NGƯỜI QUỐC GIA ĐẶT QUYỀN LỢI CỦA TỔ QUỐC VÀ DÂN
TỘC LÊN BẢN VỊ TỐI THƯỢNG CHỨ KHÔNG TRANH QUYỀN ĐOẠT LỢI CHO CÁ NHÂN, PHE
NHÓM, ĐẢNG PHÁI HAY BẦY ĐÀN TÔN GIÁO CỦA M̀NH.
NGƯỜI QUỐC GIA BẢO
VỆ LĂNH THỔ CỦA TIỀN NHẦN, GIỮ G̀N DI SẢN VĂN HÓA DÂN TỘC, ĐĂI LỌC VÀ KẾT
HỢP HÀI H̉A VỚI VĂN MINH VĂN HÓA TOÀN CẦU ĐỂ XÂY DỰNG XĂ HỘI VÀ CON
NGƯỜI VIỆT NAM PHÙ HỢP VỚI XU THẾ TIẾN BỘ CỦA NHÂN LOẠI.
Email:
kimau48@yahoo.com or kimau48@gmail.com. Cell: 404-593-4036. Facebook: Kim Âu
Other
Personnel In Incident: Timothy R. Bodden; Ronald J. Dexter; John G. Gardner;
Stephen P. Hanson and Billy Laney; (missing); Mr. Ky and Charles F. Wilklow
(rescued)
REMARKS:
RELSD 730305 BY PRG
SYNOPSIS: The Boeing-Vertol
CH46 Sea Knight arrived in Southeast Asia on 8 March 1966 and served the Marine
Corps throughout the rest of the war. With a crew of three or four depending on
mission requirements, the tandem-rotor transport helicopter could carry 24 fully
equipped troops or 4600 pounds of cargo and was instrumental in moving Marines
throughout South Vietnam, then supplying them accordingly.
Military Assistance Command
Vietnam - Studies and Observation Group (MACV-SOG) was a joint service
unconventional warfare task force engaged in highly classified operations
throughout Southeast Asia. The 5th Special Forces channeled personnel into
MACV-SOG through Special Operations Augmentation (SOA) that provided their
"cover" while under secret orders to MACV-SOG. These teams performed highly
classified, deep penetration missions of strategic reconnaissance and
interdiction that were called, depending on the location and time frame,
"Shining Brass," “Salem House,” “Daniel Boone” or "Prairie Fire" missions.
Oscar Eight was the code name
given to a sector of eastern Laos located in rugged jungle covered mountains
approximately 25 miles northwest of the infamous A Shau Valley, Saravane
Province, Laos. The area encompassed the junction of Highway 92, which was a
primary north-south artery of the Ho Chi Minh Trail, and Highway 922, which
branched off and ran directly east where it crossed into South Vietnam at a
strategic point near the northern edge of the A Shau Valley. Oscar Eight was
also located at the southeastern end of a large and narrow jungle covered valley
that had two primary roads running through it, one on each side of the valley.
Highway 92 ran along the west side and Highway 919 along the east. A power line
ran parallel to Highway 92 and sometimes crossed it. In addition to the roads
and power line, the Hoi An River also flowed through the valley passing the road
junction roughly 1 mile west of it.
More American aircraft were
downed in this sector than any other place in Laos. This was because burrowed
deep in the hills of Oscar Eight was North Vietnamese General Vo Bam's 559th
Transportation Group's forward headquarters. It was also the Ho Chi Minh Trail's
control center and contained the largest NVA storage facility outside of North
Vietnam. Oscar Eight was defended by consecutive belts of anti-aircraft
artillery (AAA) guns of all sizes that were not only stationed on the ground,
but also mounted on platforms in the trees and were expertly camouflaged. Oscar
Eight also favored the enemy because the only suitable landing zones were
located in a wide bowl surrounded by jungle covered high ground containing AAA
guns and bunkered infantry.
A major raid on Oscar Eight
began on 2 June 1967 with a dawn Arc Light mission by 9 B52 bombers. As the
smoke cleared, 9 ARVN Kingbee and 5 Marine CH46 helicopters landed a Nung
Hatchet Force company including the company's MACV-SOG advisors then SFC Billy
R. Laney, SFC Ronald J. "Ron" Dexter and SFC Charles F. "Charlie" Wilklow. The
raiders had barely landed when the 100-man force was surrounded and vastly
outnumbered by NVA soldiers. They took cover in bomb craters, then called in
gunships and tactical airstrikes dangerously close. Even though the raiders were
armed with enough firepower to cut down any NVA assault, they did not have
enough to launch an assault. The situation rapidly turned into a stalemate that
lasted all afternoon and all night. Shortly after dawn on 3 June, helicopters
supported by fighters took off from Khe Sanh to retrieve the Hatchet Force.
