THE WALL OF FACES

DEAR WARRANT OFFICER BOSLEY,
THANKS FOR YOUR SERVICE AS AN UTILITY 7 LIGHT CARGO SINGLE ROTOR HELICOPTER PILOT. TODAY IS THE 42ND ANNIVERSARY OF PRESIDENT FORD CALLING THIS DAY THE OFFICIAL END TO THE WAR. IF IT WAS ONLY THAT EASY. I AM SO SORRY. IT HAS BEEN FAR TOO LONG FOR ALL OF YOU TO HAVE BEEN GONE. WE APPRECIATE ALL YOU HAVE DONE, AND YOUR SACRIFICE. WATCH OVER THE U.S.A., IT STILL NEEDS YOUR COURAGE. GOD BLESS YOU. MAY THE ANGELS BE AT YOUR SIDE. REST IN PEACE. YOU ARE ALL IN OUR PRAYERS.

Dear WO James Gilbert Bosley, 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

The crash cost the lives of crewmen WO1 James G. Bosley and WO1 James L. Daniel and passenger LTC Gail F. Wilson. The helicopter crew chief and gunner plus a second passenger survived the crash. There are two accounts regarding this incident. First Account - I was with Jim Bosley and James Daniel the night before their accident. I took photos as I came in to land at Jacksons Hole and have a picture of their aircraft with people around it, possibly them. This was one of my early missions. It was extremely wet and foggy weather. There were a group of company or battalion officers who had come in from the field for a meeting. While they were there, their units began to be hit and they desperately wanted to get back. Bosley and Daniel were talked into trying to return them at night in heavy fog. They only got a mile or two from the base before they flew into the ground. Both pilots and a colonel were trapped in the burning aircraft. The crew members both survived. I was co-pilot of the aircraft which returned their bodies back to Pleiku the following evening. (From John A. Carrigan, 119 AHC, June 67-68) Second Account - I was the AC with a personal call sign of “California Dreamer” (officially Gator 373), and this was my aircraft with nose art painted “California Dreamer.” (Name due to the popular songs by the Mamas and Papas of that time “California Dreaming,” and my home of record in California). I had been flying with Jim Daniel all day on 090167 in various sorties. We were scheduled to RON at FSB Jackson Hole that night, along with two gunships from the 119th AHC, to provide C&C if needed. Late that afternoon we received a call from Opns that I was going to be pulled-off for a “special mission” back at Camp Holloway. I was to rendezvous with another 119th aircraft at Plei Djereng (SF camp), where I would be replaced by another AC (James Bosley). I was to fly back to base while WO1s Bosley and Daniel would RON as scheduled. The WX had been crappy all day with fog and low ceilings, so as a senior AC my last words of advice to Bosley and Daniel was not to go up that night, no matter what the LTC or anyone else said. I was sent on a special flight with Dragon 6 for the next week, and only learned of the crash of the “California Dreamer” when I returned. Apparently they had been “talked into” going up shortly after midnight on 090267. As a side note, I received an e-mail a few years ago from the door gunner, John Allen. He stated that although he and CE Klemick were med-evac’d with burns and broken bones, he also had a bullet wound in his arm. His opinion is that Bosley and Daniel received small arms fire shortly after clearing the FSB perimeter. The aircraft attempted to evade by turning away from the fire. Then, either the pilots got vertigo and flew into the mountain, or they had been hit with the enemy fire and were incapacitated, thus causing the crash. (From Ron Corbin, “Gator 373” – “California Dreamer”, 119th AHC, 1966-67) [Taken from vhpa.org]

Rest in peace with the warriors.

James is buried at Queens Meadow Point Cemetery, Mineral Co, WV.