Electrican's Mate 3rd Class Ronald Stephen Bay from Phoenix, Arizona lost his life at the age of 20 on February 26, 1970.
Electrican's Mate 3rd Class Ronald Stephen Bay was born on October 04, 1949 and had 2 years of service in the U.S. Navy. He arrived in Vietnam serving with Yard Repair Berthing and Messing Barge 21 (YRBM-21), United States Naval Support Activity (Saigon), U.S. Naval Forces Vietnam.
On February 26, 1970, a U.S. Navy helicopter UH-34D (tail number 150223) from U.S. Naval Air Facility, Cam Ranh Bay, Detachment Tan Son Nhut, departed the Tan Son Nhut Airbase at approximately 0800H for its daily mission of shuttling mail and passengers to and from the ship and shore installations of the Navy River Forces to local airstrips where connections are established with C-117 aircraft also belonging to this detachment. The aircraft had completed two trips to the small strip at the hamlet of An Long in order to avoid an excess weight take-off from the USS Benewah (APB-35). The aircraft then landed at An Long Airstrip and loaded six passengers and 1050 lbs. of mail. The aircraft departed for the connecting airstrip at Long Xuyen and was noted by the radio controlling agency (Chau Duc radio) to have announced commencement of letdown very shortly before the accident. Approximately 6 miles north of Long Xuyen, An Giang Province, an unidentified Vietnamese civilian stated that he heard two explosion and observed the helicopter turn over two times then fall from the sky, impacting inverted in a dry rice field. The aircraft clock stopped at 1303H. At approximately 1345H at an ARVN outpost, a helicopter was reported to have crashed. An Giang Province TOC alerted an airborne Army observation aircraft which sighted the wreckage and reported its position. Flight service was alerted and rescue and recovery operations were initiated by the Army 164th Combat Aviation Group. Gunships were directed to the crash scene to secure the area, and within 45 minutes the Detachment Operations Officer, waiting at Long Xuyen, was at the site for the initial investigation of the wreckage and the removal of the bodies. By nightfall, all bodies save the pilot were removed. The next morning the Aircraft Accident Board arrived and a comprehensive on-site investigation was commenced. The remains of the pilot were removed. At approximately 1400H the removal of the wreckage from the crash site commenced utilizing an Army UH-1 and CH-47 helicopters. The wreckage was transported to Navy Binh Thuy for further shippage to Tan Son Nhut Airbase. All the UH-34D's components were present on the impact site. The main components (engine, transmission, clutch assembly, main rotor head, etc.) were submitted for tear-down analysis. Everything seemed to be normal save for the transmission. The transmission contained bits of newspaper and pieces of white plastic. The newspaper was coated with green and gold colored paint and the pieces of white plastic material were identified as parts of a plastic cover similar to that used on an aerosol paint spray can. Three crewmen and six passengers were lost in the crash. The lost crewmen included pilot LT Bernard Louis LeFevre, co-pilot LTJG Henry Hudson Jr and crew chief ADR3 George Albert Young. The six passengers were EM3 Ronald Stephen Bay, EN2 Norman Kelly Byassee, EN3 Robert Lane Fallows, RM3 Frank Bard Glendenning, EN2 David Paul Hoffman, and CS3 Archie Carl Wabschall III.
Electrican's Mate 3rd Class Ronald Stephen Bay is honored on the Vietnam Memorial at Panel 13W, Line 56.
Electrican's Mate 3rd Class Ronald Stephen Bay was born on October 04, 1949 and had 2 years of service in the U.S. Navy. He arrived in Vietnam serving with Yard Repair Berthing and Messing Barge 21 (YRBM-21), United States Naval Support Activity (Saigon), U.S. Naval Forces Vietnam.