Throughout the rescue mission, airstrikes by a wide variety of US and ARVN
aircraft were employed. During these airstrikes 4 American aircraft were shot
down - 1 A1E Skyraider, 1 F4 Phantom and 2 helicopter gunships. Only the pilot
of the A1E, Lt. Col. Lewis M. Robinson, was not recovered. He was unable to
eject before he crashed into a jungle covered valley roughly 5 miles south and
slightly east of the battle site. Lewis Robinson was listed Killed in
Action/Body Not Recovered.
Finally the first Marine CH46
Sea Knight was able to settle among the bomb craters while taking hits from
enemy ground fire. It safely lifted away with almost a platoon of Nung strikers
aboard including Mr. Ky, the commander. The crew of the second Sea Knight
(serial #150955), call sign "Shark 03," to reach the LZ was comprised of Capt.
Steven P. Hanson, pilot; 1st Lt. John G. Gardner, co-pilot; Sgt. Timothy R.
"Tim" Bodden, crew chief; LCpl. Frank E. Cius, door gunner. After the first
helicopter lifted off, it landed to pick up more survivors. Billy Laney, Ron
Dexter, Charlie Wilklow and roughly two dozen Nungs leaped aboard as it lifted
off the ground. NVA tracer rounds were seen focused on the aircraft. When one of
the pilots was wounded the aircraft veered out of control, hit the trees, spun
violently, fell 100 feet and broke in half landing approximately 350 meters from
the LZ.
Dead and wounded Nung strikers
were piled everywhere. Search and Rescue (SAR) aircrews located the bulk of the
survivors of the crash in and near the wreckage, but could not evacuate them due
to enemy activity nearby. Three of the Nung strikers exited the wreckage and
made their way back to the LZ where they were extracted with the other survivors
the next day. The only American to be rescued from Shark 03 was Charlie Wilklow.
In is debriefing he provided the following information.
Immediately after the crash, he
looked around and saw Billy Laney lying on the helicopter floor next to the
Marine crewchief, Tim Bodden. SFC Laney had sustained a chest wound prior to
boarding the aircraft and had a possible broken ankle while Sgt. Bodden had a
broken back. Suddenly the Marine door gunner next to him, Frank Cius, was shot
in the head and slumped over his machinegun. SFC Wilklow was shot in his right
leg and rolled out of the helicopter. Capt. Hanson was outside the wreckage. He
said he had to get something from the aircraft. SFC Wilklow crawled away, and as
he did so, he became light-headed from the loss of blood. The gunfire abruptly
stopped. With his strength gone, Charlie Wilklow collapsed. He looked up and for
the first time saw an NVA soldier watching him from a 60-foot high platform next
to a 12.7mm machinegun. Further, he realized there were gun emplacements all
around him and he had crawled into the NVA's base camp. Enemy soldiers were
everywhere. Charlie Wilklow expected to be seized, but NVA soldiers merely
walked over, saw his condition and left him there. SFC Wilklow passed out. When
he awoke, his web gear was gone and he'd been dragged a few yards into a
clearing. An orange signal panel was laid out beside him and NVA gunners had
their weapons trained on the clearing in the hope a rescue attempt would be
made. As aircraft searched for the missing men, SFC Wilklow watched the NVA
carry several American bodies away, decapitate them, than mount their heads on
stakes like trophies. American POWs were also led past him, but he could not
identify them. Lack of food and water kept his mind hazy and he slipped in and
out of consciousness.
On the second day he saw two
Caucasians in civilian clothes watching him from a distance. NVA officers were
escorting them and he believed they were Russian advisors. The third day it
rained for hours. On the fourth day he squirmed when he saw maggots crawling in
his open wound. Barely clinging to life, the NVA no longer even watched him.
That night SFC Wilklow found the strength to move and he crawled away from the
enemy camp. The pain helped keep him lucid. By sunrise he had crawled and
dragged himself nearly two miles. The sun was high when Charlie Wilklow heard a
plane overhead. He found a signal panel the NVA missed and waved it before
passing out. When he awoke, a shadowy figure was shaking his shoulders. It was
SSgt. Lester Pace who had just repelled in to the area in response to the
signal. Within minutes an ARVN helicopter appeared to pick them up.
Of the other men on board the
Sea Night when it crashed, Capt. Steven Hanson was out of the helicopter, but
returned to it to retrieve his weapon. The condition of 1st Lt. John Gardner was
unknown. Sgt. Tim Bodden sustained a broken back, but was alive. LCpl. Frank
Cius had been shot in the head and was lying over his machinegun. SFC Billy
Laney was seen lying on the floor of the aircraft with a chest wound, and a
possible broken ankle. SFC Ron Dexter left the wreckage uninjured. When last
seen by Mr. Ky, the Nung Commander who was being evacuated by helicopter, Ron
Dexter and several Nung strikers were in a large bomb crater firing red star
clusters from a flare gun as a signal to rescue aircraft. At the time the rescue
effort was terminated, Tim Bodden, Ron Dexter, John Gardner, Billy Laney, Frank
Cius, Charlie Wilklow and Stephen Hanson were listed Missing in Action.
