DONALD BRUCE McCOIG
Warrant Officer, Aviator
281st Assault Helicopter Company
10th CAB, 17th CAG, 1st AVN BDE
From: Ventura, California
Born: January 21, 1946
Tour of duty began June 17, 1967
Killed in action when engaged by hostile forces
while conducting a rescue mission in
Thua Thien, South Vietnam on March 29, 1968.
WO McCoig was mortally wounded by hostile
small arms fire.
WO DONALD McCOIG WAS AWARDED THE DISTINGUISHED SERVICE CROSS
FOR HIS ACTIONS ON MARCH 29, 1968.
The Distinguished Service Cross, also known as the DSC, is our Nation's second highest award for valor, second only to the Medal of Honor. The Distinguished Service Cross was created during the First World War and was signed into law by President Woodrow Wilson on January 2, 1918. The Distinguished Service Cross is awarded to a person who while serving in any capacity with the Army, distinguished himself or herself by extraordinary heroism not justifying the award of a Medal of Honor; while engaged in an action against an enemy of the United States; while engaged in military operations involving conflict with an opposing or foreign force; or while serving with friendly foreign forces engaged in an armed conflict against an opposing Armed Force in which the United States is not a belligerent party. The act or acts of heroism must have been so notable and have involved risk of life so extraordinary as to set the individual apart from his or her comrades.
AWARD OF THE DISTINGUISHED SERVICE CROSS
On 14 May 1968, Warrant Officer Donald B. McCoig,
281st Aviation Company (assault Helicopter), 10th Combat Aviation
Battalion, 17th Aviation Combat Aviation Group, 1st Aviation
Brigade, was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross
for actions on 29 March 1968.
"For extraordinary heroism
in conjunction with military operations involving conflict with an
armed hostile force in the Republic of South Vietnam. WO
McCoig distinguished himself by exceptional valorous actions on 29
March 1968 as aircraft commander of an assault helicopter on a
combat mission near Hue. After air strikes had pounded and enemy
stronghold, he volunteered to fly Vietnamese ground forces into the
area to conduct bomb assessments and search and destroy operations.
During the second airlift into the landing zone, his ship received
intense enemy automatic weapons fire which damaged the aircraft and
wounded his co-pilot and gunner. Displaying outstanding
courage and airmanship, Mr. McCoig continued into the battle area
under heavy fire and landed his helicopter. He then led his
men to cover, returned through the fusillade to recover the
aircraft's weapons and equipment. Remaining calm, he
skillfully treated the wounded until an evacuation ship arrived and
carried them to all to safety. Three more aircraft were shot
down in the ensuing action, and Mr. McCoig volunteered to return to
the raging firefight to extract the crews. With complete
disregard for his safety, he again flew into the area and landed
amid a curtain of fire. Bullets tore into his aircraft, but he
refused to take off until members of one stranded crew had climbed
aboard. As he became airborne the enemy forces concentrated
their full firepower on his ship and he was killed by a hail of
rounds tearing into the cockpit. Warrant Officer McCoig's
extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty, at the cost of his life,
were in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service
and reflects great credit upon himself, his unit, and the United
States Army"
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Donald Bruce McCoig was born on January 21, 1946 in Van Nuys,
California. His parents were Donald Bruce McCoig, who died in
October 1966, and Phyllis McCoig, who died in May 1982. Donald,
known as "Bruce" to his family, attended Thousand Oaks High School
in Thousand Oaks California, and graduated in 1964. Following high
school, Donald signed on a lumber freighter and sailed as a deck
hand to and from Australia. Upon return from his sailing adventure,
Donald attended Venture College for a year, but left to join the US
Army. Donald married his wife Margaret (Margaret has remarried and her
new name and location remains unknown) in May of 1966, and left for the Army in June
1966. Prior to joining the Army Donald enjoyed driving his "Cobra"
sports car and spent considerable time rebuilding it. His physical
appearance and looks resembled that of Steve McQueen, and he was
often teased about the similarities. His surviving family
remembers him as an easy going individual who was a friend to all,
and one who was always ready and willing to lend a hand to anyone in
need.
