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Casualty Info
Home Town Midland City, AL
Last Address Midland City, AL
Casualty Date May 24, 1972
Cause MIA-Finding of Death
Reason Air Loss, Crash - Land
Location Thua Thien (Vietnam)
Conflict Vietnam War
Location of Interment Echo Cemetery - Dale County, Alabama
Wall/Plot Coordinates 01W 029
Official Badges
Unofficial Badges
Additional Information
Last Known Activity:
Casualty Occurrence: This Soldier was killed when his chopper was HIT BY 60MM MORTAR IN LANDING ZONE 13 KM SOUTH OF PHONG DIEN 19720524 in Thia Thein Province.
WO Barefield spent nine years in the USMC with two tours in Vietnam, then entered the Army and completed Army flight school. He then returned to Vietnam for a third tour flying Chinooks. His Chinook helicopter was shot down and burned while flying as a co-pilot. This Bio information comes from the Southern Star newspaper in Alabama.
POSTED ON 9.13.2020. POSTED BY: MIKE WILLIAMS. JIM BAREFIELD, MY HERO. Jim and I went through Army flight school together. We were stick buddies, which means we shared the same instructor pilot. He was a former Marine. He had two previous tours in Vietnam as a Marine hydraulicsman. As such, he was a door gunner, first tour on CH-34s, second on CH-46s. After Vietnam he went to Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego as a Drill Instructor. He got caught "thumping" troops and was given the option of a Special Court-martial or an Honorable Discharge. He took the discharge and immediately enlisted in the Army Warrant Officer Rotary Wing Aviator program.
We met at Ft. Wolters. He was an OUTSTANDING Candidate, a natural pilot and the most squared away Candidate in 6th Warrant Officer Candidate Company. We ended up being room mates during the last portion of training as we were on the Candidate Battalion Staff. We got to know each other quite well. We parted ways when I went directly to Ft. Rucker and he took a two-week leave. He opted for CH-47 Chinook transition after graduating from flight school, The last time I saw him was 24 May 1972. He was in the back of a truck on the way to the flight line at Marble Mountain Army Airfield. He was KIA that day. I will never forget him. His memory will be with me as long as I live. I became a Marine after my Army time was over partially because of him.
POSTED ON 10.15.2012. FINAL MISSION OF U.S. ARMY HELICOPTER CH-47C TAIL NUMBER 68-15854. Crew included WO1 James A. Barefield (KIA), CAPT Harry L. Thain (KIA), SP6 Frank A. Newman (KIA), PFC David L. Brooks Jr. (KIA), and SP5 Charles W. Gaches (KIA). In May 1972, I was an artillery advisor to South Viet Nam units in I Corps. Originally, I was the senior advisor to an ARVN 175mm gun battalion. The unit was not yet combat ready when the Easter Offensive started with North Viet Nam’s attack across the DMZ. The unit was ordered north to support the ARVN Third Division. A day later I was ordered to replace the Third Division’s artillery advisor. I went to Quang Tri City. Just before it fell, I was rescued by a young WO1 flying an OH-6. He took me to Hue where I worked trying to get the ARVN’s I Corps Artillery’ Fire Support Center up and running. Sometime later, as an economy of force measure, a decision was made to emplace a personnel radar to cover the approaches to Hue. The plan was to lift a squad of ARVN engineers with construction materiel to a mountain top where they would build a bunker for the US manned radar. After the bunker was completed but before the roof was completed, the radar would be lifted in place. The support of a Chinook was obtained. I now know it was from the 62nd ASHC. I marshaled the ARVN engineers and materiel on a grassy field along the Perfume River in Hue. I had a US Army sergeant advisor named Brooks and a Vietnamese sergeant from the engineer unit with me. SFC Brooks had radio contact with the Chinook while the Vietnamese sergeant had contact with the engineer squad. All was going according to plan as the Chinook made trip after trip delivering the engineers and the materiel. I decided to get the next trip out to the site but saw an old monument at the far end of the field. As a history buff, I wanted to look at it. So, I told SFC Brooks that I would take the following lift. I walked down to the monument and using my high school French was able to decipher that the monument had been erected in the 1880’s by a Foreign Legion penal battalion.
