Accident at Lai Khe 1/16/1969

Company A

227th Assault Helicopter Battalion

1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile)

Memories of Our Friends Killed in Action Aboard UH-1H #66-16302

by Ed Mahr, Crew Chief

It was late in the day and I was talking with another Crew Chief. I was now under 100 days left in country, and I needed to have a short timer's calendar made. He told me to see John Deaton because he could make me a short timer's calendar.
As I walked into Deaton's tent he was sitting in a chair on the left and at a small desk he had made, I did not pay attention to what he was doing. I walked over and stood to his right. I said, "Hey Deaton, I have 100 days left, how about drawing me a short timers calendar?"
Deaton and I talked a little bit as he took out a paper and pencils and started to draw the figure of a woman. The picture was divided into 100 individual sections each with a number starting at 100. The breasts were numbered 3 and 2 and area where her legs joined together in the front was an area labeled home which was the final and the last area to be filled in.
Deaton seemed to be a little off that night but I didn't push it as he was always a friendly person, very likable. I never heard him say a bad thing about anyone. As we talked his longtime friend and crew chief Paul Dew came into the tent.
Dew went to his area and turned on his reel-to-reel tape player with the volume turned up and acted like a jerk kicking things and stomping around. Deaton hollered at him; "Turn that thing down!" "FUCK YOU" replied Dew.
Deaton and Dew jumped up and headed towards each other the fight was on. These two were crew chiefs, they depended on each other and they were best friends. Each one of them would have given their lives for their aircraft and crew members as well as each other. We were trained to protect crew and occupants.
The fight started fast and hard and it took several of us to break them up. After the breakup of the fight Dew went to his area and shortly returned to Deaton's area. Deaton asked, "What the hell's wrong with you?"
The conversation they had between each other would haunt me the rest of my life.
Dew said had just been to Sgt. Butler's tent and told Sgt. Butler that he wanted to stop flying. He told Butler that if he had to fly again he would never be able to go home. He would never see his family. (Paul Dew's DEROS date was Jul 20, 1969).
Deaton then told Dew he had been to Sgt. Butler's tent earlier that night and that he had asked Sgt. Butler to let him stop flying because he only had only 26 days left (John Deaton's DEROS date was Feb 10, 1969) in country and that he wanted to go home to his family and that if he had to fly again he would never go home and wouldn't be able to see his family.
As they both talked to each other there was no sign of fear in their voices. It was easy to tell that they were sincere that if that they had to fly it would be their last. All they wanted to do was go home, to their families to have the opportunities to go back to their lives. No more of this stupid fucking war.
Deaton told me Sgt. Butler said that tomorrow he would put them on what was called stand down, or ash and trash. Moving people somewhere maybe to a firebase to deliver someone or something but they wouldn't have to fly any kind of combat missions.
Sgt. Butler told Deaton that after tomorrow if there were no replacements for them he would pull 2 cooks from the mess hall and teach them to shoot so that they could fly in their place. Deaton and Dew apologized to each other after their talk about the conversation in Sgt. Butler's tent earlier that night. I figured it was time for me to bow out, head to my bunk and try to get some sleep.
The next morning I had a flight although I do not remember what it was. We landed back on our pad the shut the aircraft down. I started walking off the flight line. I was headed for the mess hall to get a cup of coffee.
As I reached the maintenance area I noticed Deaton walking towards the flight line. I turned towards Deaton so we would meet head-on. Deaton looked as though he had lost his best friend. I ask him what's going on? His answer was; "we have to fly they just won't let me go and see my family. All I want to do is go home". I asked Deaton, "where are you going, what's up?" He said, "We have to fly a teeter/totter for the 1st Infantry Division to an orphanage. Why can't they take their helicopter? Why can't they do it themselves?"
Deaton looked so lonely. I did not think I was talking to a condemned man who was going to his death. I don't know how he and Dew knew that this was going to be there last flight. They were never going to see their mother, father, home and friends again. This was going to be their last flight.
I hit him hard on the right shoulder; "Deaton." I said, "What the fuck can go wrong? You will be OK!".
As we walked away, me towards the company area and Deaton to his aircraft, I turned and looked back to see him slowly walking kind of slumped over. I remember the sky was overcast as I walked back to the company area to the mess hall for cup of coffee and I returned to my tent.
I was cleaning my M-16 having a cup of coffee and I heard an odd sound in the background. Several minutes later someone hollered that the aircraft had crashed. Later I walked out towards the flight line where I found the helicopter had already been removed from the accident site: the rotor blades, rotor head, pylon, tail boom all missing, but it was obvious that the Main rotor blades had come down through the cockpit skylights and forward cab in area.
For the first time in my life I became angry with God. I raise my right hand towards the heavens. I thought, God if you are all so powerful reach down and put Deaton back together.
Tears unwillingly formed in my eyes. I had never been so mad at God. All they wanted to do was go home after all of this, you have the power, now put them back together. Never before or since have I been so hurt. How could my God let this happen - to take the lives of Deaton, Dew, the Maintenance Officer and XO - to take the life of a chaplains assistant - and the life of four mechanics that just wanted go for a ride.
It was such a treat for the maintenance personnel to go for a ride in a helicopter. These mechanics would work day and night along with the crew chiefs keeping the aircraft in an airworthy condition.
It was a tough job being a line mechanic. The working relationship between maintenance Sergeant's and flight crew could get a little tense at times. More than once while hovering out of parking heading for the runway I locked and loaded my M-60 machine gun while pointing it at one of the maintenance Sergeants - just giving him a little reminder after my aircraft had gone through some of their "hurry up -its OK" maintenance.
Several nights later the platoons were called for formation. Those of us who wanted to go to the memorial services for those lost in the crash were to form up. I think everyone fell in the formation and we all marched to a small chapel somewhere at Lai Khe (not a sound was made no one talked no coughed, not even a sniffle, no one made a sound).
We marched into the small chapel and we all took our seats. During the service all I wanted to do was cry. I never in my life felt so bad or hurt so much.
I remember thinking that all anyone would have to do was sniffle and the whole place would have burst into tears and the flood gates would have opened. I never realized I could hold so much pain inside.
After the services we all walked back to our company.
It was dark overcast with outgoing artillery flashes reflected off the clouds followed by their loud noise. All we needed now was some gooks to lob a couple mortar rounds on us. What a perfect time for that pitch black no lights except for the artillery flash to light any way to cover.
I have no idea who was beside me as we walked but I do remember thinking that that all anyone still would have to have done was sniffle and we would have filled the night with tears.
It did not matter how well you knew Deaton, Dew the XO, chaplain, maintenance officer or the mechanics, our hearts were torn out.
Little did I know how that night would change my life forever.
Deaton, Dew, I am sorry, I am so sorry.
Several years later on the Internet I found out Sergeant Butler remained in Vietnam for several years flying as a Gunner.
His life was destroyed out of all this. Every day and night for the rest of his life he woke and slept with the night that Deaton and Dew told him all they wanted to do was see their family again - that if they had to fly they would never see their homes, their friends, their Mothers, Fathers.
I tried to contact Sergeant Butler several times, but he would never answer and his address was not listed. I don't know what I could have said that would have helped. To this day it was only myself and Sergeant Butler that knew what had been said that night. Sergeant Butler is now at rest, may God be with him.

