VIETNAMESE CH-34 HELICOPTER KINGBEE (REGISTRATION: 14-4653)
The men were passengers aboard a Vietnamese Air Force CH-34 helicopter (Kingbee) (serial #14-4653) as their team was being transported to their reconnaissance mission area in Laos. Details of their mission was classified at that time, and remained classified until early 1990. However, information received from some of the family members indicates that the mission was related to disarming an enemy munitions store. This same account includes the information that Maj. Toomey was a chemical warfare expert. Other information states that he was a communications officer. Toomey's family identified his job as one that he could not talk about, but that he was an "Advisor to the Special Forces." The helicopter was flying at 4,000 feet when it was struck by 37mm anti-aircraft fire, went into a spin, crashed in a mass of flames and exploded. The helicopter crashed about 10 miles northwest of Khe Sanh, just into Laos east of Tchepone. The crash site is in heavy jungle, near a stream. From the time the aircraft was hit until the time it impacted out of view, the helicopter was under observation and no one was seen to leave the aircraft during its descent. No ground search was initiated because the location was in a denied area. Later visual search indicated that the pilot's hatch was open, and his helmet was seen 25-30 feet from the helicopter, but no survivors or bodies were seen. All the personnel aboard the aircraft, however, were not declared dead, but were declared Missing in Action, which was procedure when no proof of death existed. When the war ended, and 591 Americans were released from prison camps in Southeast Asia, not one man who had been held in Laos was released. In March 1988, the area in which the helicopter crashed was excavated by a joint Lao/US technical team. Human remains consisting of 17 teeth and 145 bone fragments, none measuring over two inches, were recovered. The remains were returned to the U.S. Army Central Identification (CIL) in Hawaii. On January 3, 1990, it was announced that the remains of Richard Fitts had been positively identified from the material recovered at the crash site. That identification was determined by the government's conclusion that two of the 17 teeth belonged to Fitts. Fitts' parents, after having an independent analysis conducted on the teeth, felt assured that the teeth belonged to their son, and subsequently buried them in Boston, Massachusetts. The remaining 15 teeth and 145 bone fragments were said to be unidentifiable. Barely a month later, on February 8, 1990, the Department of Defense announced that the remainder of the crew had been positively identified and would be buried, along with the Vietnamese crew, in a mass grave in Arlington National Cemetery. Fitts' name was included on that tombstone along with the other Americans because the Pentagon believed some of the bone fragments belonged to Fitts.
SURNAME
Toomey
FORENAME
Samuel Kamu III
UNIT
5 SF Group (MACV- SOG - CCN) (FOB 1) (Ops and training officer G3,S3)
RANK
Major
NUMBER
500401517
DATE OF DEATH
30th November 1968
AGE
32
GRAVESITE
Arlington National Cemetery,Virginia Section 34 Site 4524
ADDITIONAL...
SURNAME
Fitts
FORENAME
Richard Allan (Dick)
UNIT
5 SF Group (MACV- SOG - CCN) (FOB 1)
RANK
Specialist Fifth Class
NUMBER
019346459
DATE OF DEATH
30th November 1968
AGE
22
GRAVESITE
Arlington National Cemetery,Virginia Section 34 Site 4524
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
from...
SURNAME
Stacks
FORENAME
Raymond Clark
UNIT
5 SF Group (MACV- SOG - CCN) (FOB 1)
RANK
First Lieutenant
NUMBER
414787729
DATE OF DEATH
30th November 1968
AGE
20
GRAVESITE
Arlington National Cemetery,Virginia Section 34 Site 4524
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
from Memphis,Tennessee...
SURNAME
Mein
FORENAME
Michael Howard
UNIT
5 SF Group (MACV- SOG - CCN) (FOB 1)
RANK
Specialist Fourth Class
NUMBER
084367467
DATE OF DEATH
30th November 1968
AGE
23
GRAVESITE
Arlington National Cemetery,Virginia Section 34 Site 4524
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
from Cape...
SURNAME
Scholz
FORENAME
Klaus Dieter
UNIT
5 SF Group (MACV- SOG - CCN) (FOB 1)
RANK
Staff Sergeant
NUMBER
464680981
DATE OF DEATH
30th November 1968
AGE
24
GRAVESITE
Arlington National Cemetery,Virginia Section 34 Site 4524
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
from Amarillo,Texas
born...
SURNAME
LaBohn
FORENAME
Gary Russell
UNIT
5 SF Group (MACV- SOG - CCN) (FOB 1)
RANK
Specialist Fourth Class
NUMBER
365447438
DATE OF DEATH
30th November 1968
AGE
25
GRAVESITE
National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific,Honolulu,Hawaii Courts of the Missing (Court B)...
SURNAME
Bader
FORENAME
Arthur Edward,Jr (Sonny)
UNIT
5 SF Group (MACV- SOG - CCN) (FOB 1)
RANK
Sergeant
NUMBER
149269026
DATE OF DEATH
30th November 1968
AGE
34
GRAVESITE
Arlington National Cemetery,Virginia Section 34 Site 4524
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
from Atlantic...
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