Week of June 13

On June 10, 1971, four UH-1 “Huey” helicopters—two transports and two gunship escorts—were flying cover for a ground mission near Pleiku, South Vietnam. As the helicopters flew low over the thick jungle canopy, one of them burst into flames, hit by ground fire from an unseen enemy. The Huey, unable to halt its descent, crashed through the trees and into the ground. Two of the soldiers aboard survived, escaped the burning wreckage, and were rescued; two of them were killed instantly: Specialist 5 Johnny Arthur and Specialist 4 Louie Montoya.

Vietnam has sometimes been called the “helicopter war” because it was the first American war in which this relatively new type of aircraft played a vital role. While the United States used helicopters in the Korean conflict, the infant technology was not yet up to the task of moving large numbers of troops, wounded, vehicles, supplies, and more. By the time of the Vietnam War, helicopters had become vital military machines. But like any other aircraft, helicopters were vulnerable to ground fire. According to the Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association, a total of 11,846 helicopters were shot down or crashed during the war, resulting in nearly 5,000 American pilots and crew killed. Of those servicepeople, 2,382 were killed while serving aboard UH-1 Iroquois, better known as the ubiquitous “Huey.”

One of those Hueys was shot down on June 10, 1971, tail number 66-0597. It was crewed by four men attached to the U.S. Army 192d Attack Helicopter Company, 10th Aviation Battalion, 17th Aviation Group, First Aviation Brigade. On that day, about 20 miles southwest of Phu Nhon, the crew was along on a rescue mission for a team of South Vietnamese Army rangers who had been trapped by Viet Cong forces. As the pilot, First Lieutenant Robert E. Goolsby, began to scout for landing zones, he and his copilot, Warrant Officer Steve A. Watson, realized their engine was on fire. At some point, someone below had gotten off a lucky shot and critically damaged the UH-1C. Goolsby and Watson just succeeded in getting off a “mayday” radio call before they plowed into the jungle treetops. Witnesses reported seeing flames spurting from the helicopter at approximately 400 feet in altitude before it lurched into the trees below, followed by the sound of the crash. The two others aboard, crew chief Johnny Arthur and gunner Louie Montoya, never made it out of the wreckage as the entire aircraft became engulfed in flames.

Goolsby pulled himself free from the helicopter but he was severely wounded. With facial lacerations, broken back vertebrae, several broken ribs, and dislocated joints, he was barely able to move himself, yet he helped pull Warrant Officer Watson away from the fire. The second gunship in the flight, still overhead, hovered just at treetop level to see if they could spot any survivors. Though that helicopter’s pilot could not land in the thick jungle, his crew chief, Greg Shepard, jumped from the hovering Huey into the trees in a tremendously brave attempt to help his fellow soldiers. Shepard planned to climb down to Goolsby and Watson to assist them, but he swayed at the top of the tree before his own helicopter’s propeller wash blew him off the tree. Shepard broke his arm in the resulting fall.

Arthur and Montoya were officially listed as missing in action until their remains were recovered several days later. They were reclassified as killed in action on June 21, 1971. Johnny Arthur, a member of the Navajo, was from Fruitland, New Mexico. He was 21 years old. Louie Gooch Montoya was also 21. He came from Covina, California. Both men are memorialized on Panel 3W, Lines 71 and 72, of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C. The copilot, Steve Watson, survived the war but passed away in 2002. The pilot, Goolsby, also survived the war and now resides in Georgia. Owing to a paperwork error, and despite his horrific wounds, he did not receive his Purple Heart until 2016.1


1 “Helicopter UH-1C 66-00597,” Vietnam Helicopter Pilot’s Association (accessed 6/7/19); Mike Owen, “45 Years After Being Shot Down, Pilot Finally Gets the Purple Heart,” Columbus (Georgia)Ledger-Enquirer, January 20, 2016 (accessed 6/7/19); Entries for “Johnny Arthur” and “Louie Montoya,” in Coffelt Database of Vietnam Casualties (accessed 6/9/19); Wall of Faces, Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund (accessed 6/7/19).

 


Previous This Week in History Articles

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March 19
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March 12
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March 5
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February 12
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Week of June 13

Specialist 5 Johnny Arthur, U.S. Army
Specialist 5 Johnny Arthur, U.S. Army (VVMF)

Specialist 4 Louie G. Montoya, U.S. Army
Specialist 4 Louie G. Montoya, U.S. Army (VVMF)

Arthur sitting in the cabin of a UH-1 Iroguois "Huey helicopter, unkown date.
Arthur sitting in the cabin of a UH-1 Iroquois "Huey" helicopter, unkown date. (VVMF)

Hueys in flight, circa 1970
Hueys in flight, circa 1970 (National Archives)