24 Dec 2002 To the love of my life, please know that my thoughts are always with you, especially this time of year. Love and miss you always, Lettie 121 Burton St, Georgetown, Delaware 19947 Lettiep1@aol.com

 

A note from The Virtual Wall On 05 March 1971, a CH-47C (tail number 67-18518, 180th Assault Support Helicopter Company) with five crewmen and three passengers aboard was approaching Lane Army Airfield. One other aircraft, a Korean Army O-1D spotter aircraft, was operating in the vicinity. As the CH-47 drew closer to the airfield it was struck in the left rear quarter by the O-1D, which was in a descending left turn. On impact the O-1D flipped upside down, fell straight to the ground, impacted inverted, exploded, and burned. The impact knocked the port engine free of the CH-47's fuselage and ruptured a fuel tank. The CH-47 caught fire and began to disintegrate in flight. By ground impact the aft pylon had separated entirely. The main body of the fuselage impacted nose-low, at which time the rear ramp portion of the fuselage separated while the forward fuselage section slid downhill, breaking into two pieces before it came to rest. The entire aircraft was destroyed by fire. Five aircrewmen and one passenger died in the crash; two non-American passengers survived. The six dead were CPT Barry Mercer Straw, pilot, 180th ASHC CPT Ralph Leland Ward, pilot, 180th ASHC SP5 Richard Samuel Dennison, crewman, 180th ASHC SP5 Gary Gale Prentice, crew chief, 180th ASHC SP4 Edward Lee Rayburn, gunner, 180th ASHC L C Ho, rank and unit unknown, RoK Army

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