MICHAEL DIGNON LAYMON
MICHAEL D LAYMON
25E/75
REMEMBRANCES
Crash Information on U.S. Marine Corps helicopter CH-46A tail number 152569
There is not a lot of information on this particular incident. From the combat chronology and other sources I have created the following narrative. This was a sad day. Since we had already had more than one CH-46 disintegrate in the air, everyone was waiting for the other shoe to drop. Many had long suspected there were problems with the structural integrity of the CH-46A, especially the aft pylon. As we continued to fly missions in support of BELT DRIVE, the lead aircraft on a med-evac mission, BuNo 152469 en route to the LPH-10, broke up in the air and the whole crew died along with the one embarked med-evac. There were no survivors. The pilot was MAJ Lawrence R. Moyer, co-pilot 2LT John D. Merriman, the crew chief was SGT Clement F. Lajeunesse and the gunner was LCPL Mike D. Laymon. The med-evac was PFC Danny W. Engesser. A similar accident took place at Marble Mountain the following day when another CH-46A lost its tail just as it touched down at Marble Mountain with no serious injuries to the crew. MAJ Moyer’s mission was primarily an administrative move to the carrier, so there was not a full crew aboard. The aircraft crashed into the sea. The cause of the crash was determined by the inspection of all CH-46As following the crash on 1 September mentioned above. As a result, all Alphas were then sent to Okinawa to have a pylon fix. Shortly after this time we did begin to have a normal crew size of five: pilot, copilot, crew chief, and two gunners. For the most part, we did not have dedicated medi-evac aircraft. The nearest aircraft to the casualty was detached from its regular mission to handle the evac. We found that we could get the casualties to the aid stations quicker this way than if the med-evac had to be launched from a remote base, as we would have thirty or so aircraft airborne from our group and in the general area at all times. The gunners all received first aid training before being assigned to an aircraft and performed some amazing life-saving feats. On assault landings, one or more primary med-evac aircraft were dedicated and they did have a corpsman aboard, as did those aircraft dedicated to med-evac outside of normal operating hours. Sometime, if things were expected to be really hairy, the squadron surgeon would accompany a flight. (Submitted by Neil Allen, HMM-262 historian) [Taken from vhpa.org]
Never Forgotten
