Plane/Body Recovery from Vietnam Crashsite

[DUFFM4N]

A buddy of mine was recently a part of a mission to vietnam to help recover plane pieces/bones/personal items from a plane crash that happened during the vietnam war....he just came back this last week and posted up some pictures on our forum....

I'm now back home from my recovery mission in Vietnam. In case you didn't know, I was part of a recovery team who went out to recover 2 bodies from a plane that went down during the Vietnam war.

As promised...here are pics that I'm allowed to share from the mission:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v621/dc2r_jeremy/jpac1.jpg
C-17 plane ride from Hawaii to Guam, then to Guam to Thailand. This plane contained all 5 recovery teams and all of our gear in the middle of the plane.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v621/dc2r_jeremy/jpac2.jpg
An aerial view of Da Nang, Vietnam from a helo.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v621/dc2r_jeremy/jpac3.jpg
Got to roam the city for 3-4 days before actually taking over and living at our basecamp in the mountains.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v621/dc2r_jeremy/jpac4.jpg
Our basecamp still under construction, we ended up moving in early anyways to save money on the helo rides back and forth from the nearest city.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v621/dc2r_jeremy/jpac5.jpg
Old Russian designed Me-17 helo that we took all of our personnel and gear to the mountains.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v621/dc2r_jeremy/jpac6.jpg
Helo landing zone, it was about a 1.5-2 hour hike from this part of the mountain to the crash site.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v621/dc2r_jeremy/jpac7.jpg
One of the many hikes up.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v621/dc2r_jeremy/jpac8.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v621/dc2r_jeremy/jpac9.jpg
Random critters/animals.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v621/dc2r_jeremy/jpac10.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v621/dc2r_jeremy/jpac11.jpg
Random shots of work being done at the crash site.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v621/dc2r_jeremy/jpac12.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v621/dc2r_jeremy/jpac13.jpg
Hanging out with the local villagers.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v621/dc2r_jeremy/jpac14.jpg
One of the few things I never got tired of.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v621/dc2r_jeremy/jpac15.jpg
My primary responsibility out there, communications.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v621/dc2r_jeremy/jpac17.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v621/dc2r_jeremy/jpac18.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v621/dc2r_jeremy/jpac19.jpg
More digging, these buckets would be sent to a bucket line where they would end up at the sifting stations to look for any bone/teeth/material evidence etc.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v621/dc2r_jeremy/jpac20.jpg
One of the many personal items we found.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v621/dc2r_jeremy/jpac21.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v621/dc2r_jeremy/jpac24.jpg
More digging...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v621/dc2r_jeremy/jpac22.jpg
Helo coming in to drop off supplies.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v621/dc2r_jeremy/jpac25.jpg
Taking advantage of the rain...this time was the best time to wash your clothes and get a shower in.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v621/dc2r_jeremy/jpac27.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v621/dc2r_jeremy/jpac28.jpg
Having fun with the locals.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v621/dc2r_jeremy/jpac30.jpg
Typical view of a finished grid.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v621/dc2r_jeremy/jpac31.jpg
Some of the recovered pieces of the aircraft.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v621/dc2r_jeremy/jpac32.jpg
Team photo, last day on the mountains.

The mission was a overall success, the bodies were taken and buried/sold to bone collectors shortly after the crash but we were able to recover teeth and small pieces of bone...which would be enough for identification.

[HyperTek]

cool.. wish we could see the pics of the crashed plane and body im curious what kind of plane they where there to recover, US aircraft obiously...

[DUFFM4N]

well the bodies were removed from the plane by locals, and burried/sold to bone collectors...most of the stuff found were teeth and some bones...just enough for identification

the wreckage that was recovered was destroyed (dont know why)

[Massimo Power]

very nice adventure...

[WindVS]

awesome I wish i could do something like that someday.

[stiizy]

I'm sure he had fun....

But i would've been in town checking out the local customs if you know what i mean...hahaha

[blitzkrgCT9A]

great post. thanks for sharing the adventure/mission. +rep