Following
the footsteps of his father, who served as a Chief Warrant Officer
in World War II, and his Grandmother, who also served in World War
II as a member of the Women's Army Corps, Donald entered the Army,
completed basic training and graduated from helicopter pilot
training in 1967. He arrived in Vietnam and was assigned to the
281st Assault Helicopter Company, Nha Trang, RVN on June 17, 1967.
His death came as a result of hostel fire on March 29, 1968. His
body was recovered and returned to his family who, after cremation,
scattered his ashes at sea. For his service with the 281st AHC and
to his country, Warrant Officer Donald Bruce McCoig was awarded the
Distinguished Service Cross, the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Bronze Star Medal for Valor, the Air
Medal for Valor, and numerous other awards and service medals.
Donald is survived by his widowed aunt by
marriage, Clara May McCoig, of 2422 La Estrella Street, Henderson,
NV. Mrs. McCoig also served as an Army nurse in World War II. Donald
has two cousins, Dava McCoig Lambert of 6 Veeder Avenue, Barre, VT,
and Russell McCoig of 2940 McCoig Avenue, Las Vegas, NV. Both of his
cousins are the children of his late uncle, David Clarke McCoig and
his aunt, Clara May McCoig.
Col. John W. (Jack) Mayhew, USA, (Ret)
"Intruder 6" 7/67-2/68
E-mail:
intruder06@me.com
On a personal note: when I started to work on this
project I set out to find a hero. Instead, I found two. In
Donald McCoig I found an individual who was liked all the other
members of the 281st AHC and as such, at the time of his death he
was simply doing his duty to his unit and his country. Several
individuals who served with Don in the 281st AHC have come forth
with their recollection of him as an individual and as an Army
aviator. One of the following recollections is from the WO
Robin Hicks the Aircraft Commander who was flying with "Mac" (as his
buddies referred to him). At the time of his death WO McCoig was
flying the helicopter and when he was hit he fell forward, freezing
the controls. Robin reacted immediately by taking control of the
severely damaged, out of control helicopter, and returning it
to the hot landing zone. The severe flight attitude of the
aircraft and heavy ground fire rendered the remaining crew members
helpless and as such Robin was left to function on his own.
Following the controlled crash back into the LZ they immediately
came under heavy ground fire and were forced to evacuate the
aircraft and join the Special Forces team operating out of a near by
bomb crater. Later in the day Robin Hicks and his crew removed
Donald's body from the aircraft and placed him in a bomb crater were
they spent the remainder of the day and night. Throughout the
night they were under heavy fire and the threat of being overrun by
the superior NVA force. At daylight the Special Forces
Advisors and the ARVN troops involved in the mission set out on a
forced march seeking an LZ from which they could be extracted.
Robin and a Marine Captain carried WO Donald McCoig's body on the
march through rugged jungle country, reaching a recovery LZ late in
the afternoon. Only then did Robin surrendered Don's
body to his fellow Intruders who were flying the 281st recovery
aircraft. I trust that anyone reading this report will
understand the stress that Robin has endured as a result of this
action and that certainly he deserves great credit for his skilled
actions and response to a critical situation. There is no doubt that
his actions saved the lives of those crewmembers and passengers who
were not killed in the initial attack on his aircraft. His
actions in caring for the body of his friend and fellow Intruder
speak for themselves. For his heroic actions Robin was awarded
the Silver Star and earned the highest respect of his fellow
Intruders. JM
(Note: I served with Donald McCoig until
2/68 and knew him to be a superior aviator and an all around
outstanding individual. At the time of his death The 281st was
under the command of my friend Don Ruskauff, whose comments are
below.)
