DANIEL ARTHUR SULANDER
DANIEL A SULANDER
13E/7
REMEMBRANCES
An American Hero
Peace with Honor
Remembering An American Hero
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
Final Mission of U.S. Army helicopter UH-1D tail number 65-10088
In late November 1966, MSG Russell P. Bott and SGM Willie E. Stark were inserted about 1 12 miles into Laos west of the DMZ along with a number of Vietnamese Special Forces (LLDB) 'strikers'. The team, a long-range reconnaissance patrol (LRRP), was soon discovered by a superior North Vietnamese force, members of the 325B NVA Division. A two day running battle ensued. Near the end, MSG Bott radioed that he was down to one grenade and one magazine of ammunition. He also stated that several of the Vietnamese members of his team were dead or wounded. SGM Willie Stark was wounded in the chest and leg, but was alive. MSG Bott requested exfiltration at that time. He refused to leave his wounded teammate to seek safety, and in his last radio message, MSG Bott indicated that he was going to destroy his radio, that he felt capture was imminent. Two gunships working the area were hit by enemy fire. Also, the exfiltration helicopter from 281st Assault Helicopter Company was hit, and crashed and burned, killing the crew of four (WO1 Donald Harrison, WO1 Daniel A. Sulander, SP4 William J. Bodzick, and SP4 Lee J. Boudreaux) and SGT Irby Dyer III, a medic from Det. B-52 Delta who had gone in to help treat the wounded. The wreckage of the plane and all five remains were found in searches conducted December 10-13. The remains, which had been horribly mutilated by the enemy, were left at the site. When a team returned to recover the remains, U.S. bombing and strafing activities had destroyed them further. The identifiable remains of three of the crew were recovered, but those of WO1 Sulander and SGT Dyer were not. Searches for MSG Bott and SGM Stark were unsuccessful. Vietnamese team members who evaded capture reported that they had heard North Vietnamese soldiers say, 'Here you are! We've been looking for you! Tie his hands, we'll take him this way.' SFC Norman Doney, who was Operations Sergeant at that time at B-52 headquarters at Khe Sanh, overheard the Intelligence Sergeant on the '52 Desk' reviewing intelligence about MSG Bott. SFC Doney states that it was reported that MSG Bott was seen with his arms tied behind his back going through a village, and that he was alive 3 days after he became missing. Information from the POW Network. [Taken from vhpa.org]