfield and remain on 5 minute standby after one more pattern around the perimeter. On the northern perimeter, which is bordered by the ocean, it is necessary to fly over the water. Then the aircraft reached this point on the perimeter, it was reported by WO1Pate that a loud thump was heard. The aircraft commander stated, 'Don't worry, we only hit a bird. I hit one last night.' WO1Pate leaned to his right and lowered his head to look at the engine instruments to see if there were any abnormal instrument readings. During the time he had his head lowered, the aircraft struck the water. WO1Pate remembered the airspeed indicator reading 80 knots just prior to the accident. The crash was heard by a bunker guard on duty approximately 300 meters from the side. He reported the mishap to his superiors, who in turn reported it to division and a search and rescue was put into motion. Two medivac aircraft were dispatched along with a flare ship. The weather was extremely hazardous and the wreckage was never located. WO1 Pate, the sole survivor, was not rescued until approximately 6 hours later, some 4000 meters south of the crash site.

Posted by Aunt Wanda

Posted by Aunt Wanda

Provided by Aunt Wanda

Jamie was one of my sky diving students at the University of Florida and a close friend. We traveled all over Florida drop zones to make jumps. He made a water jump with me into 'Aligator lake' for my D license. I asked him if there was a reason they called it that name and he said 'don't worry about it we will probably drown anyway'.Before he deployed to Vietnam he came to me to let me hold on to his sky diving rig (a ParaCommander)while he was In Country. I had never jumped a PC so we swaped rigs and made a 30 sec. free fall together. That was April 17,1971 my 297th jump, I never saw him again after that day however his parents kept me informed of how he was doing as a Helo pilot. He would send them slide shows. I was told he was killed in a crash while trying to fly a Helo inland from a on coming storm. I miss him just about everyday especially at the DZ. My first son is named Robert after Robert 'Jamie' Barton.