On 12 Aug 1968 the 191st Assault Helicopter Company was conducting operations in support of the 1st Brigade, 9th Infantry Division. After a rather full day of flying four aircraft were released to return to Bear Cat. The VHPA database contains the following description of what occurred.
"The flight picked up passengers that were returning to Bear Cat and White 5 [UH-1D 66-00820] loaded six passengers, then the flight departed for Bear Cat at approximately 1650 hours. The flight was at 1500 feet in a diamond formation with White 5 in the slot. Approximately 10 minutes out of Dong Tam White 5 transmitted, "White 5 going down, tail rotor failure." The aircraft was observed to descend in a relatively level attitude with the main rotor turning very slowly. The number two aircraft in the formation, flown by aircraft commander CW2 Wiegman, broke from the formation and followed the aircraft down. The aircraft struck the ground in a slightly nose low attitude in a rice paddy with apparently very little forward motion. The aircraft commander and the pilot were pinned in the wreckage by the instrument panel. The passenger compartment was on fire. An attempt was made to extract the personnel from the burning wreckage and one passenger was removed but was apparently killed upon impact."
The ten men who died in the crash were
191ST AHC (aircrew, UH-1D tail number 66-00820):
CPT Arnold W. Luke, Los Angeles, CA, pilot
WO Terry R. Jens, Seattle, WA, copilot
SP5 Gerald A. Wilson, Hilton, NY, crew chief
SP4 Arturo D. Montion, Stockton, CA, gunner
Passengers:
SGT Thomas E. Mortice, Des Moines, IA, HQ Company, 9th Inf Div
SFC Merlin H. Bergan, Junction City, KS, A Co, 709th Maint Bn
SGT Thaddeus Durrett, New York, NY, C Co, 709th Maint Bn
SGT Bobby Freeman, Grantville, GA, C Co, 4th Bn, 47th Infantry
SSG Lonnie J. Tullier, East Baton Rouge, LA, E Co, 3rd Bn, 60th Infantry
T. L. Nguyen, RVN national, rank and unit unknown
As noted, only one body could be removed from the wreckage before the fire made further rescue efforts impossible - that was SFC Merlin H. Bergan. The remains of the other nine men were recovered the following day, 13 Aug, and seven of the Americans were identified within a reasonable period - but SSG Lonnie Tullier's body could not be positively identified. He was carried as Missing in Action until 30 April 1973, when a positive identification could be made.
Casualty Record for Lonnie Joseph Tullier
GENERAL / PERSONAL
Home East Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Birth Date 1937-03-16
Sex Male
Race Caucasian
Married/Single Married
Religion Latter Day Saints, Mormon
Citizen Yes
MILITARY
Service Army
Rank SSG
Serial Number 438526823
Component Regular
Grade E6
MOS 11C20
Length of Service **
Start of Tour 1968-02-26
CASUALTY
Casualty Date 1968-08-12
Casualty Type Non-Hostile, Died Missing
Reason Air Loss, Crash - Land
Air or Ground Helicopter - Noncrew
Country South Vietnam
Province Long An
Posthumous Promotion No change
Body Recovered Body recovered
Location on The Wall Panel 48W - Row 004
RefNo 7105
Processed Date 7304
"The flight picked up passengers that were returning to Bear Cat and White 5 [UH-1D 66-00820] loaded six passengers, then the flight departed for Bear Cat at approximately 1650 hours. The flight was at 1500 feet in a diamond formation with White 5 in the slot. Approximately 10 minutes out of Dong Tam White 5 transmitted, "White 5 going down, tail rotor failure." The aircraft was observed to descend in a relatively level attitude with the main rotor turning very slowly. The number two aircraft in the formation, flown by aircraft commander CW2 Wiegman, broke from the formation and followed the aircraft down. The aircraft struck the ground in a slightly nose low attitude in a rice paddy with apparently very little forward motion. The aircraft commander and the pilot were pinned in the wreckage by the instrument panel. The passenger compartment was on fire. An attempt was made to extract the personnel from the burning wreckage and one passenger was removed but was apparently killed upon impact."
