THE WALL OF FACES

Dear WO William Rollins, Thank you for your service as an Utility & Light Cargo Single Rotor Helicopter Pilot. Saying thank you isn't enough, but it is from the heart. It is Columbus Day Weekend. Time moves quickly. Please watch over America, it stills needs your strength, courage and faithfulness, especially now. Rest in peace with the angels.

It's hard to believe it's been 50 years since we received that horrible news, you were missing in Vietnam. Now I find myself remembering all the good times we had as young teenagers in Scurry County - camping, hunting and fishing. The time after church we tried to ride some young heifers your dad had bought, we thought we were rodeo qualified - until we went inside your house. Our Sunday clothes were stained with "barnyard" and dirt, our dads laughed but our mothers were NOT happy. Or the time our group tried to hand fish on the Double Mountain Fork of the Brazos - you were the first to jump into that muddy water and try your luck. Thank you for your service, but most of all thank you for being a friend. Gone but not forgotten - R.I.P. Paul.

Warrant Officer William Paul Rollins, Served with the Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, 2nd Squadron, 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, United States Army Vietnam.

Paul and I were good friends growing up here in Snyder , Texas. Paul always had a great smile and I always thought of him being a very kind hearted person. I think of Paul often these days as I also served in Vietnam. I will always hold Paul Rollins close to my heart and my other soldier Brothers. God Bless Paul Rollins, in the name of Jesus I pray.

On Sunday, September 29, 1968, a U.S. Army helicopter UH-1C (tail number 66-00523) from 1st Squadron “Blackhorse,” 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment was operating in Long Khanh Province (III Corps) where it was performing a routine morning aerial recon of the road going east out the Blackhorse basecamp. This road was heavily used by convoys going in and out of the camp. The enemy was well aware of this and frequently mined the road or set up ambushes at vulnerable spots on it. The low level aerial recon was necessary to spot mines or superfluous movement before trucks started rolling down this road each morning. The crew included aircraft commander WO1 Jerry L. Harris, pilot WO1 William P. Rollins, crew chief SP5 Blaine J. Shepherd, and gunner SP4 John J. Matuska. A ground soldier in the Australian squadron working with the Blackhorse, Dennis Abraham, had made friends with Matuska and Shepard at the Enlisted Men’s club and asked if he could tag along, as he rarely rode in a helicopter. Pilot Rollins approved the Aussie’s request. Later that day, the same crew with their extra passenger did a second aerial recon just as twilight was setting in. The purpose of this recon was countermortar as the Viet Cong liked to set up nighttime mortar attacks while it was still light. When the crew did not return after a reasonable amount of time and radio contact could not be established with them, a group of three helicopters were sent out to look for 523. The aircraft searched a couple hours with no success, giving up on account of darkness, returned to base then resumed in the morning. Again, they were unsuccessful in locating the missing aircraft. Three days later, the aircraft was located by a scout helicopter. The crashed helicopter was in the bottom of a ravine in very heavy jungle. A squad from the troop’s Aerial Rifle Platoon (ARP) were inserted about a half-mile from the crash site in the only suitable LZ they could find. This sector was considered a “hot area” of enemy activity. The trees and undergrowth were so thick that the only way to get to the crash site was by wading in a stream that was chest high in some places. A C&C aircraft hovered overhead and guided the team to the crash site by radio. Passing around a bend in the stream they located the aircraft. It had slammed nose first into the side of the ravine, and was sitting in the water, deeper in the front than the rear. The ARP’s set up a defensive position around the downed aircraft. The lifeless crew were still strapped in the helicopter and had their CVC helmets on except the Australian who also was strapped in. Dead for three days, the bodies were bloated and a gruesome sight to behold. It appeared that all had died from broken necks on impact. A regimental CH-47 Chinook helicopter was called in to airlift the wreckage out. While waiting for the Chinook, another squad of ARP’s arrived with body bags, and the dead crew and passenger were removed from the aircraft. Removing them was a struggle. Also while waiting for the lift aircraft, the troopers discovered their legs were covered with leeches. All of them dropped their pants quickly to discover as many as 15-20 leeches from the waist down. Cigarettes were used to remove them. The bodies were floated downstream to the LZ and loaded on a lift ship to their base camp. Again, leeches covered the ARP’s. At the regimental mortuary it was noted that the only wound on any of the deceased was a bullet hole through pilot Rollin’s temple. It appeared that what happened is he was flying real low when a single round struck and killed him instantly and everyone else on board died on impact. [Taken from vhpa.org, armyaircrews.com, and the book American Warrior by J.C. Bahnsen Jr.]