Author's Notes:
First, thank you very much for reading this story. Since this has become a popular read and also a true story, I thought it wise to actually tell the whole story here instead of a simple shortened version which really doesn't tell the whole story.
Again, thanks for reading!
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Not true:
On May 5, 1970, two AH-1G Cobra gunships from B Battery, 4th Battalion, 77th Artillery (Aerial Rocket Artillery), 101st Airborne Division, were involved in a fatal incident during a "practice red alert" mission in the Thua Thien Province, South Vietnam.
Incident Overview
Mission Type: The two aircraft departed Camp Eagle at approximately 20:30 hours en route to Fire Support Base (FSB) Kathryn for a practice scramble/red alert.
The Crash: Shortly after departure, radio contact was lost. A search and rescue team in a UH-1H helicopter later discovered two fires approximately 200 meters apart. Both Cobras were totally destroyed, and there were no survivors.
Cause: While official reports often cite the difficulty of night operations or potential spatial disorientation during such maneuvers, the incident resulted in the loss of both crews.
Personnel Lost
The following four aviators from B Battery ("Toros") were killed in the crash:
1st Aircraft:
WO1 Andrew John Abramson
(Aircraft Commander)
WO1 Gerald L. Young
(Pilot)
2nd Aircraft:
CPT James M. "Jim" Taylor
WO1 Michael L. "Mike" Ervin
The 4/77th Aerial Rocket Artillery (ARA), known as the "Guns in the Sky," played a critical role in providing close air support for the 101st Airborne Division using the then-new AH-1G Cobra. B Battery pilots typically used the call sign "Toro" and were known for hand-painted bull emblems on their flight helmets. This specific loss occurred during a period of high intensity for the division, coinciding with major operations like the Cambodian Incursion and defense of various firebases in the I Corps region.
Closer to the truth:
We were called the El Toros.
This story isn't all about me. Its about a few men who gave up their lives because they believed in what they were doing. Did without hesitation what had to be done. Two of them would pass away.
On 4 May 1970, UH-1H SN 68-16244, A Co, 101st AHB, was assigned flare standby for night illumination missions in support of the 1st Bde, 101st Abn Div. At approximately 1930 hours Company Ops received a mission request from S-3 (Air), 1st Bde, to provide illumination for a practice red alert at FSB Kathryn. At approximately 1955 hours UH-1H SN 68-16244, callsign COMANCHERO 20, departed for FSB Kathryn, arriving overhead at approximately 2020 hours.
Two AH-1G aircraft from Battery B, 4/77th Arty, departed Camp Eagle at about 2030 hours enroute to FSB Kathryn for the practice red alert. Lead was TORO 93; wing was TORO 91D. TORO 93's anti-collision light and aft navigation lights were inoperative, and TORO 91D had difficultly maintaining visual contact and position on TORO 93. TORO 93 advised TORO 91D that he held visual on 91D that they would head from their present position direct to the flares over FSB Kathryn at 5500 feet. The two AH-1G aircraft arrived on station at FSB Kathryn at approximately 2045 hours. TORO 93 made visual contact with the flareship (COMANCHERO 20) and contacted JULIET 3 (Forward Observer for C/1/501 INF) to coordinate the firing runs.
COMANCHERO 20 was in a left hand orbit around FSB Kathryn, dropping flares as directed by C/1/501. COMANCHERO 20 requested that C/1/501ST have the TORO flight aircraft come up on UHF frequency E33. Shortly thereafter COMANCHERO 20 completed the portside flare drops and converted to a right-hand orbit. COMANCHERO 20 made a radio call to the TORO flight advising them of the orbital change, but TORO did not acknowledge the transmission. About 6 minutes later C/1/501 notified COMANCHERO Control that a midair collision may have occurred.
The post-accident investigation concluded that a flare ignited aboard COMANCHERO 20 and that the aircraft then went into a descent, colliding with one of the AH-1Gs. COMANCHERO 20 descended in flames to impact, while the TORO aircraft, also in flames, proceeded in what appeared to be an autorotative glide and crashed in heavily wooded and mountainous terrain.
Seven men died in this accident:
From Company A, 101st Aviation Battalion:
1LT Larry Franklin Mattingly, A/C commander
CW2 Tommy L. Kearsley, pilot
SGT Thomas Oliver Ahlberg, crew chief
SGT Dean L. Aitken, observer
SGT Rodney Alan Taylor, gunner
From Battery B, 4th Battalion, 77th Artillery (ARA), 101st Airborne (AH-1G 67-15620):
CPT Douglas Nelson Winfrey, pilot
WO1 Dean Louis Bonneau, pilot
The COMANCHERO 20 aircrewmen are remembered on the
A/101st Aviation Battalion site
An abbreviated copy of the VHPA accident summary is available
here .
CPT Winfrey was buried in Marietta National Cemetery, Marietta (Cobb County), Georgia. At the time, he was survived by his father, Mr. Ernest Boyd Winfrey, Austell Georgia. His mother, Ednis C. had pre-deceased him in 1966.
In 1975, his father passed away at his residence after a long illness. Survivors included three daughters, Mrs. Sue Richey, Mrs. Marceiline Marshall and Mrs. Joyce Edwards, all of Georgia; three sons, James T. Winfrey, Calvin Winfrey, and Jerome Winfrey, also all in Georgia.
