Sunday, July 30, 2006
F/8 Crew
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Article published Jul 24, 2006
Crash site of lost Waterford Vietnam veteran found
NORWICH - U.S. Military officials have apparently discovered the crash site
of Army Capt. Arnie Holm of Waterford, missing in action in the Vietnam War
since June 11, 1972. U.S. Rep. Rob Simmons, R-2nd District, said today he
was notified by Holms widow that she had received a call telling her of the
discovery.
Pieces of the helicopter Holm was piloting were reportedly found on a ridge
near sites where previous searches have been conducted. An excavation of the
site for remains will likely not be started until next year because of the
oncoming rainy season, Simmons said.
According to military investigation reports on the crash, on June 11, 1972,
Holm, PFC Wayne Bibbs, gunner, and SP4 Robin Yeakley, passenger, were aboard
an OH6A observation helicopter flying from Camp Eagle to the Northern
Provinces of South Vietnam on a visual reconnaissance mission. The function
of their "Loach" chopper was searching out signs of the enemy around two
landing zones. The OH6 joined with the Cobra gunship as "Pink
Teams" on a reconaissance mission to find enemy troops. On this day, Holm's
aircraft was monitoring a group of North Vietnamese regulars.
During the mission, Holm reported that he saw enemy living quarters,
bunkers and numerous trails. On his second pass over a ridge, at about 25
feet altitude, the aircraft exploded and burned. It was reported that before
the aircraft crashed that smoke and white phosphorous grenades began exploding.
After the aircraft impacted with the ground, it exploded again. Other
aircraft in the area received heavy anti-aircraft fire. No one was seen to
exit the downed helicopter, nor were emergency radio beepers detected.
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Re: F/8 Crew From: JKenn Sent: Sun 7/20/08 10:35 AM To: cdvtex@hotmail.com Thank you for the article on Dusty Holm.
ReplyDeleteIt has been a long vigil for family and friends alike. Hopefully, it will end soon!
Regards,
Jack Kennedy
Blueghost 6
I knew these men, although not well. Cpt. Holm was a great pilot and treated everyone fairly and as equals. Many of us back at Marble Moutain were ready to go get him and his crew, but we were stopped. Since his wasn't the only bird that went down that day, the powers that be nixed any SAR. I will be joyous when thier remains are recovered and a chapter in their families lives will be closed. God will be with them every step of the way.
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ReplyDeleteIn a message dated 7/22/08 3:40:32 PM, alexjher@swbell.net writes:
I knew these men, although not well. Cpt. Holm was a great pilot and treated everyone fairly and as equals. Many of us back at Marble Moutain were ready to go get him and his crew, but we were stopped. Since his wasn't the only bird that went down that day, the powers that be nixed any SAR.
I am sure that all of you back at Marble Mountain were ready to risk your lives to rescue Captain Holm. You should know that Lt. James McQuade and his gunner were both killed in a valient attempt to do just that. For his efforts, Lt. Mc Quade was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. It was my decision, based on the situation on the ground, that no further F/8 crews would be put at risk that day in any more rescue attempts.
Colonel Jack Kennedy
Blueghost 6
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Thanks Jack for the response. For years I was angry beacause we could not go and get them. It was not until i completed OCS and became an officer that I began to understand the difficulty in this type of decision. At the time this was going on I was an E-5 working in the armament shop running a night crew. But before that you had put me in charge of the shop because I was an E-5 and the rest were E-4 and below. That was in Nov. '71 until a SSG from 101 Abn came to the troop. That was when I started the night crew as a reward for improving the weapons reliability on the Cobras. The attached phot was after I repaired the weapons system on this Cobra. The pilot and I just completed a test flight to check out everything with success. I loved the flying and would jump in any time.
ReplyDeleteAttachment: Alex-F-Troop-April-1972.jpg
I might add to that and comment on the difficulties facing air cavalry troop commanders in 1971-72 and why Jack Kennedy had to make the decision that he made. By that time in the Vietnam war there were very few American ground forces left in Vietnam. The air cavalry troops, assigned to aviation groups, were the primary American combat assets left and had the mission of finding and tracking the NVA. In my experience as commander of F/4th Air Cavalry in 71-72, those aviation group commanders and senior ARVN division advisors were very demanding and expected the air cavalry troops to be fully prepared and to move fast on a moments notice. We essentially were on our own and when encountering difficulty such as one of our birds getting shot down, we were simply required to deal with it the best that we could. In 1971, a directive was issued in the 12th Aviation Group prohibiting the deployment of the air cavalry infantry platoons because it was considered too dangerous. This constraint caused a great deal of difficulty when a scout was shot down and the ARVN infantry regiment that was nearby would not move in and secure the area. As a result the pilot bled to death before he was finally extracted. That directive was subsequently rescinded and the decisions on deployment of the infantry was relegated back to the troop commanders. Air cavalry operations were as different as night and day from the experiences I had in Blue Ghosts in 1967-68 where we were backed up by armored cavalry and airmobile infantry. The war had changed significantly by 1971. The mission assigned to Holm was a mission that air cavalry scouts normally perform. He was unfortunate in that he found the NVA and before he could disengage, he was shot down. Although I was not there and can only speculate, I tend to think that if Jack Kennedy had to do it over he probably would have stopped McQuade from flying into that buzz saw to look for Holm, however, it is very hard to hold back an aviator who is going out to look for his downed comrade. The rescue effort was heroic indeed and the fact that so many in that troop wanted to continue on with rescue efforts speaks volumes. Two crews had already been lost and to take further risks with more crews was simply out of the question. Kennedy had no further options but to halt any further rescue attempts. It was the right decision.
ReplyDeleteWell said.......
ReplyDeleteBlueghost 6
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