THE WALL OF FACES

The war may be forgotten but the warrior will always be remembered. All gave Some-Some gave All. Rest in peace Allen.

It's hard to forget someone who gave you so much to remember!

DEAR SPECIALIST 5TH CLASS ALLUMS,
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE AS A CH-47 HELICOPTER REPAIRER (CHINOOK). A FRIEND DIED IN PHUOC LONG. SAY HI TO HIM
REST IN PEACE.

There are two accounts for this incident: First account - At approximately 1120 hours on May 6, 1969, U.S. Army helicopter CH-47A (tail number 66-19029) arrived at LZ Buttons which is about 6 kilometers southwest of Song Be city airstrip. At this time the aircraft was refueled and a maintenance check conducted. The aircraft departed the area and orbited south awaiting further instructions. At approximately 1250 hours the aircraft was landed at the pick-up zone, Song Be city airstrip. A thirty (30) minute delay was then encountered either waiting for the troops to arrive or load. The aircraft was not shut down. The aircraft commander thought it necessary to remind the flight engineer of the total number of passengers he desired aboard. The troops were loaded and the flight engineer assured the aircraft commander that there were 65 passengers. Due to the confusion of loading ARVN passengers and making sure that their weapons were clear, the flight engineer permitted seventy-eight (78) passengers to board the aircraft. Approximately 650 pounds of torque was required to accomplish a ten (10) foot hover. Neither crew member can recall what the other engine instruments indicated except that they were all in the green. The aircraft commander, who was at the controls, commented that he pulled about eighty (80) additional pounds of torque to get the aircraft moving at about 096 heading. The aircraft maintained the ten (10) feet aft gear height until reaching the actual Song Be city airstrip. At this time the aircraft experienced translational lift and appeared to be flying in a normal manner. As airspeed was gained to 30-40 knots, additional torque was applied increasing it to 760 pounds. About forty meters past the airstrip the number two torque needle fell off to 450 pounds with the number one engine torque increasing to approximately 800 pounds. This occurred with a simultaneous decrease in rotor RPM down to 210. An attempt was made at this time to decrease power slightly in order to regain RPM. However, the RPM continued to decay rapidly. Now, the aircraft commander was given the alternative to either attempt a continued take off or abort. Due to the rapidly approaching precipice of some 400 feet and rough ground track, the aircraft commander elected to continue his take off, hoping to clear the ridge line. This would have possibly given him the time and altitude necessary to correct his rapidly decaying rpm. By this time the rotor rpm was down to 200 and the aft gear was entangled in a strand of 1/4 inch copper wire. This was enough to drag the aircraft to the ground where it skidded 84 1/2 feet before going over the edge of the cliff. After the wire strike, the aircraft's nose pitched up and slightly to the left. The aircraft then descended down the cliff in a nose high attitude until the aft rotor blades contacted the ground. This in turn, forced the aircraft to the left in an approximate 318 heading and also threw all three blades off the aft rotor system. After the aircraft turned back into the incline, the forward blade struck the ground 64 feet and at a 266 heading from the forward transmission. The aircraft slid about eight feet from the initial point of contact by the fuselage. At this point the aircraft caught fire and burned. Second account - I was also flying with the Geronimo ship (A model) that went down at Song Be City. I had 65 ARVN 11Bs on my ship and the Geronimo ship had about 55. We were making a combat assault somewhere back toward the border. My pilots made a running take-off. The Geronimo ship came up to a hover and went to the North attempting to take off. When he went over the edge of the top of the hill, he lost ground hover and started to loose altitude. His aft rotor blades struck the side of the hill and the aircraft began to come apart. There was a call come up on UHF saying "Black Cat has gone down". I was monitoring that radio and told the pilot what had been said. He turned our ship downwind and all we could see was fire and smoke. When we passed over at about 1000 feet, the magnesium transmission housings were on fire, making sparks much like a steel pour at a steel mill. The ARVNs on our ship saw what was going on and began to talk to one another. We were told to continue to the LZ. When we came in, we were so loaded and rushed that we fell through on short final, landing between two large trees that had been cut off about 5 feet high by a Montagnard. The ship was scraped on both sides, but the fuel pods were not damaged. We had to force the ARVNs off. After we were again airborne and headed back to Song Be City they came up on FM and told us the mission had been aborted. We had to turn around and go back for the ARVNs we had just kicked off. The ARVNs were still mad but not mad enough to not get back on and out of the LZ. We picked up the door gunner on the Geronimo ship after off-loading our packs. He told us of seeing the rotor blades coming through the cabin, cutting off most of the ARVNs heads on one side and catching the other side about center-chest. The next thing the gunner said he remembered was finding himself sitting on the ground with the left window draped down around him. He said the cockpit had come off and rolled down the hill. He and crew chief cut them out. The flight engineer SP4 Allen W. Allums was alive but walked back into the fire. He must have been hit in the head. He was the only crew member that was lost. This may differ from what the records say, but is what the door gunner told me. (From George French, December 1998) Note: SP4 Allums was the only crew fatality. Passenger CAPT Irenardo F. Padron was also killed. Of the 45 passengers aboard, 39 (mostly ARVN) perished in the crash. [Taken from vhpa.org]

Dear SP5 Allen Wayne Allums, 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, Sir

Curt Carter