Epilog
After my return home the cause of the crash haunted me. I have developed an opinion of why that aircraft crashed.
My conclusions are based on my Civilian experience as a Certificated A&P mechanic with over 40 years and over 30 years of commercial Bell Helicopter maintenance along with 30 plus years on restricted category Vietnam UH-1H and UH-1B helicopters.
At the 2012 A Company reunion I sat down with Mr. Burbank and we talked about the crash. I assumed it was a tail/rotor strike from the teeter/toter. Mr. Burbank had some pictures of the crash including the Tail Rotor. There was no damage to it.
He informed me he had inspected the tail Rotor and could not find any signs of damage (as his pictures confirmed). My opinion and conclusions are as follows and backed up by my talk with Mr. Burbank and his pictures.
Below every tail rotor hanger bearing there is a bulkhead (see note 1 below). This is found on all Bell Helicopter Models UH-1H, UH-1B, UH-1C and all commercial models from the Bell models 204-B, 205A, 205-A1 205-B, 212, 214.B1, 412 series helicopters. (See note 2 below)
I believe a section of the teeter/totter hit the bottom of one of the bulkheads with enough force to cause one of the tail/rotor hanger bearings to become uncoupled causing a loss of anti-torque controls and the loss of our friends.
CPT. David A. Carlin
CWO. George F. Lapan
SP5. John C. Deaton
SP5. Paul R. Dew
SP5. Frederick L. Holder
SP5. John Mirich

This may never come to rest and will live with us, till we meet our maker.
Note: 1
A tail boom runs longitudinally aft of the main fuselage and attached to the aft fuselage Bulkhead with 4 bolts. The tail boom attaches to the maim fuselage using its forward bulkhead with 4 nuts. The bulkhead is a retaining structure used to strengthen the structure. Bulkheads run as an oblong circle 90 degrees radial to the length of the tail boom.
Note: 2
All commercial Bell Medium helicopters Tail Booms from the attach point Bulkhead aft use a honeycomb constructed baggage compartment in place of the aluminum oval bulkheads. The honeycomb panels do have the radial strengthening structure built within.