LTC. Donald (Don) Ruskauff, USA (Ret)
"Intruder 6" 2/68-7/68
483rd Maint. Det. "Wrench Bender 6" 7/67-2/68,
1039 Bench Ct
Anchorage, AK 99504
Tel: 907-333-0815
Email: PaMaBrs@aol.com
"The 281st Executive Officer, Maj. Sinclair had taken an advanced
party to the operational area and started a series of operations
while I completed some support details at home base. The very first
insertion of friendly forces met with fierce resistance. My
recollection is that on the day of his death WO McCoig was piloting
an aircraft that was badly shot up in the first stages of the
operation and could not continue. Before Maj. Sinclair could release
him from flight duty that day, he voluntarily took command of
another flight into the area because he believed he could execute a
landing more safely in the landing zone because he was more familiar
with it. It was on this flight that he met his death. I joined the
advanced party just as the downed crewmen and the ground force were
being recovered. They had to fight their way out of the combat zone
to another pick up area and carried WO McCoig's body with them. Late
that night Maj. Sinclair and I officially identified his body. Men
who can elaborate on the difficulties and stress of these couple of
days are Robin Hicks, Wendell Allen, Ken Smith, John Wehr and John
Galkiewicz. WO McCoig was held in high regard as a person, and as
one of our best and coolest aviators under fire. I am proud of
having served with him."
Those following personal recollections along with a summary of the combat mission after action report, covering the operation in which Donald Bruce McCoig gave his life, are recorded here. Of note are the statements by Norm Kauffman, Robin Hicks and Kenneth Embrey, all of whom had a major role in this mission.
Fom: Norman Kauffman "Bandit 24"
1/68-1/69
PO Box 104
New Florence, PA 15944
Tel: 724-235-2894
E-mail: nkmmk@cs.com
"The company area was deserted when I reported in to the 281st in
January 1968, because most of the company was on a Delta at the
Oasis. Don McCoig was the first pilot that I met that day. I had no
idea what the mission of the 281st was, and I was probably really
scared at 19 years of age but was too proud to admit it. Don was a
really friendly guy and there was none of that new guy/old guy
routine with him. He showed me around, helped me find a place to
sleep, and generally helped me get squared away as well as a new kid
could at the time. I flew with him on several occasions after my
in-country check ride with Harry Skaar, but then I was assigned to
the second platoon and we didn't fly together because he was in
first platoon. I'm not sure why we both ended up at Hue/Phu Bai on a
Delta together but we did. He and I were flying together the morning
he was killed. It was the Bomb Damage Assessment insertion, and we
were using the craters from an Arc light for an LZ. On the second
lift in, Don told me to take the controls. He said it was fairly
easy and that I needed to start learning the ropes. We were landing
two ships in the LZ at one time. On short final at about 15 feet the
lead ship made a go-around and just as I keyed the mic to ask Mac
why, pieces of Plexiglas and metal began flying through our cockpit.
A round came through the floor, the right pedal, and struck me in the
right foot knocking my foot from the pedal. The nose of the aircraft
yawed wildly to the left and Mac grabbed the controls, corrected the
yaw and landed the aircraft. The engine was not running, so we
exited the aircraft and ran to a bomb crater where I told Mac that I
had been hit. When we were picked up by the next ship in the LZ, Mac
insisted I be flown to the dispensary to be checked out. It was a
superficial wound and we returned to the FOB. I assured him that I
had seen the needles split and that the engine had quit causing the
aircraft to yaw. He insisted that the yaw was caused by my foot
being shot off the right pedal. I'm sure that we did not shut the
aircraft down, and the rotor blades stopped turning almost
immediately. Mac insisted on going back out that afternoon with
Robin Hicks because he told me he wasn't sure we should have left
the ship in the LZ, but flown it out instead."
From: Robin K. Hicks, Aircraft Commander UH1-D
227
"Bandit " 11/67-11/68
E-mail: rkhicks@micron.net
"I got there mid November of 67 and 10 days later was wounded in
an attack on Nha Trang. I did not get out of the hospital and back
on flying status until 16 Dec 67. This prevented me from getting to
know most of the guys. I flew with Don a few times, but I was kind
of shuffled around as the other 7 guys I had come over with were
pretty well linked up with the same ACs a lot. I did a lot of flying
and made AC on 23 Feb 68. Ironically, I was the first to make it
from my group. On 29 March the incident happened. There has been a
lot of talk about this and I am now realizing why after listening to
some of the pilots and researching written data. I was the AC on 227
for all three lifts, but somehow everyone has made Don the AC and me
the co-pilot. The after action report, which I read for the first
time about 3 weeks ago, even indicates this. By the third lift we
were getting a little short on pilots and aircraft both. My copilot
Mr. Allen was to be lifted in with the maintenance crew to help
prepare the downed aircraft to get slung out. I did not have a
copilot and McCoig was not injured and did not have an aircraft. It
was decided that he would go with me. The only thing that happened
was that when we started to get in McCoig got all nervous and looked
worried. I asked him what was the matter and he told me that he did
not feel comfortable flying the right seat because he had been in
the left seat for so long. He asked me if he could fly left seat. It
made sense to me, I felt comfortable in both seats because I had
almost equal time in both. We both knew we were probably going to
get into a bad situation and wanted to take advantage of every thing
that would be in our favor. I said yes, let's do it, and we traded
seats.
