| Date: 15 January 1968 |
| Aircraft type: HH-3E Jolly Green Giant |
| Serial Number: 64-14233 |
| Military Unit: Detachment 2, 37 ARRS, 3 ARRG |
| Service: USAF |
| Home Base: Udorn |
| Name(s): |
| Capt Gregory A Etzel (Survived) |
| Capt David E Holt (Survived) |
| SSgt James A Hedderly (Survived) |
| Sgt Elwood R Beam (Survived) |
| Sgt Angus W Sowell (Survived) |
| Continuing bad weather delayed the rescue attempt of the EB-66 crew (call sign Preview 1) until the following day and it was not until the afternoon of the 15th that Jolly Green 20, a HH-3E from Udorn, could make its way to the survivors. As the helicopter descended through a solid overcast it suffered a loss of power as it was hit by AAA and hit the side of a hill before the pilot could enter autorotation. The aircraft came down about 40 miles southeast of Sam Neua, just inside Laos in a mountainous area. Although the helicopter was damaged beyond repair the crew was unhurt and two more HH-3s were scrambled from Lima Site 36 to recover the crew of Jolly Green 20. However, low cloud frustrated this attempt and one of the helicopters was damaged by small arms fire as it was leaving the area. It was not until the afternoon of the 17th that Jolly Green 71 flew in and rescued the crew of Jolly Green 20. During the rescue Jolly Green 71 was also hit by ground fire, which put one of its engines out of action. |
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