On February 26, 1970, a U.S. Navy helicopter UH-34D (tail number 150223) from U.S. Naval Air Facility, Cam Ranh Bay, Detachment Tan Son Nhut, departed the Tan Son Nhut Airbase at approximately 0800H for its daily mission of shuttling mail and passengers to and from the ship and shore installations of the Navy River Forces to local airstrips where connections are established with C-117 aircraft also belonging to this detachment. The aircraft had completed two trips to the small strip at the hamlet of An Long in order to avoid an excess weight take-off from the USS Benewah (APB-35). The aircraft then landed at An Long Airstrip and loaded six passengers and 1050 lbs. of mail. The aircraft departed for the connecting airstrip at Long Xuyen and was noted by the radio controlling agency (Chau Duc radio) to have announced commencement of letdown very shortly before the accident. Approximately 6 miles north of Long Xuyen, An Giang Province, an unidentified Vietnamese civilian stated that he heard two explosion and observed the helicopter turn over two times then fall from the sky, impacting inverted in a dry rice field. The aircraft clock stopped at 1303H. At approximately 1345H at an ARVN outpost, a helicopter was reported to have crashed. An Giang Province TOC alerted an airborne Army observation aircraft which sighted the wreckage and reported its position. Flight service was alerted and rescue and recovery operations were initiated by the Army 164th Combat Aviation Group. Gunships were directed to the crash scene to secure the area, and within 45 minutes the Detachment Operations Officer, waiting at Long Xuyen, was at the site for the initial investigation of the wreckage and the removal of the bodies. By nightfall, all bodies save the pilot were removed. The next morning the Aircraft Accident Board arrived and a comprehensive on-site investigation was commenced. The remains of the pilot were removed. At approximately 1400H the removal of the wreckage from the crash site commenced utilizing an Army UH-1 and CH-47 helicopters. The wreckage was transported to Navy Binh Thuy for further shippage to Tan Son Nhut Airbase. All the UH-34D's components were present on the impact site. The main components (engine, transmission, clutch assembly, main rotor head, etc.) were submitted for tear-down analysis. Everything seemed to be normal save for the transmission. The transmission contained bits of newspaper and pieces of white plastic. The newspaper was coated with green and gold colored paint and the pieces of white plastic material were identified as parts of a plastic cover similar to that used on an aerosol paint spray can. Three crewmen and six passengers were lost in the crash. The lost crewmen included pilot LT Bernard Louis LeFevre, co-pilot LTJG Henry Hudson Jr and crew chief ADR3 George Albert Young. The six passengers were EM3 Ronald Stephen Bay, EN2 Norman Kelly Byassee, EN3 Robert Lane Fallows, RM3 Frank Bard Glendenning, EN2 David Paul Hoffman, and CS3 Archie Carl Wabschall III.
Electrican's Mate 3rd Class Ronald Stephen Bay is honored on the Vietnam Memorial at Panel 13W, Line 56.
Electrican's Mate 3rd Class Ronald Stephen Bay from Phoenix, Arizona lost his life at the age of 20 on February 26, 1970.
Electrican's Mate 3rd Class Ronald Stephen Bay was born on October 04, 1949 and had 2 years of service in the U.S. Navy. He arrived in Vietnam serving with Yard Repair Berthing and Messing Barge 21 (YRBM-21), United States Naval Support Activity (Saigon), U.S. Naval Forces Vietnam.
On February 26, 1970, a U.S. Navy helicopter UH-34D (tail number 150223) from U.S. Naval Air Facility, Cam Ranh Bay, Detachment Tan Son Nhut, departed the Tan Son Nhut Airbase at approximately 0800H for its daily mission of shuttling mail and passengers to and from the ship and shore installations of the Navy River Forces to local airstrips where connections are established with C-117 aircraft also belonging to this detachment. The aircraft had completed two trips to the small strip at the hamlet of An Long in order to avoid an excess weight take-off from the USS Benewah (APB-35). The aircraft then landed at An Long Airstrip and loaded six passengers and 1050 lbs. of mail. The aircraft departed for the connecting airstrip at Long Xuyen and was noted by the radio controlling agency (Chau Duc radio) to have announced commencement of letdown very shortly before the accident. Approximately 6 miles north of Long Xuyen, An Giang Province, an unidentified Vietnamese civilian stated that he heard two explosion and observed the helicopter turn over two times then fall from the sky, impacting inverted in a dry rice field. The aircraft clock stopped at 1303H. At approximately 1345H at an ARVN outpost, a helicopter was reported to have crashed. An Giang Province TOC alerted an airborne Army observation aircraft which sighted the wreckage and reported its position. Flight service was alerted and rescue and recovery operations were initiated by the Army 164th Combat Aviation Group. Gunships were directed to the crash scene to secure the area, and within 45 minutes the Detachment Operations Officer, waiting at Long Xuyen, was at the site for the initial investigation of the wreckage and the removal of the bodies. By nightfall, all bodies save the pilot were removed. The next morning the Aircraft Accident Board arrived and a comprehensive on-site investigation was commenced. The remains of the pilot were removed. At approximately 1400H the removal of the wreckage from the crash site commenced utilizing an Army UH-1 and CH-47 helicopters. The wreckage was transported to Navy Binh Thuy for further shippage to Tan Son Nhut Airbase. All the UH-34D's components were present on the impact site. The main components (engine, transmission, clutch assembly, main rotor head, etc.) were submitted for tear-down analysis. Everything seemed to be normal save for the transmission. The transmission contained bits of newspaper and pieces of white plastic. The newspaper was coated with green and gold colored paint and the pieces of white plastic material were identified as parts of a plastic cover similar to that used on an aerosol paint spray can. Three crewmen and six passengers were lost in the crash. The lost crewmen included pilot LT Bernard Louis LeFevre, co-pilot LTJG Henry Hudson Jr and crew chief ADR3 George Albert Young. The six passengers were EM3 Ronald Stephen Bay, EN2 Norman Kelly Byassee, EN3 Robert Lane Fallows, RM3 Frank Bard Glendenning, EN2 David Paul Hoffman, and CS3 Archie Carl Wabschall III.
