George, the candle remains lit awaiting your return. You are not forgotten, and your bracelet with your name is worn proudly, and will continue to be worn till your return. ~ Angel ~ Please visit my full memorial

 

A Note from The Virtual Wall In late April 1972, MACV Advisory Team 22 personnel were assigned to the ARVN 42nd Regiment at Tanh Canh near Dak To in Kontum Province, South Vietnam. At about 0530 24 April the compound came under attack by VC forces. At about 0730 it was decided that the advisors would withdraw from the beseiged compound. A UH-1H Huey (tail number 69-15715) from the 57th Assault Helicopter Company, 52nd Avn Bn, extracted several of the advisors, taking off with ten men aboard: 1LT James Edward Hunsicker, pilot, 57th AHC WO1 Wade Lynn Ellen, copilot, 57th AHC SP4 Charles M. Lea, aircrewman, 57th AHC SP5 Ricky V. Vogel, aircrewman, 57th AHC MAJ George W. Carter, passenger, Adv Team 22 MAJ Julius G. Warmath, passenger, Adv Team 22 CPT John P. Keller, passenger, Adv Team 22 1LT Johnny M. Jones, passenger, 57th AHC SGT Walter H. Ward, passenger, unit unknown SP4 Franklin Zollicoffer, passenger, USARV Flight Detachment As it departed the UH-1H was hit by enemy fire and crashed on a small island in the Dak Poko River, a location out of the camp defender's sight. Although an overflight by another aircraft reported seeing no survivors, in fact five men (Warmath, Keller, Vogel, Ward and Lea) survived the crash and managed to avoid capture, eventually rejoining friendly forces. Their debriefs indicated the other five had died in the crash. At the time of the attack, Captain Kenneth J. Yonan was positioned in a water tower observation post near the northwest corner of the compound, physically isolated from but in radio contact with the other advisors. Two other Team 22 Advisors, LTC Robert W. Brownlee and CPT Charles W. Gordon, and their ARVN interpreter, Sgt. Cao Ky Chi, were in a bunker some distance west of the base camp. Captain Yonan simply disappeared in the fighting. While Brownlee, Gordon, and Chi were withdrawing from the bunker, Brownlee got separated from the other two and encountered enemy troops; he too disappeared. Gordon and Chi eventually were able to rejoin friendly forces. Of the Americans involved, seven were unrecovered - five known dead in the UH-1H crash, two missing in action: LTC Robert W. Brownlee, MIA CPT Kenneth J. Yonan, MIA 1LT James Edward Hunsicker, KIA UH-1H WO1 Wade Lynn Ellen, KIA UH-1H MAJ George W. Carter, KIA UH-1H 1LT Johnny M. Jones, KIA UH-1H SP4 Franklin Zollicoffer, KIA UH-1H Of these seven, only one - Captain Yonan - has come home; his remains were repatriated on 6 Apr 1988 and identified on 14 Oct 1988. There is a note in the Vietnam Helicopter Pilots' Association database that "CW2 Ellen was the only remains found. Remains were returned in April 1993.", but the US DoD Personnel Missing Southeast Asia database indicates otherwise - his remains have not been officially identified.

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