As I was reading the monument’s words, I saw SFC Brooks waving me back. I ran down the field and he told me that the Vietnamese sergeant had received a radio call from the mountain site telling that they were receiving sporadic mortar fire. Most disturbing was that the engineers reported the fire was over, short, left and right of their position. Being artillerymen, SFC Brooks and I instantly realized the enemy’s plan. They were getting the range and would fire when the helicopter was on site. I called the helicopter and told them not to go in. I explained I was an artillery officer and knew what would happen. The pilot told me that they would go in. I again told him not to go. He said something about going in and then going back to his base to refuel. It was the last I heard from him. Moments later, the ARVN engineers reported that the helicopter had been hit, crashed, and the crew was dead. (Submitted by Brian M. O’Neill, LTC (R) FA) [Taken from vhpa.org]
Comments/Citation:
Status: Killed In Action while performing the duty of Aircraft Commander.
Prior Unit: 178 ASHC 72 Flight class: 71-13f Short Summary: Hit by 60 mm mortar while on short final to ARVN radar site near Quang Tri w/Harry Thain pilot. Aircraft: CH-47C tail number 68-15854 Call sign: Royal Coachman
Primary cause: Mortar Attack
Compliment cause: artillery or mortar Started Tour: 08/31/1971 Additional information about this casualty:
Crew Members: AC WO1 BAREFIELD JAMES ARTHER KIA
P CPT THAIN HARRY LINDSAY KIA
CE SP6 NEWMAN FRANK ALLEN KIA
G PFC BROOKS DAVID LEE JR KIA
G SP5 GACHES CHARLES WILLIAM KIA
War Story:
On lift-off the chopper was struck in the cockpit by a 60mm mortar round. The aircraft impacted ground and crew of five were fatalities. I am writing because after many, many years of searching I found information on your site about a Chinook helicopter loss in Vietnam in 1972. It's listed under Helicopter CH-47 68-15854. I was stunned to read the file. It brought back many memories.
In May 1972, I was an artillery advisor to South Viet Nam units in I Corps. Originally, I was the senior advisor to an ARVN 175mm gun battalion. The unit was not yet combat ready when the Easter Offensive started with North Vietnam's attack across the DMZ. The unit was ordered north to support the ARVN Third Division. A day later, I was ordered to replace the Third Divisions artillery advisor. I went to Quang Tri City. Just before it fell, I was rescued by a young WO1 flying an OH-6. He took me to Hue where I worked trying to get the ARVNs I Corps Artillery Fire Support Center up and running.
Sometime later, as an economy of force measure, a decision was made to emplace a personnel radar to cover the approaches to Hue. The plan was to lift a squad of ARVN engineers with construction materiel to a mountain top where they would build a bunker for the US manned radar. After the bunker was completed but before the roof was completed, the radar would be lifted in place.
The support of a Chinook was obtained. I now know it was from the 62nd ASHC. I marshaled the ARVN engineers and materiel on a grassy field along the Perfume River in Hue. I had a US Army sergeant advisor named Brooks and a Viet Namese sergeant from the engineer unit with me. SFC Brooks had radio contact with the Chinook while the Viet Namese sergeant had contact with the engineer squad.
All was going according to plan as the Chinook made trip after trip delivering the engineers and the materiel. I decided to get the next trip out to the site but saw an old monument at the far end of the field. As a history buff, I wanted to look at it. So, I told SFC Brooks that I would take the following lift. I walked down to the monument and using my high school French was able to decipher that the monument had been erected in the 1880s by a Foreign Legion penal battalion.
As I was reading the monuments words, I saw SFC Brooks waving me back. I ran down the field and he told me that the Viet Namese sergeant had received a radio call from the mountain site telling that they were receiving sporadic mortar fire. Most disturbing was that the engineers reported the fire was over, short, left and right of their position. Being artillerymen, SFC Brooks and I instantly realized the enemys plan. They were getting the range and would fire when the helicopter was on site.
