THE WALL OF FACES

CAPTAIN
CURTIS RICHARD BOHLSCHEID
PILOT
AGE 30

MAJOR
JOHN SANDERS OLDHAM
CO-PILOT
AGE 33

LANCE CORPORAL
JOSE JESUS GONZALEZ
CREWMEMBER
AGE 22

PRIVATE FIRST CLASS
THOMAS MICHAEL HANRATTY
CREWMEMBER
AGE 20


who were attached to


HMM 265

MARINE AIR GROUP 16


PRIVATE FIRST CLASS
CHARLES DENNIS CHOMEL
AGE 19

LANCE CORPORAL
DENNIS RAY CHRISTIE
AGE 20

LANCE CORPORAL
JOHN JOSEPH FOLEY III
AGE 20

LANCE CORPORAL
MICHAEL WILLIAM HAVRANEK
AGE 19

LANCE CORPORAL
JAMES WILLARD KOOI
AGE 18

CORPORAL
JIM EDWIN MOSHIER
AGE 23

PRIVATE FIRST CLASS
JAMES EDWARD WIDENER
AGE 18


all of whom served with


3RD RECONNAISSANCE COMPANY

3RD RECONNAISSANCE BATTALION

3RD MARINE DIVISION



^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^



ON 6 JUNE 1967

CAPTAIN BOHLSCHEID WAS THE PILOT OF A

CH46A HELICOPTER INSERTING A SEVEN-MAN USMC

FORCE RECONNAISSANCE TEAM INTO A PREDESIGNATED

AREA 11.5 NAUTICAL MILES NORTHWEST OF DONG HA,

SOUTH VIETNAM, RIGHT ON THE DEMILITARIZED ZONE.

A TOTAL OF FOUR AIRCRAFT WERE INVOLVED IN THIS

MISSION, TWO CH46 AND TWO UH1E GUNSHIPS.

THE FLIGHT DEPARTED DONG HA AT ABOUT 1115 HRS

AND PROCEEDED TO THE INSERTION LOCATION.

THE TWO GUNSHIPS MADE LOW STRAFING RUNS OVER

THE LANDING ZONE TO CLEAR BOOBY TRAPS AND TO

LOCATE ANY ENEMY TROOPS IN THE AREA, HOWEVER,

NO ENEMY FIRE WAS RECEIVED AND NO ENEMY ACTIVITY

WAS NOTED OR OBSERVED.

THE LEAD HELICOPTER THEN BEGAN ITS APPROACH

TO THE LANDING ZONE BUT AT AN ESTIMATED ALTITUDE

OF BETWEEN 400 TO 600 FEET THE AIRCRAFT WAS

OBSERVED TO CLIMB ERRATICALLY, IN A SIMILAR

WAY TO AN AIRCRAFT COMMENCING A LOOP.

MACHINE GUN MEN HAD BEEN WAITING FOR THE

OPPORTUNE TIME TO FIRE ON THE HELICOPTERS.

PORTIONS OF THE TAIL ROTOR WERE SEEN TO SEPARATE

FROM THE HELICOPTER AND RADIO TRANSMISSIONS

RECEIVED THAT INDICATED THEY HAD BEEN HIT AND

WERE GOING TO TRY TO SET DOWN AWAY FROM THE

ACTION BUT AT THIS POINT THE HELICOPTER BECAME

INVERTED AND CONTINUED OUT OF CONTROL UNTIL

IT WAS SEEN TO CRASH BY A STREAM IN A STEEP RAVINE.

SUBSEQUENT EFFORTS BY GROUND UNITS TO REACH

THE CRASH SITE FAILED DUE TO A HEAVY BUNKER

COMPLEX SURROUNDING THE SITE. NEARBY GROUND UNITS

INSPECTED THE SITE FROM WITHIN 500 METERS

THROUGH BINOCULARS AND OBSERVED NO SURVIVORS.

FOR THE ELEVEN CREWMEN ONBOARD THE CH46A THIS

DAY THEIR DEATHS SEEMED A CERTAINTY AND THEY

WERE THEREFORE CLASSIFIED AS BEING

KILLED IN ACTION / BODIES NOT RECOVERED





~~~ SEMPER FIDELIS ~~~





YOU ARE NOT FORGOTTEN

NOR SHALL YOU EVER BE





Sunday 14 February 1999

Marine

Although we never met personally, I want to thank you Charles Dennis Chomel, for your courageous and valiant service given to this great country of ours!

Your Spirit is alive--and strong, therefore Marine, you shall never be forgotten!

Again, thank you PFC Chomel, for a job well done!

MAYBE ONE DAY SOON.....UNTIL THEN.....HEAVENLY PEACE MY MARINE FRIEND

I have not forgotten you. I chair the Adoption Committee for The National League of Families of Prisoners of War and Missing in Action in Southeast Asia. We will always remember the 1,889 Americans still unaccounted for in Southeast Asia and the thousands of others that lost their lives. We will not stop our efforts until all of you are home where you belong.

We need to reach the next generation so that they will carry on when our generation is no longer able. To do so, we are attempting to locate photographs of all the missing. If you are reading this remembrance and have a photo and/or memory of this missing American that you would like to share for our project, please contact me at:

Candace Lokey
PO Box 206
Freeport, PA 16229
[email protected]

If you are not familiar with our organization, please visit our web site at :

www.pow-miafamilies.org

Good marine. Good friend.