The ten men who died in the crash were
191ST AHC (aircrew, UH-1D tail number 66-00820):
CPT Arnold W. Luke, Los Angeles, CA, pilot
WO Terry R. Jens, Seattle, WA, copilot
SP5 Gerald A. Wilson, Hilton, NY, crew chief
SP4 Arturo D. Montion, Stockton, CA, gunner
Passengers:
SGT Thomas E. Mortice, Des Moines, IA, HQ Company, 9th Inf Div
SFC Merlin H. Bergan, Junction City, KS, A Co, 709th Maint Bn
SGT Thaddeus Durrett, New York, NY, C Co, 709th Maint Bn
SGT Bobby Freeman, Grantville, GA, C Co, 4th Bn, 47th Infantry
SSG Lonnie J. Tullier, East Baton Rouge, LA, E Co, 3rd Bn, 60th Infantry
T. L. Nguyen, RVN national, rank and unit unknown
As noted, only one body could be removed from the wreckage before the fire made further rescue efforts impossible - that was SFC Merlin H. Bergan. The remains of the other nine men were recovered the following day, 13 Aug, and seven of the Americans were identified within a reasonable period - but SSG Lonnie Tullier's body could not be positively identified. He was carried as Missing in Action until 30 April 1973, when a positive identification could be made.
Casualty Record for Lonnie Joseph Tullier
GENERAL / PERSONAL
Home East Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Birth Date 1937-03-16
Sex Male
Race Caucasian
Married/Single Married
Religion Latter Day Saints, Mormon
Citizen Yes
MILITARY
Service Army
Rank SSG
Serial Number 438526823
Component Regular
Grade E6
MOS 11C20
Length of Service **
Start of Tour 1968-02-26
CASUALTY
Casualty Date 1968-08-12
Casualty Type Non-Hostile, Died Missing
Reason Air Loss, Crash - Land
Air or Ground Helicopter - Noncrew
Country South Vietnam
Province Long An
Posthumous Promotion No change
Body Recovered Body recovered
Location on The Wall Panel 48W - Row 004
RefNo 7105
Processed Date 7304
On 12 Aug 1968 the 191st Assault Helicopter Company was conducting operations in support of the 1st Brigade, 9th Infantry Division. After a rather full day of flying four aircraft were released to return to Bear Cat. The VHPA database contains the following description of what occurred.
"The flight picked up passengers that were returning to Bear Cat and White 5 [UH-1D 66-00820] loaded six passengers, then the flight departed for Bear Cat at approximately 1650 hours. The flight was at 1500 feet in a diamond formation with White 5 in the slot. Approximately 10 minutes out of Dong Tam White 5 transmitted, "White 5 going down, tail rotor failure." The aircraft was observed to descend in a relatively level attitude with the main rotor turning very slowly. The number two aircraft in the formation, flown by aircraft commander CW2 Wiegman, broke from the formation and followed the aircraft down. The aircraft struck the ground in a slightly nose low attitude in a rice paddy with apparently very little forward motion. The aircraft commander and the pilot were pinned in the wreckage by the instrument panel. The passenger compartment was on fire. An attempt was made to extract the personnel from the burning wreckage and one passenger was removed but was apparently killed upon impact."
The ten men who died in the crash were
191ST AHC (aircrew, UH-1D tail number 66-00820):
CPT Arnold W. Luke, Los Angeles, CA, pilot
WO Terry R. Jens, Seattle, WA, copilot
SP5 Gerald A. Wilson, Hilton, NY, crew chief
SP4 Arturo D. Montion, Stockton, CA, gunner
Passengers:
SGT Thomas E. Mortice, Des Moines, IA, HQ Company, 9th Inf Div
SFC Merlin H. Bergan, Junction City, KS, A Co, 709th Maint Bn
SGT Thaddeus Durrett, New York, NY, C Co, 709th Maint Bn
SGT Bobby Freeman, Grantville, GA, C Co, 4th Bn, 47th Infantry
SSG Lonnie J. Tullier, East Baton Rouge, LA, E Co, 3rd Bn, 60th Infantry
T. L. Nguyen, RVN national, rank and unit unknown
As noted, only one body could be removed from the wreckage before the fire made further rescue efforts impossible - that was SFC Merlin H. Bergan. The remains of the other nine men were recovered the following day, 13 Aug, and seven of the Americans were identified within a reasonable period - but SSG Lonnie Tullier's body could not be positively identified. He was carried as Missing in Action until 30 April 1973, when a positive identification could be made.