I called the helicopter and told them not to go in. I explained I was an artillery officer and knew what would happen. The pilot told me that they would go in. I again told him not to go. He said something about going in and then going back to his base to refuel. It was the last I heard from him. Moments later, the ARVN engineers reported that the helicopter had been hit, crashed and the crew was dead.
I am sad and frustrated that I have no more memories of that day. I cannot remember how the bodies were recovered or if we later continued the mission at a later time. This incident has haunted me for the rest of my Army career and ever since. If anyone on your site could fill in more details, I will rest easy. I never even knew the names of the crew. Knowing their names now helps. Thank you for helping to ease an old soldier's mind. From: Brian M. O'Neill, LTC (R) FA
Terry Bobell. Neighbor and friend. p.o., box, 114, Goodfield, il., 61742, Always remembered. Jim and Olivia were my neighbors and friends a long, long time ago. I even borrowed their car to go to the hospital for the birth of my first child. We were Marines together. I will always remember his good nature, Alabama drawl and kinship. Rest well, my brother. Terry. Monday, August 23, 1999
Description This campaign was from 25 December 1965 to 30 June 1966. United States operations after 1 July 1966 were a continuation of the earlier counteroffensive campaign. Recognizing the interdependence of political, economic, sociological, and military factors, the Joint Chiefs of Staff declared that American military objectives should be to cause North Vietnam to cease its control and support of the insurgency in South Vietnam and Laos, to assist South Vietnam in defeating Viet Cong and North Vietnamese forces in South Vietnam, and to assist South Vietnam in pacification extending governmental control over its territory.
North Vietnam continued to build its own forces inside South Vietnam. At first this was done by continued infiltration by sea and along the Ho Chi Minh trail and then, in early 1966, through the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). U.S. air elements received permission to conduct reconnaissance bombing raids, and tactical air strikes into North Vietnam just north of the DMZ, but ground forces were denied authority to conduct reconnaissance patrols in the northern portion of the DMZ and inside North Vietnam. Confined to South Vietnamese territory U.S. ground forces fought a war of attrition against the enemy, relying for a time on body counts as one standard indicator for measuring successful progress for winning the war.
During 1966 there were eighteen major operations, the most successful of these being Operation WHITE WING (MASHER). During this operation, the 1st Cavalry Division, Korean units, and ARVN forces cleared the northern half of Binh Dinh Province on the central coast. In the process they decimated a division, later designated the North Vietnamese 3d Division. The U.S. 3d Marine Division was moved into the area of the two northern provinces and in concert with South Vietnamese Army and other Marine Corps units, conducted Operation HASTINGS against enemy infiltrators across the DMZ.
The largest sweep of 1966 took place northwest of Saigon in Operation ATTLEBORO, involving 22,000 American and South Vietnamese troops pitted against the VC 9th Division and a NVA regiment. The Allies defeated the enemy and, in what became a frequent occurrence, forced him back to his havens in Cambodia or Laos.
By 31 December 1966, U.S. military personnel in South Vietnam numbered 385,300. Enemy forces also increased substantially, so that for the same period, total enemy strength was in excess of 282,000 in addition to an estimated 80,000 political cadres. By 30 June 1967, total U.S. forces in SVN had risen to 448,800, but enemy strength had increased as well.
On 8 January U.S. and South Vietnamese troops launched separate drives against two major VC strongholds in South Vietnam-in the so-called "Iron Triangle" about 25 miles northwest of Saigon. For years this area had been under development as a VC logistics base and headquarters to control enemy activity in and around Saigon. The Allies captured huge caches of rice and other foodstuffs, destroyed a mammoth system of tunnels, and seized documents of considerable intelligence value.
In February, the same U.S. forces that had cleared the "Iron Triangle", were committed with other units in the largest allied operation of the war to date, JUNCTION CITY. Over 22 U.S. and four ARVN battalions engaged the enemy, killing 2,728. After clearing this area, the Allies constructed three airfields; erected a bridge and fortified two camps in which CIDG garrisons remained as the other allied forces withdrew.