I do not know what I could say about McCoig
that couldn't be said by every other pilot involved in that
operation. McCoig was flying and on take off we got hit hard. He
took a round right above his left eyebrow and his head swung around
and looked straight at me. Blood was "gushing" out so badly that I
thought that his jugular vein had been hit. He went stiff on the
controls pushing in right angle and the ship was shaking violently
and going towards a tree in a nose high attitude. I was on the
controls but could hardly go over them and when I told the gunner to
come forward and pull him off the controls the gunner responded that
he couldn't because he was hit. There were still either 6 or 7
people aboard, including the crew of one of the marine aircraft. I
kept after it and McCoig finally went limp and I could move the
controls and tried to keep from hitting the tree or crashing. I was
told to get the aircraft back into the LZ, like I actually had a
chance of doing that, but tried and actually pulled it off. Every
emergency light on the instrument panel was lit and I found out
later that the ship was smoking from somewhere. I shut it down and
things went to hell after that."
HAPPY VALLEY
By Kenneth Embrey, (deceased)
I was the Crew Chief on 227, when it was shot down on March 29,1968,
killing CWO McCoig at an LZ in the Ashau Valley.
I
had only been in country a couple of months when we were called up
to Phu Bai to replace the Rat Pack in support of Project Delta.
I don't remember being there more than 2 or 3 day before we were
shot down. One afternoon right after we got there, while
working on my aircraft, I saw rockets being walked in toward us.
Not knowing exactly what was going on, Sergeant Seaton, who had a
whole lot more experience in the country, informed me that it was
not friendly fire and led the way to the bunker.
I do remember flying a recon mission the day prior to the incident
whereby the LZs to be used that day were determined and saw the
area where the Air Force had blown the canopy off the top of a trail
used by Charlie and there was a convoy of trucks down there that had
quad 50's on them and green tracers the size, to me, of basketballs
were being fired at the aircraft.
The day of the incident was hot and sunny. We left the FOB
around mid day after the officers got a briefing. We were
assigned Recovery (Medical) and would fly behind the Command and
Control Ship. Our job was to pick up wounded or downed members
when C&C told us to.
The mission for the flight that day as I remember it was to insert a
company of ARVN Rangers and some Nungs along with their American
advisors in a combat assault in reaction to intelligence gathered by
Delta in previous days. This was not a typical Delta mission and was
my first hot combat assault.
WO Robin Hicks was the Aircraft Commander, a maintenance warrant
officer, Wendell Allen was the co-pilot and Lionel Wesley was the
Gunner. We also had an SF medic called "Doc" with us. In
addition to our normal equipment, we had a McGuire Rig and a winch
with litter basket.
The combat assault got underway with 3 slicks from the 281st
pulling the initial insertion. For some reason, aircraft 135 went
down in the LZ amidst heavy enemy small arms fire. The other two
came out and a Marine CH46 came in smoking from around the pylon. It
was able to make it out of the LZ but I understand, didn't make it
back to safety. The 2nd
Marine 46 came in and made a hard landing. We were at altitude and
fairly far away and sometimes I was on the wrong side of the ship so
I am not able to describe everything that went on in the LZ up to
that time, but did know that two ships were down in the LZ, aircraft
135 and the Marine 46. I remember lots of discussion over the
radios and I think that aircraft 127 went down and picked up the
crew from 135. Any way, we were all about out of fuel and flew
back to the FOB.
