THE WALL OF FACES

Captain David Carroll Burch, Served with the 191st Assault Helicopter Company, 214th Aviation Battalion, 12th Aviation Group, 1st Aviation Brigade, United States Army Vietnam.

We did have a good time in OBC, Flight School, Oclub Annex at Ft. Campbell where we got the call sigh KNOBDICKERS which we used in Acapulco. Only regret is that we were not able to continue after RVN tour in the states. Will always remember you and the good times. RIP

Thank you for your service to our country so long ago sir. May you rest in eternal peace.

Thank you for your service and your sacrifice. Thank you for stepping up and answering your country's call. Rest easy knowing you will never be forgotten.

On September 3, 1968, a U.S. Army helicopter UH-1C (tail number 66-00613) from the 191st Assault Helicopter Company was shot down while supporting a combat operation near Rach Kein in Long An Province, RVN. The aircraft, a UH-1C gun ship, was being used to suppress known enemy positions when it came under intensive enemy fire and crashed. Three crewmen died in the incident. They included pilots CPT David C. Burch and WO1 Ronald M. Cederlund, and crew chief SGT Paul R. Frazier. The gunner on the ship, SP4 Edward Davis, was rescued. The following are two personal accounts of the incident. First account - Ed Davis was hospitalized in Saigon (before being evacuated to the burn hospital at Fort Sam Houston, Texas). Ed stated they had some Charlies (Viet Cong) in spider holes and CPT Birch was trying to position the aircraft for the best shot (to engage the enemy). Ed's M60 (machine gun) jammed, and while he was trying to unjam it, he looked up in time to see one of the Charlies sit up in his spider hole and fire his AK-47. Charlie sprayed the aircraft with his weapon and both CPT Birch and Mr. Cederland were killed instantly. He said he saw a piece of the back of CPT Birch's flight helmet come flying off. The aircraft nosed into the ground and he was thrown (blown) clear of the crash in the fireball. He woke up to see an OH-6 (light helicopter) making an approach to his location. As soon as the OH-6 was close to his position, he got to his feet and dove into the passenger area of the OH-6 amid intense enemy fire. Davis was burned over most of his body in the incident. Other aviators who knew the flight crew claimed CPT Birch made the mistake he cautioned each new aviator: "Don't ever hover." (Information by Victor Milford taken from vhpa.org) Second account - On September 3, 1968, I was in route to my A.O. (area of operations) at Tan An when I received a report of a downed C model gunship and was asked to begin a search for the downed aircraft. The smoke from the burning UH-1 lead me straight to the crash site. On approach to the crash site, it was clear that the pilot and co-pilot were already dead and still strapped in their seats. There were two trails leading away from the burning aircraft. We spotted one soldier (Davis) face down about 100 feet from the UH-1. I made an approach to his location and picked him up under fire (Charlie was in the open and advancing toward the downed gunship). We evacuated him to an open rice paddy about a mile from the crash site where one of our UH-1H’s could pick him up and evacuate him to a field hospital. We returned to the crash site to look for the other soldier (Frazier). I followed his trail to the edge of a small river lined with little one-man bunkers where we took a round through the rotor blade. I made a forced landing about 300 yards away on the other side of the river where we made field repairs to the rotor using a hammer and roll of duct tape. The vibrations had smoothed out enough to make the OH-6 flyable, and we returned to the crash site to continue the search. By that time Charlie had left the area and there was no sign of the other soldier. About a month later, I was contacted by an Army investigator about the incident and learned that Ed Davis was the specialist that I picked up, pilots CPT Burch and WO1 Cederlund were both KIA, and that SGT Paul Frazier was MIA. I believe SGT Frazier was later presumed dead, and as far as I know, his body was never recovered. I am absolutely certain that SGT Frazier did not die in the initial firefight or in the crash of the UH-1C. I would not have returned to that bunker complex without any cover or backup if I had not seen a very clear path leading away from his side of the UH-1C and his helmet in that path approximately 50 feet from the aircraft. When I returned to the bunker complex after dropping off Spec Davis, the enemy had withdrawn from the open area where the UH-1C crashed. I followed Frazier’s trail to the bunker where my aircraft was hit. I would not have gone back to that bunker complex a third time after making field repairs to my LOH if I had not thought there was a chance of saving SGT Frazier. It was and still is my opinion that SGT Frazier was either killed by the enemy as they advanced on the downed aircraft and his body removed from the field, or more likely, that he was taken prisoner and died from his wounds. (Information by Russ Scudder taken from vhpa.org) [Taken from vhpa.org]