SGT David Gonzales, Ventura, CA on www.VirtualWall.org The Virtual Wall® Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall

On 21 March 1970 HML-167 lost an aircraft, UH-1E BuNo 152427. HML-167's Command Chronology for March 1970 contains the following entries regarding the loss: "Our second loss occurred when the aircraft was shot down while attempting the emergency extraction of a reconnaissance team deep in enemy controlled territory. All 4 crew members aboard the aircraft perished."

"21 March 1970 - TV-27 crashed BuNo 152427
        CASTLE, R. E. 1/Lt, 0105474, Pilot, Alpha Injury
        PARSONS, L. D. 1/Lt, 0101271, Co-pilot, Alpha Injury
        GONZALES, D. Cpl, 2348336, Crew Chief, Alpha Injury
        UNDERWOOD, W. SSgt, 1892041, Aerial Gunner, Alpha Injury"

Investigation details were scarce, but it appeared the aircraft went down in flames and impacted in an apparently unsurvivable crash. However, 21 days later 1stLt L. D. Parsons was picked up by an Army Huey which was conducting the same kind of mission. 1stLt Parsons had been thrown from the flame-filled cockpit and evaded the NVA for three weeks. During his debrief, 1stLt Parsons said he was unaware of any other survivors, but the fact of his survival was enough to cause a ground team to be inserted with the sole mission of searching the area around the wreckage.

The ground team verified the aircraft had been completely burned out, but there were footprints around the crash site. Although some skeletal and dental remains were recovered from the hulk, only the pilot, 1stLt Castle, could be positively identified.

The three missing men who were declared to be dead from the crash of BuNo 152427 were:

Additional Information. On March 21, 1970, U.S. Marine Corps helicopter UH-1E (tail number 152427) from Marine Medium Light Helicopter Squadron 167 (HML 167) was on a Special Operations Group (SOG) mission in Laos when it was hit it by automatic weapons fire, crashed, and exploded. Three crewmen were killed in the crash but the co-pilot was blown clear of the aircraft and picked up 18 days later. The three lost crewmen included pilot 1LT Robert E. Castle and crewmen SSGT Thomas W. Underwood and SGT David Gonzales. Both Thomas' and Underwood's remains were not recovered.

There are two accounts for this incident: First account - This was the lead UH-1E gunship doing a visual reconnaissance of the LZ prior to a SOG team insert by Army slicks. The helicopter was hit by automatic weapons fire, crashed, and exploded. The co-pilot, 1LT Larry D. Parsons, was blown clear of the aircraft and was recovered by an Army slick 18 days later after a barely successful escape and evasion (E&E). The squadron had been restricted from search and rescue by chain of command. Although 1LT Castle's call sign was normally Comprise, it was Eagle Claw on this SOG mission. (From Randy Crew, July 1998)

Second account - I debriefed Larry Parsons on the incident where aircraft commander Bob Castle and Larry (a new Huey co-pilot) were covering insertions into Laos and were shot down. I knew Bob from Army Flight School where we all lived together in the "Zoo." The mission was very secret at the time because President Nixon was denying involvement across the border; but our guys were doing it (along with the Army and Air Force in a combined mission out of Quang Tri). Larry and the others were immediately declared KIA (unusual without bodies, except in this case). A bogus story was floated that they got lost and flew into Laos and were shot down. Larry did E&E for 19 days and during that time he was "buried" by his family back home. Then he was rescued by an Army Huey doing the same mission and was brought to Da Nang for medical treatment, debrief (by me) and then evacuation to the USA. He called his mom and announced he was actually alive. Then the heavy's demanded a debrief ASAP so he could go home. We spent a week recounting the incident. Then we signed a non-disclosure document and promised not to tell the story for 5 years. After it was realized that Larry survived, the concern was that someone else might be out there. A team was put into the crash site (I saw the photos and read the debrief). They found footprints and a lot of molten metal--as if someone had dragged pieces away. The conclusion was that the other three crewmen were killed in the crash (Bob did a good enough autorotation to allow Larry to survive, although Larry described a cockpit engulfed in flames). Some bone and dental work were recovered, and I don't know whom it was associated with. I was a Cobra pilot in VMO-2, then HML-367 before I became the Wing E&E officer and GEN William G. Thrash's morning intelligence briefing officer to finish my tour. (Submitted by Paul Pratt, Wing E&E Debrief Officer) [Taken from vhpa.org]

1stLt Larry D. Parsons was on his 2nd tour of Vietnam when the accident occurred. The family announced his death in local area papers and held a memorial service on 3 April, before it was realized he was still living. After his recovery, he continued on active duty, reaching the rank of Colonel in 1989 just before he reported for duty at U.S. Pacific Command, Camp H.M. Smith, Hawaii.

First below is his boot camp photo from the Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego, Platoon 1034. He earned the title "US Marine" on September 25, 1967.

David's remains have never been recovered but he has an in memory of marker with his mother Amparo Maria Lopez Gonzales (1927-2012) and father Louie Gonzales (1922-1969) in Ivy Lawn Memorial Park, Ventura, Ventura County, California. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial in Hawaii.