McCoig who along with Norm Kaufman
were the pilots on 135 were at the FOB before we took off again
after refueling. Kaufman was wounded in the foot and went to
the hospital. There had been some discussion on whether or not there
was the possibility of flying 135 out so McCoig volunteered to take
the maintenance officer's place on 227 and for some reason flew left
seat while Robin Hicks moved over to the right seat. We also took on
6 to 8-5 gallon canisters of smoke in the aircraft.
We returned to the LZ.
When we got back to the AO, the guns set up a pattern and we went in
with C&C and kicked off the smoke. By that time the remainder of the
flight caught up with us, went into the LZ to drop off the recovery
and maintenance people for both 135 and the Marine 46 and to pick up
wounded from the ground element. All aircraft including the guns
were reporting ground fire. About that time someone decided that the
LZ wasn't secure enough to conduct recovery operations on the downed
aircraft, so the hole ships were ordered to start picking up the
recovery and maintenance crews. Aircraft 127 made it out but
Aircraft 228 apparently received fire and returned to the LZ and
shut it down. 113 and 129 recovered the crews of 228 and maintenance
personnel and some wounded. Then another Marine 46 crashed hard in
the LZ. We were then directed to move into the LZ to pick up the
crew of the 46. I was on the left side and McCoig had me go hot with
my M60 real early in that that was where all the ground fire was
coming from. Wesley on the other side of the ship couldn't fire
because that was where the friendlies were. I think McCoig flew
into the LZ and we quickly loaded the downed crewmembers from the
46, which with Doc who was already on board made 7 or 8 passengers,
a full load. I think the crew chief from 46 had made it into the
perimeter of the ground element. Upon departure from the LZ we
received ground fire and McCoig was hit with the first bullet
directly in the forehead. Then all hell broke loose. I was out of
M60 ammo by this time and grabbed my M14 and was trying to get a
clip into it. Fuel was flying all over my face. In the meanwhile,
Hicks jumped on the controls as the aircraft went into a nose high
attitude and with a tremendous yaw to the right. He kept screaming
for me to come up and get McCoig off the controls but centrifugal
force was trying to throw me out and I was holding on to anything I
could grab just to stay in the aircraft and could not make it
forward no matter how hard I tried. Finally McCoig relaxed enough to
allow Hicks to regain control and somehow, got us back into the LZ.
Once on the
ground, we continued receiving fire from the tree line but this time
I was on the friendly side [of the aircraft]. Hicks couldn't exit out the right door
because they had us zeroed in and every time he moved his armor
plate they would hit it. He eventually crawled out over the console
and came out the left cargo door. Wesley had made it out somehow and
came crawling under the nose cone with both his and my M60 and all
the ammo that he had left. There was a bomb crater about 20 feet
from where the aircraft landed and using our downed ship to serve as
cover, we eventually made it to the bomb crater. After the fire died
down a little, due in large part to Air Force fighters working the
tree line, we recovered McCoig's body and moved it inside the
perimeter of a defensive position that a small Ranger Team had
established next to the LZ. By this time darkness and bad weather
forced us to remain on the ground that night. We received steady
mortar, B40, and small arms fire all night.
Real early the next morning we were told that a large NVA force was
headed our way, and that we needed to find an LZ which could be used
to recover our dead and wounded. We headed out with first me and
Wesley and then Hicks and a Marine LT carrying McCoig's body. There
were several dead and wounded in our group. One Ranger had taken a
direct hit from a mortar and didn't take a very big poncho to carry
his remains. The gunner from the 46 was real unlucky. He had been
hit in the left side when we loaded him, then he took another round
in his lower gut when we came back in the LZ. He died after we got
him in the perimeter. One Special Forces guy had two bullets in the
chest and was white as a sheet from the loss of blood but walked out
of that mess.
We moved toward the river and with all that water around us, we had
nothing to drink. Man, I was thirsty. At the time, I was carrying a
wounded Special Forces Captain web gear. It had a canteen with some
purifying tablets taped to it so I filled it with that nasty river
water, threw in a handful of tablets, shook it a couple times and
drank it down.
