CH-46D DOWN DURING EMERGENCY RECON EXTRACTION, QUE SON MOUNTAINS 12 KM SOUTHEAST OF AN HOA 18NOV1970
UTM grid reference is AT967407
CH-46D 154837

During recon extraction with team and recon staff of 1stReconBn on board, the a/c flew into a mountain carrying a recon team on a SPIE rig.
LtCol William G. Leftwich Jr., Commanding Officer, 1st Recon Bn, died with team in crash.

A Note from The Virtual Wall
In mid-November 1970 a recon team (Team Rush Act) from the 1st Reconnaissance Battalion got in trouble while on patrol: their Corpsman broke his leg, necessitating that the team be extracted.
Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 263 was tasked with extracting them, a task that turned out to be impossible for two days.
On the third day, in CH-46D (BuNo 154837), the HMM-263 crew succeeded in picking up the eight-man team (on a SPIE rig), but all fifteen men aboard the CH-46 died when it collided with a mountainside after the extraction. Three of the crewmen were from HMM-263, two from H&MS-16; the Commanding Officer of the 1st Reconnaissance Battalion was aboard, as well as the extracted team.

Aircrew:
1LT Orville C. Rogers, Dallas, TX; pilot, HMM-263
1LT James E. Stolz, Hicksville, NY; copilot, HMM-263
SGT Robert A. Donnell, Clymer, NY; crew chief, HMM-263
CPL Enver Bajin, College Point, NY; gunner, H&MS-16
LCPL Richard R. Buttry, Anaheim, CA; gunner, H&MS-16

1st Recon Battalion:
LTC William G. Leftwich, Germantown, TN; CO, 1st Recon
B Co.
1LT Cleveland R. Harvey, Alexandria, VA;
HM2 Russell G. Daniels, Phoenix, AZ;
CPL Randall P. Manela, Eugene, OR;
CPL John F. Stockman, Marcus Hook, PA
CPL Fernando Villasana, El Paso, TX
LCPL David V. Delozier, Altoona, PA
LCPL Gary D. Hudson, Joplin, MO
LCPL Charles A. Pope, Independence, MO
LCPL Robert E. Tucker, Abbyville, KS

Tucker, Robert Eugene, LCpl