Homecoming For Three Missing Troopers

Photo made by Alex Hernandez, November 9, 2011, Arlington National Cemetery. Return of Cpt Arnold E. Holm, PFC Wayne Bibbs and SP4 Robin R Yeakley.

Vietnam Veterans‏ - Memorial Day 2012

Here are some comments recently penned by Blue Ghost Robert Wiggins. (Note: These comments were received via email last year and due to business matters I simply did not get them posted. I do so now, Memorial Day 2012. 

Here, Bob Wiggins has been able to effectively articulate what many of us have experienced over the years.)

I'm sure some will take solace in the words penned by this Marine but I think the scar runs far deeper than most know. The hate and disdain that too many young Americans of that period expressed toward the US military forces who served in Vietnam was/is appalling. I for one will never be able to look one of them in the eye and forgive them, not for one second.

Vietnam veterans refer to it as "Our War", it was because it was/is the only time in the history of this nation that the American people collectively turned their backs on returning veterans. Once they returned from Vietnam, soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen were just dumped out into the street with a hearty dose of 'piss off'. Over there the bond between us was unbreakable. We saw, heard and listened via Armed Forces radio to what was going in America. Those still "in country" heard the news of what to expect we they got home. Many were crushed and unable to cope, PTSD had not been accepted as a casualty of battle. 

The veterans continued to bond together. Self-help groups, unit organizations, associations and societies were formed that provided relief in the way of "reunions" set-up by, organized by and managed by Vietnam veterans (after all, it was the only place they could go and laugh and talk openly about everything). Why are/were the veterans forced to do this, because 30-35 years after the end of the war Vietnam veterans were still fending for themselves… most still ostracized and "misunderstood" by most Americans . 

Finally VA Vet Centers (developed in the early 1990s) were established to help returning "combat veterans" readjust to civilian life. The verdict is still out of them because too many Vietnam veterans still not know they exist.

But that's okay, "it don't mean shit" ~

Twig

Robert Wiggins

""Blueghost 26"

F Troop 8th Cavalry

Vietnam Mar '69 - Mar '70

I got this letter below from my dear friend Danny Fisher and felt an obligation to write something… anything. If anyone you forward to is upset by what I wrote in the above comment, "tell them I said to piss-off'

 Subject: Vietnam Veterans

 I don�t think in all my years I have ever heard it put so eloquently,  this says it all.    

A Thank You to all Vietnam Vets from a Marine in Iraq 

A guy gets time to think over here and I was thinking about all the support we get from home. Sometimes it's overwhelming. We get care packages at times faster than we can use them. There are boxes and boxes of toiletries and snacks lining the center of every tent; the generosity has been amazing. So, I was pondering the question: "Why do we have so much support?"

In my opinion, it all came down to one thing: Vietnam Veterans. I think we learned a lesson, as a nation, that no matter what, you have to support the troops who are on the line, who are risking everything. We treated them so poorly back then. When they returned was even worse. The stories are nightmarish of what our returning warriors were subjected to. It is a national scar, a blemish on our country, an embarrassment to all of us.

After Vietnam , it had time to sink in. The guilt in our collective consciousness grew. It shamed us. However, we learned from our mistake. Somewhere during the late 1970's and on into the 80's, we realized that we can't treat our warriors that way. So ... Starting during the Gulf War, when the first real opportunity arose to stand up and support the troops, we did. We did it to support our friends and family going off to war. But we also did it to right the wrongs from the Vietnam era. We treat our troops of today like the heroes they were, and are, acknowledge and celebrate their sacrifice, and rejoice at their homecoming ... Instead of spitting on them.

And that support continues today for those of us in Iraq . Our country knows that it must support us and it does. The lesson was learned in Vietnam and we are all better because of it.

Everyone who has gone before is a hero. They are celebrated in my heart. I think admirably of all those who have gone before me. From those who fought to establish this country in the late 1770's to those I serve with here in Iraq . They have all sacrificed to ensure our freedom. But when I get back home, I'm going to make it a personal mission to specifically thank every Vietnam Vet I encounter for THEIR sacrifice. Because if nothing else good came from that terrible war, one thing did. It was the lesson learned on how we treat our warriors. We as a country learned from our mistake and now we treat our warriors as heroes, as we should have all along. I am the beneficiary of their sacrifice. Not only for the freedom they, like veterans from other wars, ensured, but for how well our country now treats my fellow Marines and I. We are the beneficiaries of their sacrifice.