We walked all morning, then all afternoon. The terrain, once we got
out of the river, was real dense bush. I can remember seeing
aircraft of all makes and services in the air and the artillery from
Firebase Bastogne was pounding the mountains surrounding us. The
weather had lifted and it was hot and muggy in the jungle and my
mouth was dry as a bone. The SF guy with the two holes in his chest
gave me some hard candy but I couldn't develop enough spit to
swallow it. Sometime in the late afternoon of that day, we located a
clearing that could be used as a pickup point. We watched the guns
work over the sides of the PZ and between the napalm and other work,
the PZ was secure. Just before dusk, we got out of that place.
Marine 46s picked up the dead and wounded first and even 281st
aircraft were there. Some people were sent to Bastogne (where I
heard they got attacked that night) in order to get a shorter turn
around time but I was one of the last out and got a ride all the way
back to the FOB.
I don't remember how many days we stayed at the FOB before we went
back to Nha Trang but it wasn't long. Once back, I was assigned
another ship but got real deep in to the bottle and eventually asked
to be reassigned to Maintenance Platoon where I stayed the remainder
of my tour. Most everything after that day is blurred in my memory
due either to the alcohol or my mind giving me some relief from the
guilt, fear, and other emotions I felt at the time. K.E.
John Galkiewicz "Bandit"
11/67-8/68
115 Nevils St, POB-20,
Harrogate, TN 37752-0020
Tel: 423-869-8138
E-mail: galkie@hotmail.com
"I'm glad he had a hand in teaching me how to "really" fly. He
was the one that nicknamed me 'The Kid.' I sure hope his kin visit
the 281st website. I remember he could have been a double for Steve
McQueen (the actor). I also remember that he had a prized "Cobra"
sports car that he liked to race."
Joseph Baldwin
9/67-3/68
1746 Palmland Drive
Boynton Beach, FL 33436
Tel: 561-737-7319
E-mail:
Joseph.Baldwin@BethesdaHealthcare.com
"I flew with Mr. Mac many times and he was a gentleman and a kind
man...Every time I needed some one to start up a chopper to test out
an engine or track blades he was more than willing to work with us
on the ground....Some times our maintenance officer was busy with
something, Mr. Mac would test fly the chopper for us...I think of
him always. I visited the wall and found his name on it...I cried
when I touched his name....I will always remember him and all the
other men of the 281st...They where and are a great bunch of
men.....Lets keep the rotors turning"....
Mike Cook donated these sample 281st AHC patches that he has been carrying around for over 30 years. Mike's story was that way back when, the 281st leadership was trying to come up with the unit patch, Don McCoig had these designs made up as examples of possible patches. Obviously, none of these was adopted, but McCoig kept these designs and apparently Mike ended up with them.
From: Bob "Mop" Mitchell, 281st AHC Historian
"Bandit 24" 5/69-5/70
617 Diamond Grove Rd.
Pinson, TN 38366
Tel: 901-424-7276
E-mail: [Bob is now deceased.]
(NOTE: Bob kindly
researched the operations reports that covered the mission for which
Don and Robin Hicks were flying support.)
The following are excerpts from 5th Special Forces Group, DET B-52,
Project Delta After Action Report for Operation 68-2:
Codename: Samurai IV DTG [date time group]: 030468-040468
Tactical Area of Responsibility: A Shau Valley
The first narrative is that of MAJ Charles Allen, Commander Project
Delta:
"(4) 29 March 1968. During the support of an infiltration of two
Ranger companies, one UH-1H was shot down, but the crewmembers
managed to make a soft landing on the LZ. The enemy fire wounded the
pilot lightly. The next aircraft into the LZ dropped their
passengers off and picked up the crew to the downed aircraft. A
Marine CH-46, attempting to extract recovery personnel who had been
placed in the LZ, was shot down in the LZ. A 281st UH-1H landed to
pick up the Marine crew and was on the way out of the LZ when it
received enemy fire, which killed the aircraft commander and damaged
the aircraft so that it had to land on the same LZ again. One other
UH-1H and another CH-46 were shot down in the vicinity of the LZ."
