OFFICIAL STATUS: MISSING

CASE SUMMARY: SEE ATTACHED

RATIONALE FOR SELECTION: Two crewmembers survived the aircraft crash. W01 Soyland's side of aircraft was undamaged and his harness was unbuckled, indicating he left under his own power. One of the rescued crewmembers stated he had seen an individual in a white T-shirt he believed to be W01 Soyland on the next ridge. No correlated related reports of W01 Soyland's possible death have been received since the incident date.

REFNO: 1747 31 Mar 75

(U) CASE SUMMARY

1. On 17 May 1971 W01 David P. Soyland, aircraft commander, WOI Dale A. Pearce, pilot, SP5 [blank] crew chief, and SP4 [blank] door gunner, were the crew of a UH-1H assault helicopter, (#65-17607), which departed Camp Evans, South Vietnam, to extract a reconnaissance team that was under heavy fire by an unknown-size enemy force. On target approach the helicopter began taking heavy enemy fire. The aircraft began banking right and was hit by the enemy fire, causing the aircraft to continue to bank and start to turn over. A rocket-propelled grenade hit and severed the tail boom. The violence of the explosion threw SP4 [blank] out of the aircraft, just before the aircraft crashed. After the impact the aircraft continued to slide to the bottom of the slope, (in the vicinity of grid coordinates (GC) YD 048 268).

2. On 18 May a recovery element was inserted into this area to recover the bodies of the original reconnaissance team and to search the aircraft wreckage for survivors. At this time both SP5 [blank] and SP4 [blank] were discovered alive, and a set of remains which was assumed to be W01 Pearce was found. The pilot's seat on the left side of the aircraft was not damaged; all harnesses had been unfastened. There was no blood on the seat or surrounding area to indicate any injury to WOI Soyland. SP4 [blank] reported that he saw a man in a white T-shirt running across a ridgeline in the estimated location of grid coordinates YD 047 273, near his position that same afternoon, and a search aircraft in the area reported hearing a loud beeper distress signal. It was concluded that the man in the white T-shirt was W01 Soyland, and who would have been the occupant of the left pilot's seat of the aircraft. According to the way the helicopter impacted he would have had a high probability of surviving the crash. Search and recovery missions were performed in the general area of the crash site from 17 to 27 May, (1971), but no trace was found of W01 Soyland. it was concluded that he had survived the helicopter crash and was probably captured.

3. During the existence of JCRC, the hostile threat in the area precluded any visits to or ground inspections of the sites involved in this case. In July 1973, at the request of JCRC, The U.S. Defense Attache Office, Saigon, reviewed available aerial photography. No evidence of crash site or downed aircraft was found at the listed coordinates. This individual's name and identifying data were turned over to Four-Party Joint Military Team with a request for any information available. No response was forthcoming. WOI Pearce is currently carried in the status of Missing.

REFERENCE USED

1. Ltr (U), 101st Abn Div 1 Aug 71.

2. MSG: CG, USARV LBN RVN 190936Z May 71.

ASSOCIATED INDIVIDUALS

1. David P. Soyland 1747-0-01

2. Dale E. Pearce 1747-0-02