Semper Fidelis, 

Major Brian P. Bresnahan 

United States Marine Corps

Cpt Holm, Spc Yeakley, PFC Bibbs

Bill I checked Arlington's web site last week. Posted was the date for memorial service at the Chapel for Cpt Holm, Spc Yeakley, PFC Bibbs is to be held Nov 9.   I can now finalize plans to be there.

Thanks. Alex Hernandez

Here is link to Arlington. Schedule is for 11: 00 at the Post Chapel

http://www.arlingtoncemetery.mil/FuneralInformation/FuneralScheduleSearch.aspx

F Troop Lives On

F Troop lives on 

 

Douglas Womack to you - Sat Jun 25, 2011

089-10_20100330_HRCMD-14thAvnBn.pdf   

Sir:

F/8th Cav is alive and well. The troop was redesignated as 6-8 Cav. 6th Squadron is currently deployed. Their home base is Fort Stewart. They will be having a ceremony for the presentation of a Valorous Unit Award that was approved 39 years after the fact.

I found the unsigned recommendation, got it signed and submitted, and followed it thru the process. 1-14 Avn, the successor to 14th Avn Bn, had their ceremony on 20 May. F/8th was attached to 14th CAB during Operation Lam Son 719. Although they didn't fly in Laos, their support to Dewey Canyon II, the Vietnam side of the op warranted the award. 

 Doug Womack

Attachment: 089-10_20100330_HRCMD-14thAvnBn (6).pdf

Arnold E. Holm

Article published May 27, 2011
Remains found of Waterford native Holm; died in helicopter crash in Vietnam in 1972
Stephen Chupaska
It took nearly 39 years and countless hours of painstaking work, but it seems fitting that the news about the remains of Army Capt. Arnold E. Holm comes now, as Americans remember their war dead on  Memorial Day weekend.
The Defense Prisoner of War Missing Personnel Office said Friday that they have made a “group identification” of the remains of Holm, a Waterford native whose helicopter was shot down in Vietnam in 1972, and two of his crewmates.
According to spokesman Larry Greer, bone fragments from Holm and two others involved in the crash could not be individually certified. But Greer said there is enough biological material and bits of debris found at the crash site to deduce that the fragments belong to Holm and the others crew members, Pfc. Wayne Bibbs of Illinois and Spc. Robin Yeakley of Indiana.
“It’s as good as you can get,” Greer said.
Holm’s widow, Margarete Holm, who is retired and living Lebanon, Pa., had hoped more remains would be found.
“But one has to be realistic,” she said Friday in a telephone interview.
Greer said the “group identification” process is common during violent plane crashes and similar disasters.
The families of all three servicemen needed to approve of the group identification before the Defense POW Mission Personal Office released the information to the public.
On June 11, 1972, Holm’s Cayuse Scout helicopter came under fire while flying over Thua Thien-Hue province in northcentral Vietnam. The aircraft crashed to the ground, and the ordnance it carried exploded.
Greer said the helicopter was carrying phosphorus grenades, which give off intense heat when detonated.
“That’s one of the reasons it was difficult to find remains,” Greer said.
According to reports, a second helicopter sent to rescue Holm and his crewmates was also shot down.
Michael Austin, a retired helicopter pilot who was stationed at the same base in Vietnam as Holm, said in 2002 that “June 11 and June 12 were just a devastating couple of days for that platoon.”
Greer said the Defense Department launched six investigations since 1997 to locate the remains of the three servicemen and a number of factors plagued the search, which in addition to forensic evidence, included interviews with American military personnel and local villagers. 
Greer said that there were 20 reported crashes of the same type of helicopter Holm flew in a 15-kilometer radius of the suspected crash site.
“There were investigations into all 20 crashes,” Greer said, adding that some the information became muddled.
Greer said that wreckage from the crashes was heavily scavenged by people living near the site, further complicating the search.
The Vietnamese Office For Seeking Missing Persons, which acted as guides to the crash site and conducted searches on their own, assisted American teams.
The Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) excavated the crash site during the summer of 2008 and recovered a small amount of remains. JPAC later said DNA tests were inconclusive.
In 2008, search teams found two dog tag fragments belonging to Yeakley.
“That nailed the fact,” Greer said.
Born in 1944 in New London, Holm grew up on Tiffany Avenue in Waterford and excelled at basketball, football and baseball at Waterford High School.
He enlisted in the Army in 1962, where he earned a commission. Holm was 28 when he died.
Austin said in 2002 that Holm “was the most exceptional scout (he) ever worked with.” 
“He was aggressive, but he was never careless,” Austin said. “He didn’t shy away from anything. He led by example.”
Margarete Holm said a burial service has been tentatively scheduled for October at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia, but that she would also be holding a service at the Church of the Redeemer, in New London, the same church where she and Holm were married in 1966.
According to military protocol, the remains from the crash will be buried together and the names of Holm, Bibbs and Yeakley will be carved onto a single marker and join the rows of white gravestones in the nation’s most hallowed ground.
s.chupaska@theday.com

