THE WALL OF FACES

Bebo was back at our base camp when I was transferred from 1/35 inf to A 1/12. He was the first guy I met. He was good company. I was, also, on the CA into Cambodia. We knew we had lost one of our choppers, but not the details.

On the late morning of May 7, 1970, the 61st Assault Helicopter Company was conducting a troop lift of U.S. 4th Infantry Division personnel during the Cambodian incursion when one of their helicopters went down. The aircraft, a UH-1H (#68-16396) crashed on the south slope of Hill 275, nine miles southwest of Plei Djereng Air Field in Pleiku Province, RVN. The helicopter reportedly suffered an engine failure and the crew attempted autorotation over heavy jungle. The co-pilot, WO1 Robert P. Sheppard, was flying the aircraft when power was lost, and was on the controls for the autorotation. On the way down, they took fire from an NVA unit below. The door gunner and crew chief returned fire with their M60 machine guns, and some of the passengers fired their weapons out the doors of the stricken aircraft. At a low altitude, Sheppard was hit in the head and slumped over the controls, putting the aircraft into a “hardover.” There was no time for anyone to pull him off the controls and the helicopter entered the trees inverted. Before passing through the jungle canopy, gunner SP4 John A. Shaw leapt from the aircraft. He sustained major injuries to his left side, head, and back. The aircraft went down near an NVA rally camp and enemy soldiers were observed swarming the crash site, shooting all the survivors. An OH-6A observation helicopter with a minigun circled the wreckage, firing at the enemy. Arriving gunships joined in, driving the NVA far enough away to begin recovery and rescue. Because Shaw was not in the wreckage, it took extra time to locate him. He was the only survivor. The lost personnel included aircraft commander WO1 Lawrence J. Herman III, co-pilot Sheppard, and crew chief SP5 William A. Peyton; the passengers were SGT John J. McCarthy, SP4 Wayne R. Bebo, SP4 Arthur N. Kangas, and PFC Richard J. Barber. After being rescued, Shaw was admitted to military hospitals in Vietnam, then medically evacuated to Letterman Army Medical Center in San Francisco, CA, where he endured a lengthy convalescence. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org, vhpa.org, and information provided by William E. Turpen and John A. Shaw (July 2022)]

Thank you for your service to our country so long ago sir. The remembrance from Amy Whitler is especially poignant. As long a you are remembered you will always be with us....

Specialist Four Wayne Richard Bebo, Served with Company A, 1st Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division, United States Army Vietnam.

DEAR SPEC 4 BEBO,
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE AS AN INDIRECT FIRE INFANTRYMAN. .IT IS THE EPIPHANY. AND WE ARE THANKFUL FOR YOU. IT IS NEW YEAR, WHICH MAKES IT FAR TOO LONG FOR YOU TO HAVE BEEN GONE. WATCH OVER THE U.S.A., IT STILL NEEDS YOUR COURAGE.. GOD BLESS YOU. MAY THE SAINTS AND ANGELS BE AT YOUR SIDE. REST IN PEACE.