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....

On the remembrance of your 70th birthday, your sacrifice is not forgotten.

HOOAH

On the remembrance of your 69th Birthday, your sacrifice is not forgotten.

HOOAH

Dear WO Steven Burch,
Thank you for your service as a Single Engine Fixed Wing Pilot. It is important for us all to acknowledge the sacrifices of those like you who answered our nation's call. Please watch over America, it stills needs your courage and faithfulness. Rest in peace with the angels.

On February 25, 1971, a U.S. Army helicopter UH-1H “Dolphin” (tail number 68-15403) from the 174th Assault Helicopter Company was shot down while lifting off LZ Scotch in Quang Tri Province, RVN. The following narrative of the incident is from Fred Thompson: This was WO1 Patrick D. Erb's first aircraft commander mission. On February 25, 1971, they were resupplying troops on or near a pinnacle LZ (LZ Scotch), which is near the Rockpile. LZ Scotch was obscured by smoke from Laos, had marginal visibility, dead trees around the approach, and a departure route that limited maneuvering. A major firefight was being fought at the base of the pinnacle, and the Dolphin aircraft was advised to expedite departure. SP4 Richard Bricker was the crew chief riding on the left side, right behind Doug Erb, who was on the controls. The aircraft took fire on climb out, caught fire, exploded, and fell to the ground among the trees. Bricker recalls they had just lifted off the LZ (Scotch) when he saw a bright flash through the trees, and moments later felt the impact at the access doors (at the base of the tail boom). The explosion and impact knocked the aircraft sideways to the right, causing the helicopter to impact with the trees, which in turn caused the disintegration of the aircraft as it fell 10 feet to the ground. The aircraft was engulfed in flames before it hit the trees or the ground. The crew chief, SP4 Bricker, and the gunner, SP4 Mike Walsh, were blown out of the burning aircraft during the crash and survived. Walsh heard someone cry out and found pilot WO1 Steven R. Burch. He carried Burch to a log that they hid behind, until rescued by the Infantry. Simultaneously, Bricker, who was badly burned, cried out for Walsh to get him, but Walsh could not because of the intensity of the enemy fire. The Infantry came down the hill and assisted in the recovery of the crew to the mountain top, where they were flown out. During the crash, the pilots rode the aircraft in and were unable to get out the burning aircraft from the front. To get out, they both had to run through the intense fire in the cargo compartment and were severely burned. All crewmembers were able to walk away from the aircraft under their own power and were taken to the hospital at Quang Tri by a following 174th Dolphin aircraft. Both pilots had burned their lungs running through the fire and succumbed to pneumonia weeks later in Japan, something which was commonplace. The severity of the burns was the reason they remained in Japan and were not shipped back to the states for recovery. Erb was in the bed next to Walsh when he (Erb) died March 15, 1971. Burch had passed away 10 days earlier. Both Walsh and Bricker were sent to the Burn Center at Brooke Army Hospital, Fort Sam Houston, TX. Walsh was the least injured of the four, but was medically retired from active duty. Bricker, who also walked under his own power to an aircraft that lifted him out of the LZ, had over 300 skin grafts. (Narrative by Fred Thompson, September 1989) [Taken from vhpa.org and 174thahc.org]