| HMM-262 COMBAT HELICOPTER ASSOCIATION |
| Home of the Tigers in Vietnam 1966-71 and Iraq 2007 |
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Incident Date 680228 CH-46D 153360+ Benigni, Alfredo CPL CrewChief HMM-262 680228 [Passengers]
BENIGNI ALFREDO : 2174301 : USMCR : CPL : E4 : 6313 : 20 : FOLSOM : PA : 19680228 : hostile, crash, land : CrewChief : body recovered : Quang Tri :02 : 19470511 : Cauc : Roman Catholic/married : 41E : 059 GARD DANNY D : 2158322 : USMCR : CPL : E4 : 6320 : 21 : BALLINGER : TX : 19680228 : hostile, crash, land : Crew : body recovered : Quang Tri :02 : 19460806 : Cauc : Protestant/single : 41E : 065 MCCABE MARC WAYNE : 2181347 : USMCR :SGT : E5 : 6212 : 22 : MENLO PARK : CA : 19680228 : hostile, crash, land : Crew : body recovered : Quang Tri :02 : 19451003 : Cauc : Protestant/single : 41E : 070 THOTLAND JOHN ALFRED : 2162806 : USMCR : LCPL : E3 : 6212 : 20 : MINNEAPOLIS : MN : 19680228 : hostile, crash, land : Crew : body recovered : Quang Tri :02 : 19471011 : Cauc : Protestant/single : 42E : 001 MEIXNER EDWIN GEORGE : 078246 : USMCR : MAJ : O4 : 7562 (H-46) : 29 : ALVA : OK : 19680228 : hostile, crash, land : Aircraft Commander : body recovered : Quang Tri :10 : 19380629 : Cauc : Protestant/married : 41E : 069 TOTH JOHN PAUL : 2122035 : USMCR :SGT : E5 : 6320 : 22 : TOLEDO : OH : 19680228 : hostile, crash, land : Crew : body recovered : Quang Tri :03 : 19450422 : Cauc : Catholic/single : 42E : 002 SEVELL ROBERT LEE : 093427 : USMC : CAPT : O3 : 7562 (H-46) : 24 : CLARK : NJ : 19680228 : hostile, crash, land : Copilot : body recovered : Quang Tri :02 : 19430423 : Cauc : Roman Catholic/married : 41E : 072 BRADLEY KENNETH ROBERT : 2179251 : USMCR : CPL : E4 : 6320 : 20 : CEDAR LAKE : IN : 19680228 : hostile, crash, land : Passenger : body recovered : Quang Tri :02 : 19470408 : Cauc : Protestant/married : 41E : 059 BALADES DAVID ZAVALA : 2127880 : USMCR :PFC : E2 : 1341 : 20 : OXNARD : CA : 19680228 : hostile, crash, land : Passenger : body recovered : Quang Tri :02 : 19471020 : Cauc : Roman Catholic/married : 41E : 058 CALDWELL ROBERT EDWARD : 2302017 : USMCR : CPL : E4 : 0331 : 20 : CHARLOTTE : NC : 19680228 : hostile, crash, land : Passenger : body recovered : Quang Tri :01 : 19470423 : Cauc : Protestant/single : 41E : 060 CHRISTMAN RONALD S H : 2279648 : USMC : LCPL : E3 : 6320 : 19 : LEHIGHTON : PA : 19680228 : hostile, crash, land : Passenger : body recovered : Quang Tri :01 : 19480601 : Cauc : Protestant/single : 41E : 060 COLES KYLE J : 2275627 : USMCR : LCPL : E3 : 0441 : 21 : SALT LAKE CITY : UT : 19680228 : hostile, crash, land : Passenger : body recovered : Quang Tri :01 : 19470205 : Cauc : Protestant/single : 41E : 061 COOPER DONALD NATHANIEL : 2241658 : USMCR : CPL : E4 : 6320 : 22 : BIG BEAR LAKE : CA : 19680228 : hostile, crash, land : Passenger : body recovered :Quang Tri :02 : 19450423 : Cauc : Protestant/married : 41E : 062 DEMPSEY RONALD LEE : 2150817 : USMCR : CPL : E4 : 3531 : 20 : EVANSVILLE : IN : 19680228 : hostile, crash, land : Passenger : body recovered : Quang Tri :02 : 19471208 : Cauc : Protestant/single : 41E : 063 DWYER MATTHEW MURICE JR : 2104947 : USMCR : LCPL : E3 : 1371 : 21 : NUTLEY : NJ : 19680228 : hostile, crash, land : Passenger : body recovered : Quang Tri :03 : 19461115 : Cauc : Protestant/single : 41E : 063 ELLIS JOHN PATRICK : 087066 : USMCR : CAPT : posthumous promotion : O2 : 7002 : 32 : COCHRAN : GA : 19680228 : hostile, crash, land : Passenger : body recovered : Quang Tri : 14 : 19360127 : Cauc : Protestant/married : 41E : 064 MIKELS JAMES HERBERT JR : 2137733 : USMCR : SGT : E5 : 0141 : 20 : WHEELING : WV : 19680228 : hostile, crash, land : Passenger : body recovered : Quang Tri :03 : 19471030 : Cauc : Protestant/single : 41E : 069 PARSONS CHARLES EDWARD : 2117797 : USMCR : SGT : E5 : 2542 : 21 : SPRINGFIELD : MA : 19680228 : hostile, crash, land : Passenger : body recovered : Quang Tri : 03 : 19460917 : Cauc : Roman Catholic/single : 41E : 070 STANTON EMMETT CHARLES : 2241061 : USMCR : PFC : E2 : 0341 : 20 : LITTLE ROCK : AR : 19680228 : hostile, crash, land : Passenger : body recovered : Quang Tri : 00 : 19471103 : Negro : Protestant/single : 41E : 074 STULL JAY WEBSTER : 080518 : USMCR : CAPT : O3 : 0332 : 29 : RIVERSIDE : CT : 19680228 : hostile, crash, land : Passenger : body recovered : Quang Tri :10 : 19381023 : Cauc : Protestant/married : 41E : 069 TURNER WILLIAM OLIVER : 2172336 : USMCR : CPL : E4 : 1341 : 21 : PHENIX CITY : AL : 19680228 : hostile, crash, land : Passenger : body recovered : Quang Tri : 02 : 19460725 : Cauc : Protestant/married : 42E : 001
The narrative which follows was provided by Corporal Kellan "K-Bar" Kyllo, 1966-1968, crewchief of the lead aircraft of a mission involved two HMM-262 aircraft that launched from Quang Tri with the destination of Khe Sanh for the purpose of taking a recovery crew to repair an A/C at the Khe Sanh Combat Base. "... Fred Benigni was the crewchief (of the chase aircraft) but I don't remember which men were the two gunners, the extra crewmembers were members of the recovery team. I was in the lead plane. The HAC (helicopter commander of the lead aircraft) was Capt. Conroy. Major Meixner commanded the chase plane. My aircraft had just crossed over a ridge at tree top level that was thick blanket of fog. When the chase plane crossed the ridge at almost that same spot, the aircraft radioed that they had taken automatic weapons fire. There were no further communications. The aircraft then banked to the right and started to descend towards the valley at a high rate of speed. There was a yellow-white fire in the aft of the cabin that could be seen through the cabin portholes. The fire moved towards the front of cabin and consumed the entire cabin. The aircraft hit the valley floor at full speed. The crash extinguished the fire. We circled around the crash site and considered landing with the Marines we had aboard and looking for survivors. The pilot requested fixed wing support and was told that it wouldn't be available until that afternoon, so we returned to Quang Tri. When a team from another squadron returned to the crash site they said Danny Gard was still alive, we were told he died that next day." "K-Bar" Kyllo Crew Chief
The following account is an amplification of the previous information. LtCol. M. J. Steinberg was the commanding officer of the squadron at the time. "...The pilots of that ill fated aircraft were Major Ed Meixner and Capt Robert Sevell. There were other personnel on board who were not members of HMM-262. They were getting a ride to Khe Sanh. The mission that day was to bring a repair crew to Khe Sanh to recover a battle damaged CH-46 from HMM-262. It was our practice to take a direct route to Khe Sanh but the VC and NVA spotted this route and set up automatic weapons in strategic locations to direct large volumes of fire on our aircraft. To counteract the VC, we altered our flight path to approach Khe Sanh from another direction. The VC spotted this and again set up automatic weapons to shoot at our aircraft. Our aircraft took numerous hits and crashed in flames with one survivor who died later that evening at the Dong Ha medical facility. There was a magnificent effort to recover the crew with 3rd Division marines helicoptered in to set up a perimeter defense around the crash site and VMO-6 providing air cover. If necessary, fixed wing aircraft were standing by. We were not going to leave any one behind. Dave Althoff flew the medevac aircraft picking up the entire crew. Our Flight Surgeon, Drew Morris was with the rescue force to provide immediate medical care...." Mel Steinberg Commanding Officer
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