Background Information
LAM SON 719 was a large offensive operation against NVA
communications lines in Laos in the region adjacent to the two northern provinces
of South Vietnam. The operation was a raid in which ARVN troops would drive west
from Khe Sanh on Route 9, cut the Ho Chi Minh Trail, seize Tchpone, some 25 miles
away, and then return to Vietnam. The ARVN would provide and command the ground
forces, while U.S. Army and Air Force would furnish aviation airlift and supporting
firepower. The 101st Airborne Division (Airmobile) commanded all U.S. Army aviation
units in direct support of the operation.
Most of the first part of the operation, begun January 30, 1971 was called
Operation DEWEY CANYON II, and was conducted by U.S. ground forces in
Vietnam. The ARVN met their halfway point on February 11 and moved into position
for the attack across the Laotian border.
On 8 February, ARVN began pushing along Route 9 into Laos. The NVA reacted
fiercely, committing some 36,000 troops to the area. The ARVN held its
positions supported by U.S. airstrikes and resupply runs by Army helicopters.
President Nguyen Van Thieu ordered a helicopter assault on Tchepone, and the
abandoned village was seized March 6. Two weeks of hard combat were necessary
for the ARVN task force to fight its way back to Vietnam.
Randy Ard had been in Vietnam only a few weeks when an emergency call came in
for him to fly the squadron commander to a platoon command post to work his
way down to his Third Platoon, which was in ambush in the northwest segment of
South Vietnam. He flew his Kiowa Scout chopper from the 5th Mech and picked up
LtCol. Sheldon Burnett, the squadron commander; Capt. Phil Bodenhorn, Alpha Company
commander; and SP4 Mike Castro, Third Platoon RTO.
Ard mistakenly flew past the command post and west into Laos. Seeing yellow
marking smoke, he took the chopper down lower. It was too late to pull up
when they heard the sound of an RPD machine gun and AK-47's. They had been tricked
into a North Vietnamese ambush.
The helicopter went down fast, and smashed into the brush, coming down on its
side (or upside down, depending on the version of the account). Ard and
Burnett were trapped in the wreckage, but alive. Ard got on the radio and began
mayday calls. Bodenhorn and Castillo, who had been in the rear seat, got out of
the aircraft. Bodenhorn managed to free Art, but he had two broken legs and possibly
a broken hip. Burnett was completely pinned within the wreckage and injured, but
alive. Bodenhorn and Castillo positioned themselves on opposite sides of the aircraft
for security and expended all the colored smoke grenades they had, marking their
position for rescue.
[Note: Mike Castro's name appears in one account of this incident, but his
fate is not given. He does not appear in a second account from the U.S. Army
Casualty Board.]
Bodenhorn and Castillo soon heard North Vietnamese approaching, and killed
these Vietnamese. The two listened for nearly an hour as others advanced towards
their position from two directions, and 155 artillery rounds impacted very near
them. They couldn't understand why they were not being rescued, unless it was
because the enemy was so close to them. A helicopter flew over, but took heavy
fire and left. They decided to leave Ard and Burnett and escape themselves. They
told Ard, who nodded wordlessly. Burnett was drifting in and out of consciousness.
Both men were alive.
Bodenhorn and Castillo worked their way to 80 yards away when a UH1C came
in on a single run, firing flechette rockets which seemed to explode right on
the downed chopper. Later, they watched an F4 roll in for a one-bomb strike
over the crash site. Ard and Burnett were surely dead.
Bodenhorn and Castillo were rescued by ARVN troops an hour later. Ard and
Burnett were classified Missing In Action. The story was released to
reporters at Khe Sanh three days later. The army spokesman accurately described
the ambush, but told the press that Burnett had been in radio contact with the
ambushed platoon, and that he and Ard had appeared dead to the two escaping officers.
The names of the survivors were not released.
General Sutherland stated, ".. the decision was not made to employ the Air
Cavalry and the Hoc Bao to attempt to retrieve either LtCol. Burnett alive or
his body. ..Burnett had no mission nor units in Laos. He had no reason or
authority to take his helicopter over the Laotian border."
After 11 days of heavy resistance, the 11th ARVN Airborne Battalion fought
their way into the area where the helicopter had crashed. The searched the wreckage
and the surrounding area for several days, but found no sign of the two missing
men or any of their belongings or anything to indicate that either man was buried
in the area.
In 1989, a large part of this loss incident was still classified.
There can be no question that Randy Ard and Sheldon Burnett were abandoned by
the country they served.
Losses in LAM SON 719 were heavy. The ARVN suffered some 9,000 casualties,
almost 50% of their force. U.S. forces incurred some 1,462 casualties.
Aviation units lost 168 helicopters; another 618 were damaged. Fifty-five aircrewmen
were killed in action , 178 were wounded and 34 were missing in action. There
were 19,360 known enemy casualties for the operation lasting until April 6, 1971.
Nearly 600 Americans were lost in Laos during the war in Vietnam. Although
the Pathet Lao stated on several occasions they held "tens of tens"
of American prisoners, Laos was not included in the agreements ending American
involvement in the war, and the U.S. has not negotiated for the freedom of these
men since that day. Consequently, not one American held in Laos has ever been
released.
These Americans, too, were abandoned.
ADDENDUM:Sheldon J. Burnett graduated from Westpoint in 1954. He was promoted
to the rank of Colonel during the period he was maintained missing. |
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