DEMSEY, WALTER EDWARD JR.

Name: Walter Edward Demsey Jr.
Rank/Branch: E4/US Army
Unit: Company A, 101st Aviation Battalion, 101st Airborne Division
Date of Birth: 17 September 1949 (Philadelphia PA)
Home City of Record: Glendora NJ
Date of Loss: 18 February 1971
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 160431N 1071910E (YC481785)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1H
Refno: 1706

Other Personnel in Incident: George P. Berg; Gary L. Johnson; Gerald E.
Woods (all missing from UH1H); Allen R. Lloyd; Ronald L. Watson (missing
from Special Forces team)

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 1998.

REMARKS: KIA CRASH - REMS TAGD - NO RECV - J

SYNOPSIS: WO Gerald E. Woods, pilot; WO George P. Berg, aircraft commander;
SP4 Gary L. Johnson, door gunner; SP4 Walter Demsey, crew chief; were
assigned to Company A, 101st Aviation Battalion, 101st Airborne Division. On
February 18, 1971, their UH1H was dispatched as part of a flight of four on
an emergency patrol extraction mission on the west side of the A Shau Valley
in Thua Tin Province, South Vietnam. The patrol to be rescued included Sgt.
Allen R. Lloyd, Capt. Ronald L. Watson and SFC Samuel Hernandez, part of
Special Operations Augmentation, Command & Control North, 5th Special Forces
Group.

The team was assigned to MACV-SOG (Military Assistance Command, Vietnam
Studies and Observation Group). MACV-SOG was a joint service high command
unconventional warfare task force engaged in highly classified operations
throughout Southeast Asia. The 5th Special Forces channeled personnel into
MACV-SOG (although it was not a Special Forces group) through Special
Operations Augmentation (SOA), which provided their "cover" while under
secret orders to MACV-SOG. The teams performed deep penetration missions of
strategic reconnaissance and interdiction which were called, depending on
the time frame, "Shining Brass" or "Prairie Fire" missions.

During the attempt to recover the patrol, Woods' helicopter came under heavy
fire and had to leave the pick-up zone with Lloyd, Watson and Hernandez
attached to the three-staple rig. While in flight, the rope broke, and
Hernandez fell 30-40 feet, landing in double canopy jungle. He was rescued
the following day. The helicopter continued a short distance, and was hit by
enemy anti-aircraft fire, crashed and burned.

On February 19, a Special Forces recovery team was inserted at the crash
site to search the area. Woods and Berg were found dead in their seats.
Johnson's body was found in a tree. One leg of Demsey, the burned crew
chief, was found in the cargo compartment. All remains were prepared for
extraction, and the team left to establish a night defensive position. En
route, the team found the remains of Lloyd and Watson, still on their rope
slings, in the trees on the edge of a cliff. Because of the rugged terrain
and approaching darkness, the rescue team leader decided to wait until
morning to recover these two remains. However, the following morning, the
search team came under intense fire, and the team leader requested an
emergency extraction, and in doing so, left all remains behind.

All the crew and passengers on board the UH1H downed on the border of Laos
and Vietnam west of the A Shau Valley that day were confirmed dead. It is
unfortunate, but a reality of war that their remains were left behind out of
necessity to protect the lives of the search team who found them. They are
listed with honor among the missing because their remains cannot be buried
with honor at home.

The crew and passengers lost on February 18 are among nearly 600 Americans
listed as missing in Laos. Although the Pathet Lao stated publicly they held
American Prisoners of War, they insisted that they would only be released
from Laos. Because the U.S. did not recognize the communist government of
Laos, no negotiations were ever conducted for Americans held in Laos. Not
one American has been released from Laos.

As thousands of reports mount indicating that many American prisoners are
still held in Southeast Asia, one wonders if we will ever be able to bring
the Vietnam War to an honorable end - by bringing all our soldiers home.

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