- WILLARD ANSEL GODFREY
(Milton Junction, Wisconsin)
-
- Willard A. Godfrey was born October 26, 1937. He went to
Vietnam and arrived there on April
- 30, 1966. Willard was attached to the 162nd Assault Helicopter
Company and had been trained as an airplane repairman. He was
killed in action on February 2, 1967 and is the only fallen soldier
for Milton, Wisconsin. On this fateful day, he was on a combat
related mission and was acting as a door gunner on a UH-1C gunship
helicopter.
- An eyewitness report of the day stated the following:
-
- "I was a crew chief on a gunship and witnessed the crash
that killed SP4 Isaiah Dobbins
- and SP5 Willard Godfrey. On February 2, 1967 I was on the
second ship of a light fire team working out of a reloading-refueling
station next to the Mekong River. I was refueling my ship (Tail#
64-14154) and watching the lead ship take off. The people on
board were Lt. NW Robertson, Capt (deleted), SP4 Dobbins and
SP5 Godfrey. As the ship left the refueling area the pilot (Capt)
turned the ship over the river before he had gained enough forward
speed. Our gunships were always overloaded and had to takeoff
like an airplane to gain enough forward speed so as to gain altitude.
This was unfortunately not done and as the helicopter started
across the river it dipped slightly and the front part of the
skid hit the water. I watched the helicopter disintegrate.
It seemed to be gone from view in a matter of seconds. Lt. Robertson
told me later that he had hold of SP4 Dobbins for a few seconds
but was unable to hold on to him. I continue to have bad dreams
about that incident to this day.
- There were a lot of bad feeling regarding the deaths of Dobbins
and Godfrey. The
- helicopter that crashed into the river that day did not have
engine failure. As I mentioned, we were always overloaded, and
had to obtain forward airspeed before we could gain altitude.
It was not uncommon for the helicopter to dip downward while
gaining forward airspeed and occasionally the skid would hit
the runway. The Captain flying with Lt Robertson was told of
the tendency of the overloaded Charlie models to dip and not
to try to cross the river until they had gained enough altitude.
However, he lifted the helicopter up from the refueling pad
and took off straight across the river. The helicopter had made
it halfway across the river when it dipped and the skids hit
the water and disintegrated in seconds. We dropped our rocket
pods and went to the area where it went down. Robertson and
the Captain were picked up by local fishermen that were in the
area.
- This Captain was transferred out of the Company within days
after the incident." [Bob
- Goulas]
-
- SP5 Willard Godfrey is honored at the Vietnam Wall at Panel
15E, line 4.
- Courtesy of Bruce
Swander
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