I Watched the Chopper Fall Out of the Sky

In February I was pulled out of the field, assigned the position of company armor. My job was to inventory and maintain the weapons for the company. I had no special training but had a great Battalion Armor that was anxious to share his knowledge so I could repair more of the weapons in the field.

As armor I went to the field most every log day and took spare parts and extra weapons along with the food, water and possibly clean clothes.

As you know Delta Company had a major contact with the enemy on April 20th 1971. The company directed a lot of ordinance on the enemy bunker complex for three days and were finally able to extract the three bodies lost in the first few minutes of the battle.

On April 23 the company was able to return to FSB Fontaine. I met them there and I was to inventory all the weapons, assess the damage and send a message back to my Battalion Armor requesting parts to be sent out from Bien Hoa the following morning.

On the morning of April 24 I was elated when not only did all the parts arrive but they were carried personally by none other than Richard Colburn the Battalion Armor.

Richard had spent a previous tour as a grunt with the 4th Division and had what was assumed to be a safe job in the rear on this his second tour.

We worked together all day and completed the repairs.

Towards evening he and I strolled towards the helicopter pad to return to Bien Hoa — and at the last minute the load master tapped me on the shoulder and said I had been bumped off the flight.

I waved goodbye and watched the helicopter take off and began to figure out where I would find a place to sleep that night — and as I pondered, I saw the chopper fall out of the sky.

Delta Company had a quick reaction group flown to the site to secure the area and treat the victims. Another platoon put on heavy rucks and humped out to the site for night security, and then we returned to Fontaine.

The pilot, co-pilot, and Richard were the three casualties on the flight.

Nathan Stanfield was the door gunner on the flight and had his arm pinned under the bottom skid of the ship. I have connected with him and he is a part of the D2/8 group.

Our next fire base was named Fanning in honor of the pilot who died.

In 2021 we had a memorial for Richard in his hometown and I got to hug his sister. She was so happy to find out she was not the only one to remember him. I still have a hard time knowing he died because he came to Fontaine just to help me.