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LCpl Ashley Roberts
to remember
Marine Maj William John Walker.
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UH-1E CRASHED DURING FIRING RUN 3 KM SOUTHEAST OF HILL 65 (22 KM SOUTH-SOUTHWEST OF DANANG) 20APR68, UTM grid reference is AT905555, UH-1E 152436.
Major John Walker was the co-pilot of a UH-1E (#152436) was on 20 April 1968, two VMO-2 gunships and one HML-167 gunship launched a search and destroy mission in the [Operation] Foster area. During a gun run, the HML-167 aircraft crashed, killing all aboard. The VMO-2 gunships provided cover in the crash area, and other gunships were launched to provide suppressive fire in the area. The lost crew members included aircraft commander 1LT Joseph A. Cestare, pilot MAJ William J. Walker, crew chief CPL Warren C. Parsons, and gunner SGT Joseph A. Zutterman Jr. Search and rescue units were unable to recover their remains and all were listed Killed In Action - Body Not Recovered.
This Veteran has an (IMO) In Memory Of Headstone in Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial, Hawaii as well as one in Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery, San Diego, California.
Cheryl DiFiore Daughter of his friend My father, Hal DiFiore, flew with Bill Walker. During the war there was a shortage of pilots, so the pilots were cross-trained. Bill and Hal were flying jets, so they had to choose between helicopters and fixed-wings for their second aircraft. Bill chose the former. My father chose the latter (C-130's) because he said that helicopters were widow-makers. In April 1968, both my father and Bill were in Viet Nam flying for different squadrons. I can remember the day my mother found out that Bill was killed. I was 11 years old and my mother fell apart after the phone call. I thought that something had happened to my father, but quickly realized it was Bill. My father died in 1991 of Chronic Lymphatic Leukemia. It has now been proven to be a direct link to Agent Orange. My father carried 100's of barrels of the stuff on his cargo plane on a weekly basis. At the time, he didn't know that Agent Orange would also create a lot of widows. I hope they are finally both flying in peace. Friday, October 17, 2003.
Description This campaign was from 30 January to 1 April 1968. On 29 January 1968 the Allies began the Tet-lunar new year expecting the usual 36-hour peaceful holiday truce. Because of the threat of a large-scale attack and communist buildup around Khe Sanh, the cease fire order was issued in all areas over which the Allies were responsible with the exception of the I CTZ, south of the Demilitarized Zone.
Determined enemy assaults began in the northern and Central provinces before daylight on 30 January and in Saigon and the Mekong Delta regions that night. Some 84,000 VC and North Vietnamese attacked or fired upon 36 of 44 provincial capitals, 5 of 6 autonomous cities, 64 of 242 district capitals and 50 hamlets. In addition, the enemy raided a number of military installations including almost every airfield. The actual fighting lasted three days; however Saigon and Hue were under more intense and sustained attack.
The attack in Saigon began with a sapper assault against the U.S. Embassy. Other assaults were directed against the Presidential Palace, the compound of the Vietnamese Joint General Staff, and nearby Ton San Nhut air base.
At Hue, eight enemy battalions infiltrated the city and fought the three U.S. Marine Corps, three U.S. Army and eleven South Vietnamese battalions defending it. The fight to expel the enemy lasted a month. American and South Vietnamese units lost over 500 killed, while VC and North Vietnamese battle deaths may have been somewhere between 4,000 and 5,000.
Heavy fighting also occurred in two remote regions: around the Special Forces camp at Dak To in the central highlands and around the U.S. Marines Corps base at Khe Sanh. In both areas, the allies defeated attempts to dislodge them. Finally, with the arrival of more U.S. Army troops under the new XXIV Corps headquarters to reinforce the marines in the northern province, Khe Sanh was abandoned.
Tet proved a major military defeat for the communists. It had failed to spawn either an uprising or appreciable support among the South Vietnamese. On the other hand, the U.S. public became discouraged and support for the war was seriously eroded. U.S. strength in South Vietnam totaled more than 500,000 by early 1968. In addition, there were 61,000 other allied troops and 600,000 South Vietnamese.
The Tet Offensive also dealt a visibly severe setback to the pacification program, as a result of the intense fighting needed to root out VC elements that clung to fortified positions inside the towns. For example, in the densely populated delta there had been approximately 14,000 refugees in January; after Tet some 170,000 were homeless. The requirement to assist these persons seriously inhibited national recovery efforts.
