Notes from The Virtual Wall
When this memorial was first published, the only thing certain was that four Marines died when the helicopter in which they were flying crashed:
- Col Michael Melvin Spark, CO 3rd Marines, HQ Co, 3rd Marines
- Lt Col Ermil Lee Whisman, CO 1/12, HQ Bty, 1/12 Marines
- Sgt Maj Ted Ernest McClintock, HQ Co, 3rd Marines
- LCpl Frederick Daniel Kansik, HQ Co, 3rd Marines
That much was certain - no questions. And there was more certainty, but also some unanswered questions. The loss of these four men is addressed in several places:
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Although the tempo of combat had receded for some and some support bases were closed, for others the action merely shifted. The 1st and 3rd Battalions of the 3rd Marines and the 1st Battalion, 12th Marines had moved southwest of Da Nang and came under the control of the 1st Marine Division's Task Force Yankee in Operation Taylor Common. On 15 January Colonel Michael M. Sparks, Commanding Officer, 3rd Marines, a man respected and admired by his chaplains, was killed when his command helicopter was shot down near An Hoa. Also killed with him were Lieutenant Colonel Emil [sic] L. Whisman, Commanding Officer, 1st Battalion, 12th Marines; Sergeant Major Ted E. McClintock, 3rd Marines Regimental Sergeant Major; and Lance Corporal Frederick D. Kansik, Colonel Sparks' field radio operator. Memorial services were held at both An Hoa and Dong Ha, the 3rd Marines rear base. The service at An Hoa was conducted there despite the booming of nearby artillery and the roar of combat aircraft overhead, because of the measure of respect in which the deceased were held.
Sweating and Praying (1969-1972)
A Chief of Naval Education & Training publication
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While on visual reconnaissance south of FSB Maxwell, an Army UH-1H helicopter received automatic weapons fire causing it to crash and burn. On board were Colonel Michael M. Spark; the regimental sergeant major, Ted E. McClintock; the commanding officer of the 1st Battalion, 12th Marines, Lieutenant Colonel Ermil L. Whisman; and Colonel Spark's radio operator, Lance Corporal Fredrick D. Kansik. All, including the helicopter's Army crew, were killed. Colonel Paul D. Lafond assumed command of the 3d Marines, while Lieutenant Colonel Roddey B. Moss took over the 1st Battalion, 12th Marines.
U. S. Marines in Vietnam, 1969: High Mobility and Standdown, Chapter 6
(Washington, DC: Headquarters, US Marine Corps, 1988)
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Although U.S. Marines in Vietnam, 1969 states that "an Army UH-1H helicopter" was involved in the loss, and that all aboard the aircraft were killed,
- The
Vietnam Helicopter Pilots' Association
database did not reflect the loss of an Army UH-1H and crew on 15 Jan 1969;
- The USMC/Vietnam Helicopter Association indicated that a UH-1E (BuNo 154762) from HML-367 was the aircraft in question;
- The
HML-367 site
didn't list any casualties on 15 Jan 1969;
- The VHPA database concured that UH-1E BuNo 154762 was lost on 15 Jan 69 with two aircrewmen wounded in action but gives no other details; and
- The casualty database shows only four Marines killed in action in a helicopter crash on 15 Jan 69 ... the four men named above.
Since then, the USMC/Vietnam Helicopter Association's Historian, Alan Barbour, has done some extensive research and determined that it was indeed an Army helicopter - UH-1D tail number 66-16205 from HHC, 212th Aviation Battalion. His evidence and conclusions are contained in the
USMC/Vietnam Helicopter Association report.
Eight men, not four, died in the crash:
- HHC, 212th Avn Bn, 1st Avn Bde
- CPT William A. Currence, Santa Clara, CA
- 1LT Nicholas J. Swidonovich, New York, NY
- SP4 Francis H. Corwin, Somerville, MA
- SP4 Ronald D. Slayton, Sikeston, MO
- HQ Co, 3rd Marines
- COL Michael M. Spark, New York, NY (Navy Cross)
- SMAJ Ted E. McClintock, Seattle, WA
- LCPL Frederick D. Kansik, Livonia, MI
- HQ Btry, 1st Bn, 12th Marines
- LTC Ermil L. Whisman, Lexington, KY
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