Casualty Record for Lonnie Joseph Tullier
GENERAL / PERSONAL
Home East Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Birth Date 1937-03-16
Sex Male
Race Caucasian
Married/Single Married
Religion Latter Day Saints, Mormon
Citizen Yes
MILITARY
Service Army
Rank SSG
Serial Number 438526823
Component Regular
Grade E6
MOS 11C20
Length of Service **
Start of Tour 1968-02-26
CASUALTY
Casualty Date 1968-08-12
Casualty Type Non-Hostile, Died Missing
Reason Air Loss, Crash - Land
Air or Ground Helicopter - Noncrew
Country South Vietnam
Province Long An
Posthumous Promotion No change
Body Recovered Body recovered
Location on The Wall Panel 48W - Row 004
RefNo 7105
Processed Date 7304
"The flight picked up passengers that were returning to Bear Cat and White 5 [UH-1D 66-00820] loaded six passengers, then the flight departed for Bear Cat at approximately 1650 hours. The flight was at 1500 feet in a diamond formation with White 5 in the slot. Approximately 10 minutes out of Dong Tam White 5 transmitted, "White 5 going down, tail rotor failure." The aircraft was observed to descend in a relatively level attitude with the main rotor turning very slowly. The number two aircraft in the formation, flown by aircraft commander CW2 Wiegman, broke from the formation and followed the aircraft down. The aircraft struck the ground in a slightly nose low attitude in a rice paddy with apparently very little forward motion. The aircraft commander and the pilot were pinned in the wreckage by the instrument panel. The passenger compartment was on fire. An attempt was made to extract the personnel from the burning wreckage and one passenger was removed but was apparently killed upon impact."
The ten men who died in the crash were
191ST AHC (aircrew, UH-1D tail number 66-00820):
CPT Arnold W. Luke, Los Angeles, CA, pilot
WO Terry R. Jens, Seattle, WA, copilot
SP5 Gerald A. Wilson, Hilton, NY, crew chief
SP4 Arturo D. Montion, Stockton, CA, gunner
Passengers:
SGT Thomas E. Mortice, Des Moines, IA, HQ Company, 9th Inf Div
SFC Merlin H. Bergan, Junction City, KS, A Co, 709th Maint Bn
SGT Thaddeus Durrett, New York, NY, C Co, 709th Maint Bn
SGT Bobby Freeman, Grantville, GA, C Co, 4th Bn, 47th Infantry
SSG Lonnie J. Tullier, East Baton Rouge, LA, E Co, 3rd Bn, 60th Infantry
T. L. Nguyen, RVN national, rank and unit unknown
As noted, only one body could be removed from the wreckage before the fire made further rescue efforts impossible - that was SFC Merlin H. Bergan. The remains of the other nine men were recovered the following day, 13 Aug, and seven of the Americans were identified within a reasonable period - but SSG Lonnie Tullier's body could not be positively identified. He was carried as Missing in Action until 30 April 1973, when a positive identification could be made.
Casualty Record for Lonnie Joseph Tullier
GENERAL / PERSONAL
Home East Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Birth Date 1937-03-16
Sex Male
Race Caucasian
Married/Single Married
Religion Latter Day Saints, Mormon
Citizen Yes
MILITARY
Service Army
Rank SSG
Serial Number 438526823
Component Regular
Grade E6
MOS 11C20
Length of Service **
Start of Tour 1968-02-26
CASUALTY
Casualty Date 1968-08-12
Casualty Type Non-Hostile, Died Missing
Reason Air Loss, Crash - Land
Air or Ground Helicopter - Noncrew
Country South Vietnam
Province Long An
Posthumous Promotion No change
Body Recovered Body recovered
Location on The Wall Panel 48W - Row 004
RefNo 7105
Processed Date 7304
Inscription
S/SGT U.S ARMY
VIETNAM
Family Members
Sponsored by Ancestry
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