LCpl. Frank Cius was taken
prisoner, moved immediately from Laos to North Vietnam and released from Hanoi
on 5 March 1973. The US did not know that LCpl. Cius had been captured when the
NVA reached the wreckage of the CH46A until he was released during Operation
Homecoming. During his debriefing, he confirmed the fact he was the door gunner
who sustained a head wound during the fight. According to Frank Cius, SFC Ronald
Dexter was also captured, but died in captivity on 29 July 1967. While the
Marine Corps believes Steven Hanson died of wounds received when the aircraft
was overrun, his wife positively identified her husband in a widely distributed
Vietnamese propaganda photograph of a pilot being captured.
In 1996, a team from the Joint
Task Force for Full Accounting (JTFFA) traveled to Saravane Province to
investigate this incident. Local Lao took them to a crash site where the team
conducted a survey and dug a test pit from which they recovered fragments of
bone and teeth. They also recovered a dogtag baring the name Steven Hanson. In
February 1999, a recovery team returned to the surveyed site to excavate it. In
addition to aircraft wreckage, they recovered crew-related items, more teeth and
bone fragments. The team again returned to the site in June 1999 to complete the
excavation and again recovered additional possible human remains. Shortly
thereafter the combined remains were transported to the Central Identification
Laboratory, Hawaii (CIL-HI) for examination.
On 14 August 1999, those remains
were identified in this manner: For Steven Hanson, a single unrestored tooth
consistent with his dental records yielded enough material for a mt-DNA match to
family samples. For John Gardner a single restored molar matched dental records.
For Billy Laney 6 restored teeth matched his dental records and mt-DNA taken
from a fragment of the ulna (forearm) matched the family sample. For Tim Bodden
there was no individual identification. According to the official record, his
"identification was made through circumstantial evidence." Some of the bone
fragments yielded mt-DNA sequences that did not match the missing Americans and
it was assumed they were Nung. Shortly thereafter the remains were returned to
the families for burial. On 29 September 2000, the small amount of fragmented
remains recovered from this crash site were interred as a group burial in
Arlington National Cemetery.
For Billy Laney, Steven Hanson,
Tim Bodden and John Gardner their fate is finally resolved and their families
and friends have the peace of mind of knowing where their loved one lies. For
Ron Dexter, who was a confirmed Prisoner of War, and other Americans who remain
unaccounted for in Southeast Asia, their fates could be quite different.
Since the end of the Vietnam War
well over 21,000 reports of American prisoners, missing and otherwise
unaccounted for have been received by our government. Many of these reports
document LIVE America Prisoners of War remaining captive throughout Southeast
Asia TODAY.
Military men in Vietnam and Laos
were called upon to fly and fight in many dangerous circumstances, and they were
prepared to be wounded, killed or captured. It probably never occurred to them
that they could be abandoned by the country they so proudly served.
Frank E.
Cius, Jr.
Rank,
Service
Staff Sergeant
E-6, U.S. Marine Corps
Veteran of:
U.S. Marine
Corps 1966-1973
Cold War
1966-1973
Vietnam War
1966-1973 (POW)
Tribute:
Frank Cius was born in 1947 in
Buffalo, New York. He enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps on February 18, 1966,
and completed basic training at MCRD Parris Island, South Carolina, in May 1966.
Pvt Cius next attended Infantry Training at Camp Lejune, North Carolina, from
May to July 1966, and then attended Aviation School in Memphis, Tennessee, from
August to November 1966. His first assignment was as a CH-46A Sea Knight
helicopter mechanic and crew chief with Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 165
(HMM-165) of Marine Aircraft Group 36 (MAG-36), with the 1st Marine Aircraft
Wing from December 1966 until the helicopter he was aboard was shot down over
Laos on June 3, 1967. LCPL Cius managed to evade capture for a day and a half
before being taken prisoner on June 5, 1967. After spending 2,100 days in
captivity, SSgt Cius was released during Operation Homecoming on March 4, 1973.
He was briefly hospitalized to recover from his injuries at the Marine Barracks
at Naval Base Brooklyn, New York, until he left active duty on December 31,
1973. Frank Cius was medically retired from the Marine Corps on November 1,
1978.
His 1st (of 5) Air Medal
Citation reads:
For meritorious achievement in
aerial flight as a designated Aerial Gunner in Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron
165 during combat support missions in support of the Republic of Vietnam against
the insurgent communist guerrilla forces (Viet Cong) from 2 April 1967 to 11
April 1967. He contributed materially to the success of his squadron. His
courage and devotion to duty in the face of hazardous flying conditions were in
keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.