James D Marett

The entry shown below was entered in the Vietnam Helicopter Pilot Association data base. Doug Marett was the commanding officer of Troop C, 7/17th Cavalry from January 1967 at Fort Knox Ky, to April 1968 at Chu Lai, RVN. He was the first Blue Ghost 6 and commanded the troop during combat operations in the Tet Offensive for which Troop C was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation.  A search for an obituary has been unsuccessful and a reply from his family is not yet received.  Notice of his passing is posted herewith.

MARETT JAMES D

LTC James "Doug" D. Marett was a VHPA member who died after his tour in Vietnam on 07/23/2008 at the age of 79 from Doug died of a heart attack following lung cancer. 
Anderson, SC 
Flight Class 57/59 
Date of Birth 04/25/1929 
Served in the U.S. Army 
Served in Vietnam with C/7/17 CAV in 67-68, HHT/7/17 CAV in 68, HHT/7/1 CAV in 69, 1 AVN BDE in 70 
This information was provided by Returned Invoice

More detail on this person: Doug died of a heart attack following lung cancer.

This information was last updated 10/06/2008

Please send additions or corrections to: The VHPA Webmaster Gary Roush.

Return to the Helicopter Pilot DAT name list

Return to VHPA web site

Date posted on this site: 03/09/2011

Warren Newton

The veterans and citizens of Canby, OR will be dedicating a Vietnam Veterans Memorial honoring one of your Blue Ghosts, Warren Newton, on August 6, 2011. The sculpture is not yet in place, but the Huey and other memorial pieces are. I visited it today and it is beautiful. Hopefully some of you can be there for the dedication.

Susan Johnson

Bellingham, WA.

smjmatty@comcast.com

Joe Johnson - Scout Crew Chief

From Victor Cook

To: Bill Hatch   February 22, 2011

Good afternoon Bill,

 

I received this message from James Beauford.  I wanted to pass this sad bit of information to you.

 

Victor

-----Original Message-----
From: jbeauford
Sent: Tuesday, February 22, 2011 10:09 AM
To: vcook
Subject: Joe Johnson

 

Hey Victor,

           Just thought I would let you know that Joe Johnson was killed in a helicopter crash several years after we left Viet Nam. The person I talked with lived in Alabama and  said she went to high school with Joe. She said he went to Germany after he got back, but didn't know if he got killed in Germany or went back to Viet Nam and was killed there. Just thought I would let you know.

 

                                                                  Take care, James

Bill,

I found a military crash aircraft website and copied this information.  I have been trying to find an obit for Joe and have having some problems.  I know he was from Elba, Alabama.  However, he was married to Mary and lived in Brantley, Al. 

Victor  

 http://www.armyaircrews.com/images/news/030575_uh1.gif

CW2 Larry N. Sain [P] Mar 5,1975

CW2 Larry N. Sain [P] SP6 Joseph H. Johnson SP5 Everett W. Wancura SP4 Bengt E. Johanson SP4 Daniel V. McGrew P injured 55 AVN A/C struck a power line and crashed into a small tributary of the North Han River near Chuncheon at 1030 hours Huey accident in Korea

 

 

 

                                            (This Photo was posted in 2005)

Blue Ghost Photos

 

Specialist 5th Class Joseph E. Johnson, Elba, Alabama served as a Scout Platoon crew chief and door gunner in 1967-68. Was twice awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and received two awards of the Purple Heart.

Does anyone know the whereabouts of this man?