His parents are in Pleasant Grove Baptist Church Cemetery, Hull (Madison County), Georgia. His brother Calving passed away in 2007.
Now, the truth from the person who was there and helped launch the cobras that night.
I had just gotten back from a week in Japan - on R & R. My unit, B Battery, 4/77th Field Artillery - the El Toros - had just gotten, basically, blown up and, now, my job was to get it back up and fully operational as fast as possible.
So I had a jeep, a radio and a CEOI around my neck and I'm headed to A Company, 5th Transportation to chat with the supply guys so I could make it easier on my self to acquire the supplies I need to rebuild our B Battery. I already had a reputation there for doing the impossible.
I had my radio on in my jeep and made sure, if anyone needed me, I could respond.
I had been up for almost 48 hours straight as the nightmare of May 3rd began to weave a new reality for me. I was focused on rebuilding our unit. Gleaning some respect, the job of rebuilding the unit was just as nightmarish as the vivid destruction I had witnessed the night before.
The from a logistic perspective work to be done felt more like a script for mission impossible than something that could be done by just a PFC armed with a CEOI, radio, and jeep.
7:00 PM: Since I spent my first four months in Nam at A Company, 5th Trans, I knew many of the men there and they also knew me -- at various shades of like, dislike and awe.
After all, rebuilding an entire AH-1G Cobra by yourself doesn't exactly go unnoticed.
With that said, during mid day formation, we were told our unit was now on "stand down". That meant we weren't going to see any action until we got to the point where we had enough Cobra to perform our mission and the logistics to support them.
I got goose bumps as I soaked in the reality. I finally had a job that fit my personality.
3:30 PM: After going to Phu Bai to pick up a ton of forms and manuals, I dropped them off and headed over to the miniature Officers' club for a chance for a cold Soda. I opened the door and CPT was the only sole inside. After a bit of chit chat, I convinced him to let me have a cold Coke on borrowed time.
While I was quenching my thirst and washing down the gritty film my tongue and throat had collected from driving on the dusty roads, he showed me a picture of his ninth month old daughter --who looked more like him than his wife -- and we shared places where we had been and what we planned on doing after getting out of Nam.
5:00 PM: Signing the roster at the mess hall comes with a bit of a price in Nam. A large orange anti-malaria pill. Luckily, this only happened on Mondays. Still, you felt it going down every day. Roast beef, mash potatoes and cream corn got slapped down on my plate followed by a heavy dose of dark gravy you could lubricate your car with.
I enjoyed the chocolate milk and thought about my next seek and fill up the jeep mission.
Around 2020 hours, I heard DIVARTY - Division Artillery - pass over a fire mission to us. I thought it odd that DIVARTY was calling us since we really weren't combat ready and was stood down. But I was driving my jeep by the time those thoughts raced through my mind. I almost flipped the jeep.
Our landing lights were inoperative, but the close to midnight lighting made the running soldiers look like black silhouettes. I grabbed two and got the Cobra ready. I Lieutenant by the name of Jeffery Johns left the El Toro pad in the first Cobra without a front seat. I untied the main rotator blade, assured CPT Douglas Nelson Winfrey was ready, commandeered WO1 Dean Louis Bonneau and got him to the Cobra. Before closing CPT Douglas Nelson Winfrey's canopy door, I told him as soon he got back, I would buy him a coke. He responded with a smile.
While watching the Cobra he was flying I thought it was odd the anti-collision weren't on as he cleared the pad but shrugged it off as a Security concern. And off I went back down to the supply guys.
I spent about 10 minutes and had just poured a cup of black coffee, when I heard this from an all too familiar voice:
"The fireball I saw fell from the sky and landed over there."
I never finished the cup of coffee.
11:45 PM: After running back over to my unit, I open the door to our makeshift TOC, and saw our CO talking to LT. Jeffery Johns. Around him were many teary eyed Officers. This was something an enlisted man was not supposed to see and our CO knew it. So he yelled, "Get him out of here!"
After leaving the TOC, LT Craig Geis came outside and told me to help land LT Johns, get him out of the helicopter and over to our field medical unit, bring him back and then go to bed. He told me that he would tell SFC Valentine to let me sleep.
12:00 AM: I help land LT Jeffery Johns, tell him to get out of the Cobra and get into my jeep, get chewed out to and from the field medical unit -- which he apologized for later, and arrive at my hooch where I went to sleep. It was 2 AM in the morning.
08:00 AM: My sleep is abruptly and rudely dismissed by a PFC who kicked my cot and shrieked that SFC Valentine wanted me in his formation. Apparently, LT Craig Geis failed to tell the brown shoe that it was okay for me to sleep off almost 60 hours worth of no sleep.
I was, needless to say, pissed and told the PFC to tell Valentine to "Go get F*****", which he joyously said he would. And did. I was there one minute after the laughter died and Valentine told me to report to the First Sergeant in the orderly room.
After Valentine completed ranting to the First Sergeant he was dismissed and I was staring at a man whom which I knew could "provide me with a well deserved dose of attitude adjustment."
It didn't happen. Instead, "PFC and future SP4 Edwards, I know what you did last night and they are putting you in for some awards. But if you ever tell one of my senior NCOs to go get "F***** again, I will throw the book at you.
"Get out of my orderly room."
I went back to bed.
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