BROWN, HARRY WILLIS
Name: Harry Willis Brown
Rank/Branch: E5/US Army
Unit: 50th Medical Detachment, 43rd Medical Group, 44th Medical Brigade
Date of Birth: 16 August 1943
Home City of Record: Charleston SC
Date of Loss: 12 February 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 121721N 1074713E (ZU030600)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1H
Refno: 1046
Other Personnel In Incident: Wade L. Groth, Alan W. Gunn, Jerry L. Roe (all
missing)
Source: Compiled from one or more of the following: raw data from U.S.
Government agency sources, correspondence with POW/MIA families,
published sources, interviews. Updated by the P.O.W. NETWORK in 2000.
REMARKS:
SYNOPSIS: On February 12, 1968, SP5 Harry Brown, medic; 1Lt. Jerry Roe,
aircraft commander; WO Alan Gunn, pilot; and SP4 Wade Groth, crewchief, were
flying a UH1H (tail #66-17027) dispatched on a night medical evacuation
mission (dustoff). Dustoff 90 departed Ban Me Thuot, South Vietnam for Gia
Nghai Special Forces camp.
As U.S. Air Force Tactical Control Radar operators at Ban Me Thuot tracked
the flight, the blip that was the UH1H dustoff chopper disappeared from the
screen at 2019 hours. The helicopter apparently went down 20 minutes
outbound from its base in a mountainous region of Quang Duc Province.
An Army Infantry unit searched the apparent crash site near the Cambodian
border for 36 hours, but found neither the helicopter nor its crew. Snipers
were not known to be in the area, and it is not believed the helicopter was
shot down, according to an Army report, indicating possible mechanical
trouble.
In April 1969, CIA was asked to analyze the positive identifications made by
a rallier of a number of photographs of missing Americans. The rallier
selected the photos of both Harry Brown and Jerry Roe as two men he believed
to have been prisoners of war. CIA could not determine why the source
selected them.
In 1979, Sean O'Toolis, an Irish-American, was touring Bong Song Camp, 40
miles south of Hanoi, on an IRA gun-buying mission, when he alleges he met
and spoke with American prisoners, Brendon Foley and Wade Groth, a prison
workmate of Foley's. He also claims to have talked to men named MacDonald,
Jenning and an O'Hare or O'Hara. He brought a message to Foley's brother and
fingerprints of Foley and O'Hara. He identified old photos of Groth, and
gave believable descriptions of Foley and Groth. Neither family knows
whether or not to believe O'Toolis, as much of his account of his travels
seems incorrect.
Whether the four men aboard the dustoff lost on February 12, 1968 survived
to be captured is unknown. The coincidence of two separate sources
identifying three members of the crew seems to strong to ignore. The U.S.
Government does not believe there is any substance to these reports. Based
on thousands of still-classified sighting reports, many experts believe
hundreds of Americans did survive, and are still alive, waiting to be
brought home. If even one is alive, he must be brought home.
=======================
Heart of Illinois POW/MIA Association Newsletter
May-June 2000
What Happened to Dustoff 90?
On February 12, 1968, a bustoff (Army unarmed medical evacuation helicopter)
departed Ban Me Thuot, RVN enroute to Gia Nghia, Republic of Vietnam in
response to an urgent medevcac request for two wounded Army of the Republic
of Vietnam soldiers. On board was lLT. Jerry L. Roe (Callsign Dustoff 90)
Aircraft Commander, WOI Alan W. 6unn, pilot, Sp5 Wade L. 'Red' Groth, Crew
Chief, SP5 Harry W. Brown, Flight Medic. They never made it to their
destination.
For some reason the helicopter crashed approximately 25 to 30 meters from
the top of VC Mountain in triple jungle. Over the next few days an extensive
search of the area was carried out using all available Army and Air Force
assets in the area. The only lead was "fire and light" seen on the mountain
by an AlE Skyraider pilot on the night of the crash, and their last known
position on radar. Flare and gunships of the 155th Aviation Company from
Ban Me Thuot responded along with an Air Force "Spooky", but they found
nothing. Dustoff 90 and crew was listed as Missing in Action.
In 1970, a pilot back for his second tour of duty with the 155th Aviation
Co., at Ban Me Thuot found the helicopter. He contacted Major Ron Porto, the
former Executive Officer of Dustoff 90's unit, the 50th Medical Detachment
(Helicopter Ambulance) by telephone. Major Portci was also back for his
second tour, this time with a Dustoff unit in Can Tho, RVN, as the
Commanding Officer.
