| Date: 27 December 1972 |
| Aircraft type: HH-53C Super Jolly Green Giant |
| Serial Number: 69-5788 |
| Military Unit: 40 ARRS, 3 ARRG |
| Service: USAF |
| Home Base: Nakhon Phanom |
| Name(s): |
| Capt Richard D Shapiro (Survived) |
| Capt Miguel A Pereira Castillo (Survived) |
| Sgt Charles J Rouhier (Survived) |
| A1C Robert W Jones (Survived) |
| TSgt John R Carlson (Survived) |
| Sgt James W Cockerill (Survived) |
| Four days after the F-111A Jackel 33 was shot down a HH-53C was lost during an attempted rescue. Jolly Green 73 commanded by Capt Robert Shapiro and Capt Miguel Pereira of the 40th ARRS from Nakhon Phanom made the rescue attempt but took heavy ground fire and had to withdraw. 1Lt Wilson was within inches of reaching the jungle penetrator that had been lowered from the helicopter when he lost his balance and fell down a slope. Jolly Green 73 had to leave the area when more enemy soldiers appeared and it then tried to refuel from an HC-130 but the helicopter’s in-flight refuelling probe had been damaged by ground fire. Running short of fuel Maj Shapiro put the helicopter down on a mountain top northeast of Ban Ban and the crew was rescued by Jolly Green 63. The HH-53 had to be abandoned in enemy-held territory and was then destroyed by a flight of Sandy A-7s to prevent it from falling into enemy hands. The Puerto Rican-born co-pilot, Capt Miguel Pereira Castillo, was wounded twice during the attempted rescue. After retiring from the USAF he had several senior government positions in Puerto Rico and became a senator of his home district of Guayama. Sgt Cockerill was a combat photographer from the 601st Photo Squadron who was awarded Silver Stars for his part in the rescue of 1Lt D Borders on 26 August 1972 and an F-105G crew on 18 November 1972. He earned his third Silver Star during the attempted rescue of the Jackel 33 crew when he used a machine gun to protect the hoist operator during a critical time. Sgt Cockerill was also awarded a Distinguished Flying Cross for the attempted rescue of 1Lt Acosta on 10 December when he took over the mini-gun after the gunner was wounded. |
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