THE WALL OF FACES

Thank you for your service to our country so long ago sir. As long as you are remembered you will always be with us….

Dear PFC Foster Triggs, Thank you for your service with the 118th Attack Helicopter Company. Saying thank you isn't enough, but it is from the heart. It is Agent Orange Awareness Month. Time passes quickly. Please watch over America, it still needs your strength, courage, guidance and faithfulness, especially now. Rest in peace with the angels.

You will forever remain in our hearts and prayers

On May 28, 1965, two U.S. Army UH-1B helicopters from the 118th Aviation Company (AML) were involved in a mid-air collision at Bien Hoa Air Base in Bien Hoa Province, RVN. The 9:47 AM accident killed ten Americans and seriously injured one. The air base at this time had no air traffic controllers to handle helicopters and would not until September 1965. The two aircraft crashed into the III Corps’ soccer field after colliding about 200 yards from the airfield. One of the ships (#63-08594) had just departed the III Corps Headquarters helipad and was in a shallow climb at about 75 feet of altitude. The second helicopter (#63-08592) was conducting a simulated autorotation exercise when it contacted from above the right rear rotor disk area of 594. The helicopter burst into flames, became inverted, and hit the ground almost directly under the point of collision. Aircraft 594, minus its main rotor, fell, struck the ground tailboom first, bounced, caught fire on the second impact (nose first), and slid 100 feet and burned. The lost personnel from 594 included aircraft commander WO1 Myron M. Pfoutz, co-pilot 1LT Donald J. Fillers, and gunner PFC William J. Oakley; also aboard were three MACV Advisory Group passengers: CPT Millard R. Valerius, CPT James J. Masotti, and SSG Ronald J. Warren. The crew chief on 594, SP5 Steve Kartak, was critically injured after being thrown clear of the aircraft; he was the only survivor. The crew from 592 were aircraft commander CW2 Edward R. Piper, co-pilot 1LT Phillip D. Childers, and crew chief PFC Foster F. Triggs. Gunner SGT George H. Frazee Jr. survived the crash with critical injuries; however, he expired eight hours later. Fillers was posthumously promoted to Captain. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org, 118ahc.org, and “Copters Crash, 9 Die At Bien Hoa.” Pacific Stars & Stripes, May 30, 1965]

Private First Class Foster F. Triggs, Served with the 118th Assault Helicopter Company, 145th Aviation Battalion, United States Army Support Command Vietnam, Military Assistance Command Vietnam (MACV).