Company A

227th Assault Helicopter Battalion

1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile)



Gunship Down

By
Jim Puhala & Bob Kelly

With Contributions By
John LaDue, Pat Edwards and pilots and crew of A/227 AHB


Part 1. The Gun Platoon

A platoon of gunships from D/227 AHB was assigned to support Operation Byrd based in Phan Thiet. The platoon had a TO&E of 4 UH1B/C helicopters and 8 pilots. It rarely had more than 2 flyable aircraft, and never had 8 pilots.

In November, 1967, The platoon consisted of all C model hueys, 2 with mini-guns, one flex kit ("hog") and one 40MM grenade launcher system ("frog"). There were 5 pilots, three of whom had a DEROS within 60 days. The platoon desperately needed pilots, and the call went to A/227 for volunteers. WO's Bob Kelly and Ernie Kramer responded. By November 8, they had flown a couple of training missions and test fired the weapons systems, but had not yet flown a gunship mission.

Part 2. Fort Myra (Mara)

Fort Myra was one of a series of ARVN forts being constructed along Highway1 for security. The surrounding area could best be described as a coastal plain; it was lightly wooded with patches of elephant grass. The fort was fairly primitive with lots of barbed wire, trenches and bunkers, the largest being the Tactical Operations Center. Kelly had flown a contingent of task force officers to the fort in early October. He wasn't sure of the purpose of the visit, but was on the ground for a couple of hours while his passengers met with the ARVN's who were there.

At the nightly briefing on November 7 the task force XO reported ARVN forces at Myra had engaged an estimated battalion sized VC force and had suffered 28 KIA and 35 WIA, including 15 deemed "serious." They counted 21 VC KIA, including one captain, and had captured a number of weapons.

Part 3. The Battle

On the morning of November 8, just after midnight, a fire team of 2 gunships were scrambled to go to Fort Myra, which was under heavy attack. Jim Puhala and Ervin Hoyt (probably) flew lead, Jack Bond and R.C. Ireland (probably) flew wing. When they arrived at the fort, the C&C was overhead. Tracers were coming into and going out of the fort in all directions. The gunships laid down suppressive fire around the perimeter until their ordinance was expended; they returned to Phan Thiet to re-fuel and re-arm, then went back to Fort Myra and did it again. All night. As dawn approached, the VC broke off the attack.

Part 4. The Morning Mission

With the ARVN licking their wounds, the task force commander set out to try to find the retreating enemy. At first light, the scouts from 1/9th were called out, and the gunships were asked to continue their support. To the extent possible, fresh pilots, including the new pilots from A Company, relieved the gunship crews that had flown all night. Bob Kelly replaced Hoyt and John LaDue and Ernie Kramer replaced Bond and Ireland. Improvising tactics, and with the C&C in command, the gunships and the scouts coordinated searches in different quadrants. The guns flew low and slow, looking for signs of the VC retreat. To keep a constant presence in the search area, Puhala and LaDue decided they would stagger re-fuel/re-arm trips for the two gunships.

Part 5. The Enemy is Spotted

At about 10:00 AM, With LaDue and Kramer on their way back to Phan Thiet, Puhala and Kelly spotted some fresh tracks and set out to follow them. Shortly thereafter, the left door gunner, SP4 "Pee Pie" Pierce called out that there were bodies on the ground. Kelly turned and spotted them as well. Puhala reported the sighting to C&C, and was told that this group had been engaged and killed by the 1/9th scouts.

Continuing on this track, Pierce and Kelly spotted what appeared to another group of 15 - 18 bodies on the ground. When one of the bodies moved, Pierce opened fire. This group had only been playing dead. The VC began to return fire with automatic weapons. Puhala circled the aircraft to the left so Pierce could continue firing and tried to set up a gun run for the flex guns and rockets. The turn could have (and should have) been wider. Kelly began firing his flex guns, joining with Pierce's door gun, and saw a number of the enemy fall, But soon the flex guns hit the stop. Puhala got off a pair of rockets, but was then too close to get off another pair.

The helicopter was under heavy return fire. Bullets were tearing through the cockpit and the cargo compartment, ricocheting fragments of metal and Plexiglas.

Part 6. Going Down

The first indication of a problem was when Puhala tried to correct from a climbing right turn. He couldn't budge the cyclic. The change in attitude was accelerating, and even having Kelly join him on the controls wasn't helping. Puhala got off a radio call "Mayday, Mayday, this is Cobra 16. We're hit and we're going down."

The C model Huey looks just like the B model, except it has a beefed-up engine, transmission and blade system. While the B model has hydraulic assisted controls, it is possible to fly the aircraft without them. It is not so possible to fly the C model. As a safety feature, the C model has 2 hydraulic systems. Apparently both hydraulic lines had been shot out.

The helicopter began crashing through the trees as it approached an inverted attitude. With the trees breaking its fall, it crashed to the ground on its roof. The fuel bladders ruptured and ammo boxes, smoke grenades, C ration cans and other helicopter paraphernalia were thrown about in and around the ship. The engine was running. Puhala and Kelly were hanging upside down in their shoulder harnesses. Pierce and Crew Chief, Davy Armstrong, were sprawled on the roof of the cargo area.

Puhala undid his harness, flipped over and scrambled out between the seats and out the cargo door with Armstrong right behind. The rotating beacon was still flashing underneath the ship. White smoke was beginning to swirl from somewhere. Kelly shook off the cobwebs and started to climb out, looking for a weapon on the way. He spotted an M-16 and grabbed it. He noticed Pierce lying against the bulkhead. He pulled him to the door as Armstrong came back to lend a hand.

Part 7. The Lay of the Land

It was important to get away from the downed helicopter. It had nearly a full load of fuel and ammunition, and it was beginning to burn.; The VC were nearby. But getting too far away might complicate being found by rescuers. A nearby creek bed offered some cover and a reasonably good field of vision.

The crew was hobbled, but, under the circumstances, in relatively good shape. Kelly had a wound in his upper arm and a bloody face; Pierce had trouble walking (it turned out to be a broken vertebra) and all had bumps and bruises.

The M-16 Kelly had picked up had a bent barrel. Armstrong had an M-60, bur no ammunition. Puhala had the only working weapon, a .38 revolver with 5 rounds of ammunition.

Shortly after the crash, the C&C ship flew over the downed helicopter and maintained a presence in the area.

The ship was burning, cooking off machine gun ammo and smoke grenades. When the fire ignited the rockets, the ship exploded. The concussion knocked over Puhala who had stood up to look down a tree line. LaDue and Kramer returned to station just in time to fly over the ship as it blew up leaving some to wonder whether another ship might be lost.

Part 7 The Rescue

While the downed crew was waiting for their rescue, the task force command wanted to put some boots on the ground to pursue the enemy. It was an hour, maybe more, before a flight of 4 helicopters loaded with infantry, landed in a nearby LZ. The C&C, piloted by Jerry Bonham and Pat Edwards landed with them. The downed crew was escorted from the creek bed to the C&C along a path lined with the infantry.

Once airborne on the C&C, Puhala was asked to try to locate where they had seen the enemy but there were no bodies and they could find no sign of the engagement.

NOTE: The aircraft downed was UH-1C tail number 65-09515

Last updated November 12, 2013
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