Incident Date 690809 UH-1E 155339+

On August 9 of 1969 a flight of two Scarface  gunships flying under the call sign “Eagle Claw” led a combined force of Marine, Army and AFVN (Vietnamese Air Force) helicopters on a Prairie Fire Emergency across the  Laotian border.  The lead Marine aircraft was flown by Major Tom Hill with 1st Lt. Ronald J. Janousek as his copilot and Corporal J. J. Dean  and Corporal Bruce E. Kane as flight crew.   Their mission was to command the extraction of a  SOG reconnaissance platoon which was being chased by a large North Vietnamese Army force.  The mission aircraft included Major Hill’s two UH1E Huey gunships, 4 Army Cobras , several  Army Huey slicks, and several VNAF H-34's.   

When Major Hill arrived in the vicinity of the reconnaissance team with his flight of two UH1E gunships he learned that just a few minutes earlier a Army Cobra, piloted by Captain Mike Brokovick,  had taken heavy fire from a ridge line near the team's position.  Major Hill exposed his aircraft to the same gun positions as he maneuvered to over fly the recon team.  His aircraft was hit by ground fire and lost power.  The aircraft was streaming fuel which burst into flames as Major Hill maneuvered to land near the Xepon River.  The aircraft became a fireball as it auto-rotated towards the river.  At 75 feet above the ground the tail boom fell off and the Huey abruptly fell into the river.  The aircraft came to rest inverted and almost fully submerged in the swiftly flowing water.

  The other pilots acted swiftly to investigate the wreckage for signs of survivors despite continued heavy enemy fire.   The four Cobras led by Captain Mike Brokovich made repeated gun runs to suppress enemy fire while an VNAF H-34, call sign Kingbee, hovered along the river looking for survivors. 

  Kingbee found Major Hill and Corporal Dean alive on the opposite bank of the river, about 100 meters down stream from the crash site.  One of the Army Huey slicks subsequently lifted them out on strings.  Meanwhile the Kingbee drew continuous enemy fire as he air taxied back upstream to the crash site and looked for the other two crew members.  He hovered close to the sunken wreckage and pushed the main landing gear wheel of his H-34 through the cockpit window.   Then he lifted the wreckage up so that his crew chief could see the interior of the cabin.  No survivors were seen.  Throughout this time the Kingbee was under continuous enemy fire as he performed an extremely dangerous maneuver which risked trapping his aircraft in the wreckage of the Huey.

  The mission leader then turned his attention to the rescue of the SOG platoon which remained under enemy pressure beyond the river.  After returning to base to refuel and rearm the mission aircraft successfully extracted the SOG platoon.

  Captain Frank Cuddy, also from HML 367, led a relief flight of gunships to the crash site on the evening of the crash and again on the following morning.  These efforts to search the site were driven away by intense enemy fire, and enemy activity at the crash site involving numerous boats was observed.  No further missions to search the site were mounted by HML 367 as the survivors were presumed dead or captured. 

  Bruce Kane’s mother was informed that her son had died in Vietnam.  She was told that her son survived the crash and made it safely ashore but returned to the aircraft in an heroic attempt to rescue the copilot from which he did not return.   For this valor Bruce Kane was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. 

  The bodies of Cpl. Kane and Lt. Janousek have never been recovered.  In 1994 the DOD took the position that Cpl. Kane should be classified as “Last Known Alive”, which includes cases in which the crew members are believed to have successfully exited their aircraft and to have been alive on the ground. 

If you have information about this action please contact me... markbyrd@swbell.net     Mark A. Byrd, USMC (1965-1972)