Electrican's Mate 3rd Class Ronald Stephen Bay is honored on the Vietnam Memorial at Panel 13W, Line 56.
Electrican's Mate 3rd Class Ronald Stephen Bay was born on October 04, 1949 and had 2 years of service in the U.S. Navy. He arrived in Vietnam serving with Yard Repair Berthing and Messing Barge 21 (YRBM-21), United States Naval Support Activity (Saigon), U.S. Naval Forces Vietnam.
On February 26, 1970, a U.S. Navy helicopter UH-34D (tail number 150223) from U.S. Naval Air Facility, Cam Ranh Bay, Detachment Tan Son Nhut, departed the Tan Son Nhut Airbase at approximately 0800H for its daily mission of shuttling mail and passengers to and from the ship and shore installations of the Navy River Forces to local airstrips where connections are established with C-117 aircraft also belonging to this detachment. The aircraft had completed two trips to the small strip at the hamlet of An Long in order to avoid an excess weight take-off from the USS Benewah (APB-35). The aircraft then landed at An Long Airstrip and loaded six passengers and 1050 lbs. of mail. The aircraft departed for the connecting airstrip at Long Xuyen and was noted by the radio controlling agency (Chau Duc radio) to have announced commencement of letdown very shortly before the accident. Approximately 6 miles north of Long Xuyen, An Giang Province, an unidentified Vietnamese civilian stated that he heard two explosion and observed the helicopter turn over two times then fall from the sky, impacting inverted in a dry rice field. The aircraft clock stopped at 1303H. At approximately 1345H at an ARVN outpost, a helicopter was reported to have crashed. An Giang Province TOC alerted an airborne Army observation aircraft which sighted the wreckage and reported its position. Flight service was alerted and rescue and recovery operations were initiated by the Army 164th Combat Aviation Group. Gunships were directed to the crash scene to secure the area, and within 45 minutes the Detachment Operations Officer, waiting at Long Xuyen, was at the site for the initial investigation of the wreckage and the removal of the bodies. By nightfall, all bodies save the pilot were removed. The next morning the Aircraft Accident Board arrived and a comprehensive on-site investigation was commenced. The remains of the pilot were removed. At approximately 1400H the removal of the wreckage from the crash site commenced utilizing an Army UH-1 and CH-47 helicopters. The wreckage was transported to Navy Binh Thuy for further shippage to Tan Son Nhut Airbase. All the UH-34D's components were present on the impact site. The main components (engine, transmission, clutch assembly, main rotor head, etc.) were submitted for tear-down analysis. Everything seemed to be normal save for the transmission. The transmission contained bits of newspaper and pieces of white plastic. The newspaper was coated with green and gold colored paint and the pieces of white plastic material were identified as parts of a plastic cover similar to that used on an aerosol paint spray can. Three crewmen and six passengers were lost in the crash. The lost crewmen included pilot LT Bernard Louis LeFevre, co-pilot LTJG Henry Hudson Jr and crew chief ADR3 George Albert Young. The six passengers were EM3 Ronald Stephen Bay, EN2 Norman Kelly Byassee, EN3 Robert Lane Fallows, RM3 Frank Bard Glendenning, EN2 David Paul Hoffman, and CS3 Archie Carl Wabschall III.
Electrican's Mate 3rd Class Ronald Stephen Bay is honored on the Vietnam Memorial at Panel 13W, Line 56.
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