This conversation was witnessed by Jack Tragis, LTC (Ret), who told Ron
Porta, "You should have seen your face", when he received the call. Major
Porta wasn't prepared for this kind of call, and it was a shock to him.
The voice on the other end of the phone explained that he had found the lost
helicopter. The helicopter was intact, the insulation, seats, and rotor
blades were missing. Someone had been lowered to the ground to examine the
aircraft and surrounding area. He found no weapons, but did find expended
ammunition, port of a flak jacket, and a jungle boot. It was plainly
evident that the crew could have survived the crash. Unfortunately, no
one officially recorded or reported this discovery to our knowledge.
In 1970, a North Vietnamese Army deserter in Hue was asked to look at a book
containing of missing Americans. He selected photographs of 1LT. Roe and
Sp5 Brown saying, he had seen these men in captivity. These photographs
were arranged alphabetically in the book, placing the photos of Roe and
Brown widely separated on different pages. Military Intelligence personnel
regarded this as a coincidence. Military Intelligence disregarded the
statement of the deserter.
In 1978, an Irish Republican Army gunmmrunner by the name of Sean O'Tollis
had an hour-long conversation with three American POWs workding on a section
of the railroad outside of Bong Son. One of these men was a red haired
freckle-faced American who said he was named Groth. The men were under
guard, and obviously in captivity. He went on to describe in detail this
prisoner of war for artists, and came up with a drawing that greatly
resembled Wade L. Groth. Mr. O'Tollis also provided investigators with a
finger print of one of the other men and something else that identified the
other POW. Since Sean O'Tollis was an IRA gunrunner, in the opinion of our
government, his word couldn't be trusted, and his statements were also
disregarded.
On October 26, 1992, our investigators were searching for the remains of our
Missing in Action in Vietnam, found Dustoff 90's helicopter again. This
time essentially the some things were found. They found spent amnwnition, a
boot, part of a flak jacket, and of course what remained of a helicopter.
Large portions of the helicopter had been scavenged for its aluminum. In
addition they found spent ammunition from an M-79 grenade launcher, parts of
an M-16 rifle, and a 30 Caliber Carbine or M-14 rifle, and part of the rotor
blade. The one thing that clearly stands out in the report is that they
felt the crew had perished in the crash. They're findings were based on a
large burn area at the site. They hadn't seen the helicopter intact as the
155th Aviation had found it. During the war, it was common practice to
destroy a helicopter which couldn't be sold. The helicopter usually was
destroyed in place with C-4, an explosive compound, or with rockets launched
from other helicopters. The search team left the area feeling the case was
closed. They expressed fear of returning to this site because of leeches
and deadly poisonous snakes in the area. They were also concerned about
active FULRO (freedon fighters) in the area, and the need for additional
security personnel.
Were our investigators just trying to close another chapter of the POW/MIA
Issue? The investigators had no knowledge of the helicopter being located
in 1970. Nor did they know of the phone conversation between Maj. Porto
and the caller from Ban Me Thuot. This information was reported to DPMO
(the folks who are trying to close the POW/MIA issue by not trying to find
anyone) by Pon Porta, LTC (Ret) and by Jack Trogis, LTC (Ret). Neither has
heard a word from DPMO. They haven't been interviewed by DPMO. It's hard
to sweep someone under the carpet when there are witnesses. These men: Cpt.
Terry Lee Roe, SSG Harry W. Brown, and SSG Wade L. Groth were lost seen in
captivity. The Vietnamese were holding them. They were ALIVE !
I will let you draw your own conclusions, but let me say this: Korean POWs
who had been held in the coal mines of North Korea since the Korean war,
have escaped and returned to South Korea since 1995. A large number of
Japanese POW's from World War II held by the Soviets in the Siberian Gulags
were released in 1995. If Korean and Japanese can survive years of
captivity, why can't Americans survive in the hell we knew as Vietnam?
Dustoff still has one mission out!
Dan "Hoss" Caldwell
498th Medical Company (AA) RVN
50th Medical Detachment (HA) RVN
212th Medical Detachment (HA) Ft. Meade, MD
On Feb 12, 1968, SP5 Harry W. Brown
took my place aboard Dustoff 90 at
Ban Me Thout, Republic of Vietnam.
Looking for anyone with info concerning Dustoff 90 helicopter being
found by the 155th Avn, Special Forces personnel, or Air Force
personnel assigned to Ban Me Thout in 1970.
Don (Hoss) Caldwell
3760 University Blvd South #1096
Jacksonville, FL 32216
(904) 731-5037
email: artnhoss@bellsouth.net
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