The Unofficial U.S. Air Force HH-43B/F "PEDRO" Crash Rescue - Air Rescue Web Site
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The Unofficial U.S. Air Force HH-43B/F "PEDRO" Crash Rescue - Air Rescue Web Site
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Name: 2Lt. George "Spike" H. Bonnell, III Date of Birth: May 22, 1943 Home of Record: Worthington, Ohio Date of Casualty: November 12, 1966 Age at Loss: 23 years old Vietnam Veteran's Memorial Detachment #9, 38th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron Aircraft Model: HH-43B Aircraft Tail Number: 62-4511 Call Sign: Pedro 42 INCIDENT SUMMARYOn October 28, 1966 Lt. Bonnell and his crew were were involved in a rescue effort near Pleiku AB, RVN. The mission was to Medevac wounded soldiers. Their aircraft was shot down by a RPG. Lt. Bonnell received head injuries when the aircraft crashed. On October 29, 1966 Lt. Bonnell was recovered from the crash site and brought to the 18th Army Surgical Hospital at Pleiku. On October 30, 1966 Bonnell was air evacuated to the 85th Air Evac. Hospital in Qui Nhon and then to the USAF hospital at Clark Air Base in the Philippines on November 7, 1966. Lt. Bonnell died of his injuries on November 12, 1966 at Clark. Additional Information Base on Crew Member AccountsThe following account of this incident is from the memories of Carleton Vermey's, the pilot of the aircraft.
Carlton Vermey had flown with the Air Rescue Service (ARS) since 1960; in the US and two years in Turkey. He arrived in the Republic of Viet Nam (RVN) in Feb 66 with the rank of Captain. He was sent to Phan Rang to help establish a new Detachment (Det) there. After three months, he returned to Det 9 at Pleiku. While they launched an aircraft everyday most of their missions were training in support of their primary mission of local base rescue. About once or twice a week they received a medevac mission outside the local base area. Each one had to be approved by the 7th USAF in Saigon. Even if they were contacted directly by a local command, they still had to get approval before launching the mission. He recalls the events of 28 Oct with great clarity. The Pararescueman (PJ), Allen Stanek, had been on the ground some time because they had loaded three US Army Wounded In Action (WIA's) in the back of the Pedro already. Carlton remembers they were asked if they could accommodate one more and he answered yes. They were using the 150 feet of cable for their jungle penetrater to hoist the WIA's out. The 4th Infantry Division guys had formed a perimeter to secure the evac. site, but one of the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) must have come out of a spider hole or gotten very close to the perimeter. The NVA soldier fired an RPG from almost underneath the helicopter. It impacted the bottom of the fuselage near the rear of the helicopter. He remembers trying to increase power but there was no response. The helicopter went virtually straight down and crashed tail first. This helped cushion the fall but then it rolled forward. A2C Rice and the three WIA's on broad either died in the initial RPG blast or in the crash. A2C Allen Stanek was still on the ground when the RPG hit. When the helicopter rolled forward the front Plexiglas broke. The lack of the front bubble may have helped the Infantry guys get both injured pilots out of the wreckage quickly and lay them on the ground. 'Spike' had lots of shrapnel wounds. Carlton said he had three broken ribs, a punched lung, and shrapnel wounds. After the crash an even heavier firefight broke out on the ground. Carlton was in and out of consciousness most of the night. He remembers a B52 strike that when in very, very close to their position and credits that with getting the NVA to break contact. In the morning Det 9's other aircraft arrived to pick them up. They took a 50-cal hit in the blades but successfully completed the recovery. The mental picture of a 50 round hitting wooden blades cannot be comforting! Carlton was evacuated from Vietnam because of his injuries. He was back on flight status in six months, continued to service with the ARS in the States and eventually retired from the Air Force. Carlton said that 'Spike' was an USAF Academy graduate. His father was a USAF
medical doctor, may have been a full Colonel and may have helped treat 'Spike'
in the Philippines. 'Spike' had brain stem damage and died of his injuries a few
days later in Clark AFB. Carlton said 'Spike' was a very gifted officer and
would have gone a long way in the Air Force. If you have any additional information regarding George or this incident, please contact me.
Sergeant Jose Gene Abara Staff Sergeant Milard Luther E. Bledsoe 2nd Lieutenant George H. Bonnell, II Technical Sergeant Harry Cohen Major Warren K. Davis Captain Von Miles Liebernecht Staff Sergeant Angel Luna Airman First Class William H. Pitsenbarger Major David Hunter Pittard Airman Second Class Francis D. Rice
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