11 Nov 2007 A green felt frame is hanging Adorned with brass and silver They say the medals of a hero Who went beyond the realm. These medals tell a story Of a boy turned into man By a war that was horrific Only nightmares tell it all. Their names are proudly listed On a monumental wall Those who never returned to family From a scorched and burning hell. All honors, medals and monuments I would trade for just one more day To hold and love my brother Who went away to stay. His death did not a hero make Of this gentle loving man He was born a hero to all of us For a short twenty year span. The medals do not tell the story Of a boy who stood so tall Filled with love and all the kindness for family, friends and all. They tell of momentary actions In a place of war and strife Not of twenty years of living A compassionate loving life. We who love and do remember The boy, the man he soon became Know we walked with such a hero And daily speak his name. From his sister. E-mail address is not available.

 

A Note from The Virtual Wall On 15 June 1969 B Company, 229th AHB, was tasked with supporting a PsyOps mission on behalf of the 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, near Landing Zone ROCK in Long Khanh Province. The aircraft, UH-1H tail number 66-16694, carried a crew of four and two (possibly 4) passengers: Aircrew, B/229th AHB: CWO Gelonek, pilot WO Kish L. Green, Los Angeles, CA, copilot SGT Larry D. Lemaster, Hebron, NE, gunner SP4 Pollett, crewchief Passengers: SGT John E. Lynch, Forty Fort, PA, HHC, 6th PsyOp Bn 1 (possibly 3) ARVN PsyOps personnel The VHPA database record for 66-16694 says that After about 15 minutes in the vicinity of LZ ROCK, the aircraft dropped to low level to deliver "Chu Hoi" pamphlets near the LZ. The aircraft made two passes over a small village approximately 1000 meters to the south of LZ ROCK. On the third pass, heading due north at 100 feet and 80 knots, the aircraft struck high tension wires at YT486346. Upon striking the wires the UH-1H flipped twice, crashed 106 meters north of the wires on a north-south road leading into LZ ROCK, caught fire and burned. Two crew members, WO Green and SGT Lemaster, and two PsyOps personnel, SGT Lynch and ARVN My Vah, were killed by fire. The crew chief (Pollett) and pilot (Gelonek) escaped with 30 and 40% body burns respectively. The tail boom of the aircraft had been severed, the pilot and cargo compartment burned, and the main rotor blades ripped from the aircraft. In another section of the VHPA database is a short summary which reads "Wire strike on PsyOps mission near LZ Rock. AC W1 Gelonek, CE E4 Pollett and two ARVN survived". While there is some uncertainty as to the number of people aboard the Huey, there is no doubt that four men died in the crash.

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