Incident Date 19671130 HMM-362 UH-34D 148810+ – Hostile Fire, Crash
[CREW]
Kisucky, Anthony Edward 1stLT Co-Pilot HMM-362 MAG-16 1967-11-30 (vvm 31E:013)
Hays, William Brian Cpl Crew HMM-362 MAG-16 1967-11-30 (vvm 31E:012)
Darrow, Donnie Len Maj Pilot HMM-362 MAG-16 1967-11-30 (vvm 31E:010)
Bird III, George Allison Cpl Crew HMM-362 MAG-16 1967-11-30 (vvm 31E:009)
KISUCKY ANTHONY EDWARD : 0100627 : USMCR : 1stLT : O2 : 7561 H-34 : 23 : CHICAGO : IL : 19671130 : hostile, crash, land : Crew : body recovered : Thua Thien (Hue) :06 : 19440618 : Cauc : Roman Catholic/single : 31E : 013
HAYS WILLIAM BRIAN : 2125349 : USMC : CPL : E4 : 6320 : 19 : BATON ROUGE : LA: 19671130 : hostile, crash, land : Crew : body recovered : Thua Thien (Hue) :03: 19480904 : Cauc : Protestant/single : 31E : 012
DARROW DONNIE LEN : 079529 : USMC : MAJ : O4 : 7561 H-34 : 30 : LEBANON : MO :19671130 : hostile, crash, land : AircraftCommander : body recovered : Thua Thien (Hue) :08 : 19370119 : Cauc : Protestant/married : 31E : 010
BIRD GEORGE ALLISON III : 2256845 : USMC : CPL : E4 : 6320 : 21 : SAVANNAH : GA : 19671130 : hostile, crash, land : Crew : body recovered : Thua Thien (Hue) :02 : 19460301 : Cauc : Roman Catholic/single : 31E : 009
MAG-36 RECORDS
“On 22 November 1968 the wreckage of a UH-34D (YL-42) was found 7 kilometers east of Phu Loc…aircraft crashed into Dong Nhut Mountain while in clouds at night by the 1st ARVN Division, 154th Regiment. The wreckage was identified as an HMM-362 aircraft missing since 30 November 1967. The remains of 4 crewmen were found and removed to the mortuary at Da Nang.”
Submitted by: N/A, 20030815
PERSONAL NARRATIVE
I know that Tony Kisucky was a MARCAD. We went through the training command in close proximity in time to each other.
I was with HMM-363, but I remember that night and remember that they were in the Da Nang area that day working Frag orders……
On the 29th I flew 8.8 hrs with McIlvain out of MMAF and it seems to me that Tony’s bird had come down from Phu Bai and at the end of the day, early evening, the weather was very similar to the night Jack Warner and I recall from my crash 680326. Monsoon, rainy, low clouds, not a day/night to fly in….. (one to sit it out until morning at least)
Our squadron offered them a place to stay that night but the Maj decided to head home.
The next day I was Capt. Joe Clark’s copilot and we (according to my flight log 0.3 hr) were in Chu Lai on the 30th…. and again on the 3rd of December, still with Capt Clark 3.5 hr; word came down that Tony and crew never arrived back at Phu Bai.
It seems to me the Maj. was going to fly using TACAN headings to return to their base.
Perhaps these are just cloudy memories of a time long ago. I couldn’t remember Tony’s last name but knew when he had disappeared….. and just started searching the data base and it hit me when I saw his name and the incident date. I am almost positive it was a weather related incident and not “hostile fire + crash”….. perhaps I am wrong, but we know what the weather was like in those months of the year. [The report of “hostile fire” is from the official government records]
Submitted by: Brook Stevenson, acquaintance of casualty, 20040701