The following excerpt is from Annex C, 281st AHC Aviation
Support, to AAR 68-2 Operation Samurai IV written by (unsigned, but
probably a joint effort between 1LT Carney, S3 Air for Project
Delta, and the 281st AHC Commander):
"bb. 29 Mar 68: DTG: 290615H Mar Project Delta FOB received
estimated 12 rounds of 122mm rocket fire. 3 rounds landed inside
perimeter. Neg casualties or damage sustained. 1st lift 91st Abn
Ranger Bn (-) and CIDG Nung BDA Plat inserted into LZ in center of
ARCLIGHT strike zone vic coord YD554037. TAC air prep and gunship
placed suppressive fire around LZ prior to insertion at DTG:
291030H, Bn HQ reported receiving M-79 fire on the LZ. At DTG:
291032H during second lift one UH-1H A/C [McCoig, Kaufman, Robb
and Schleher] crashed on LZ, crew extracted DTG: 291045H
remainder of second lift inserted into LZ. During insertion SA/AW
fire and est B-40 low ground vic coord YD553040. TAC air and
helicopters placed suppressive fire with negative results. By DTG:
291500H ground fire had subsided with only sporadic SA fire. 30
additional personnel from 1st Ranger Co, Recon Team 3 and helicopter
maintenance personnel were inserted into LZ. A smoke screen was
placed on ridge line to the West of LZ by Delta air elements, while
maintenance personnel rigged UH-1H and CH-46 helicopters for
extraction. By DTG: 291545H Ranger elem. reported they had been
receiving sporadic but steadily increasing to heavy W, M and M-79
fire from the West and North of the LZ. Gunship and TAC air support
was employed. DTG: 291600H 1 CH-46 crashed on LZ, hit by MG and SA
fire, at 1603 1 UH-1H A/C shot down in LZ, at 1606 helicopter which
was hit by enemy fire returned to LZ and crashed
[Hicks, McCoig, Embry, Wesley]. Ground fire had increased and
fire was received from the West, Northwest and East of the LZ. TAC
air and armed helicopters placed continuous suppressive fire
utilizing both light and heavy ordnance. One CH-46, with cal sign
SPACE 1-5 ceased communications at DTG: 291610H Mar. DTG: 291749H
Sr. Ranger Adv reported continuing heavy contact and trying to break
contact and move to the high ground. Adverse weather conditions
closed over Delta AO causing TAC air support to terminate. Spooky
arr. on station DTG: 291900H to continue support."
From: Stephen A. Matthews
"Rat Pack 15" 6/68-6/69
30 SW Pepper Tree Lane
Topeka, KS 66611
Tel: 785-267-1635
(NOTE: Steve kindly researched the unit records and provided the
following information.)
The full AAR, contributed by Ken Kunke, then Asst. Ops. Officer, to the VHPA, is
located
[here].
An excerpt from the 281st AHC After Action Report
written by MAJ Bobby Sinclair, 281st AHC Air Mission Commander for
Delta Operation 68-2.
"... Feeling that an even chance existed to recover the
crew of Space 1-6 [Marine CH-46], I directed Intruder 227
[Hicks, McCoig, Embry, Wesley], the medical recovery helicopter,
into the landing zone to recover this crew. Intruder 227 landed in
the landing zone, reported three crew members on board and exited to
the north. I observed 227 on take off, received a call saying "We're
hit, hit bad!" I immediately queried "Who's hit and where are you?"
The reply was "This is 227, McCoig is on the controls, I can't get
him off and don't know whether I can control it or not!" I had been
maintaining visual contact with 227, observed him in an extremely
nose high right turn approximately 300 meters north of the landing
zone. I advised 227 to have a crewmember get the Aircraft Commander
off the controls, to continue his turn and try to make it back to
the landing zone. 227 reported that he would try to make it but that
the engine oil pressure had dropped to zero. I observed the
helicopter return to the landing zone, land and shut down....
Just prior to departing the area to regroup
and organize another extraction attempt of the downed crews and
ground force casualties I received word that Warrant Officer McCoig
had been killed, the other Intruder crewmembers were OK and that one
Space 1-6 crewmember was seriously wounded....
A recovery flight was organized to attempt
extraction of the wounded and dead, however before it could be
launched the Delta FAC reported that low ceilings had sealed off the
area. He stated that it would be impossible to maintain visual
flight into the area. The decision was rendered to delay further
recovery attempts until the weather improved. Reports received
during the night revealed that the enemy maintained continual
pressure on the ground elements; engaged in frequent probing attacks
around their perimeter and gradually reduced their combat
effectiveness as reflected by the casualty figures....
The morning of 30 March arrived with low
ceilings and low visibility prevailing. Extraction of the ground
force with its mounting casualties could not be attempted until the
weather broke. Throughout the morning and early afternoon the enemy
force maintained continual pressure on the ground elements. An NVA
prisoner was captured by the ground force during the day and his
interrogation revealed that an NVA Battalion was moving toward the
friendly position from the northeast. It appeared as though total
annihilation of the ground forces was a possibility to be
considered....
At approximately mid-afternoon the weather
broke sufficiently for TAC air to strike around the perimeter of the
friendly elements...
All available aviation support was
requested to extract the unit, however by 1700 that afternoon all
that had arrived on station were 3 Dust OFF helicopters from the
571st Medical Co (Air Amb), and two MAG-36 CH-46 helicopters. ....
It was decided that complete extraction of all elements would be
attempted with resources then available.
With this limited support the lift began at
1820 hours: An hour and three minutes later the landing zone was
cleared. ... Space 1-1 with full knowledge that gunship
support was no longer available, reported he would attempt to
extract all remaining personnel if I could vector him through the
smoke to the landing zone. This was successfully accomplished and
the extraction from this area was completed. ....
Although it is difficult to distinguish and
separate the degrees of heroism displayed by personnel involved in
this action I feel four aviators deserve consideration for award of
the Distinguished Service Cross or its equivalency. These being
first of all Warrant Officer Donald B. McCoig., as Aircraft
Commander of Intruder 227, when he, at complete disregard for his
own safety, piloted his aircraft back into a landing zone in
which he had previously been downed in an attempt to recover
fellow aircrew members. With full knowledge
that at least four additional helicopters had met a similar fate,
he landed, loaded the crew on board and received fatal wounds while
exiting the landing zone.
Secondly, Warrant Officer Robin K. Hicks
who regained control of the mortally stricken helicopter
after Warrant Officer McCoig had been hit and returned it to the
landing zone through a withering hail of gunfire. This action
allowed the crewmen on board to link up with friendly elements....
BOBBY SINCLAIR
Major, Infantry
Executive Officer
From: Robert J. "Mo" Moberg
Delta Operations
Commander and 281st AHC Executive Officer
"Bandit 26, Intruder 5" 67-68
Jusmagthai Box R3183
APO AP 96546
E-mail: [deceased]
"Robin: Don Ruskauff wrote me about McCoig and you after I left.
I sat in the Infantry Bar and cried. God bless you and Mac."
This tribute to WO Donald "Mac" McCoig was prepared in connection with 10th Combat Aviation Battalion Memorial & Dedications by the 10th Aviation Brigade at Ft. Drum, NY. The 10th AVN BGD dedicated five Aviation Brigade buildings (Avn Bde HQ, 2-10 Avn HQ, 2-10 Avn hangar, 1-10 Avn hangar, and 3/17 Cav hangar) to 10th CAB individuals. The individual from the 281st AHC which they selected was WO Donald B. McCoig.
COL
(Ret) Jack Mayhew represented the 281st AHC, and spoke of
Donald, Robin, Ken, and
Lionel on
behalf of the 281st AHC.
McCoig Dedication
A MAN IS NOT DEAD UNTIL HE IS FORGOTTEN
ONCE AN INTRUDER ... ALWAYS AN INTRUDER
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Your page editor added this area in April, 2020 to contain the complete after action Statement of
Maj. Bobby Sinclair, the XO and mission commander.
An excerpt of the report appears WO1 McCoig memorial page.
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The VHPA acquired these images from Ken Kunke, who served as Assistant Operations Officer at the time.
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ONCE AN INTRUDER ... ALWAYS AN INTRUDER