This Military Service Page was created/owned by
CW2 Phillip M. Kemp (Mike)
to remember
Carroll, Wesley Womble, III (Wes), WO1.
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Casualty Info
Home Town Houston
Last Address Houston
Casualty Date Jan 27, 1970
Cause Non Hostile- Died Other Causes
Reason Air Loss, Crash - Land
Location An Xugen (Vietnam)
Conflict Vietnam War
Location of Interment Houston National Cemetery (VA) - Houston, Texas
Wall/Plot Coordinates 14W 072 / Plot: Section E Site 934
I have just discovered the account of "Wes" Carroll's fatal accident in the 235th Aviation Company in RVN. "Greg" describes the tactical situation and weather exactly. Wes Carroll had been my wingman for some time and we had been flying in this area for several months. Pilot fatigue was a critical factor. The missions lasted all night, with much physical labor (reloading and rearming) between flights. I had 165 hours of flight time (most of it night) in 26 days during this period. That was far above maximum allowed, but we were below strength and low on experienced pilots. Wes was a relatively new fire team leader, but a good, solid pilot. The crash site was discovered the next morning, relatively undisturbed by the VC. While looking through some old photographs, I found a few pictures of Wes taken just before the accident.
If Any family members would like to have them, please contact me. From: Joe Shipes at Jfshipes2@aol.com
Information on U.S. Army helicopter AH-1G tail number 68-17039
Accident Summary:
A LIGHT FIRE TEAM OF AH-1G COBRAS LED BY WO1 WEESLEY W. CARROLL, UNDER THE CONTROL OF A COMMAND AND CONTROL UH-1 COMMANDED BY CPT ROGERS, WAS ENGAGED IN A NIGHT MISSION FORM CA MAU INTO THE U MINH FOREST. IMMEDIATELY AFTER TAKE-OFF WO1 CARROLL MADE CONTACT WITH CA MAU RADAR FOR VECTORS TO THE TARGET AREA AND WAS GIVEN A BLANKET CLEARANCE TO FIRE ALONG A MAJOR CANAL RUNNING NORTHWEST TO SOUTHEAST WHERE MANY LIGHTS AND INFRA-RED SIGHTINGS HAD BEEN REPORTED.
THE TEAM BEGAN THEIR OPERATION IN THE NORTHWEST CORNER OF THE FREE FIRE AREA. THEY WERE TO STRIKE TARGETS ALONG THE CANAL WORKING THEIR WAY DOWN TOWARD THE SOUTHEAST. THE TEAM HAD MADE STRIKES ON TWO TARGETS PRIOR TO THE ONE ENGAGED WHEN THE ACCIDENT OCCURRED.
AFTER THE FIRST TWO STRIKES, THE TEAM WAS PROCEEDING SOUTHEAST ALONG THE CANAL WHEN THEY OBSERVED SEVERAL BRIGHT FIRES NEAR COORDINATES WR014351. WO1 CARROLL BROKE LEFT AND COMMENCED A GUN RUN ON THESE TARGETS. THE WING MAN STATED THAT WO1 CARROLLFAILED TO MAKE A BREAK AT THE BOTTOM OF THE RUN AND CRASHED INTO DENSE TREES. THE AIRCRAFT EXPLODED ON IMPACT.
THE COMMAND AND CONTROL AIRCRAFT IMMEDIATELY DROPPED FLARES AND DESCENDED ABOVE THE WRECKAGE, ORBITING FOR SOMTEIME. THE WING MAN AND STANDBY TEAM OF AH-1G'S FROM THE CA MAU REMAINED OVER THE CRASH SITE AND REPORTED NO SIGNS OF LIFE AROUND THE WRECKAGE.\\
War Story:
CW2 Carroll was the Aircraft Commander, and 1Lt Leighton was the Pilot/Gunner. The action was in the U Minh Forest on the western edge of the fourth corps area. This was a large triple canopy jungle area with a wet floor. Some of the palms were over 200 feet tall.. The mission was a night Phantom III. That was the 235ths daily bread. Phantom III Night was a counter interdiction mission which involved a series of OV-1s, a ground based Aerial Surveillance Radar (ASR), and a Cobra fire team deployed near the area, operating off of a dike line with a connex of surplus, fuel bladder and pump. Wesley had been on R&R a week or so earlier and was sleeping in all day and flying all night. Platoon in the 235th rotated between two night Phantom III interdiction areas and a daytime Phantom III which work selected target areas chosen by the RVN Province S-2. (We often joked about being the enforcement branch for the province tax collector.) The Mohawks from the 244th would check in with the ASR and enter the interdiction free fire zone and either use their Slide Looking Radar to mark target or their Infrared sensors. Mark Target were passed to the ASR site for plotting. The Cobras would come up as the OV-1 began to work the area and upon finding either movers or hot spots the cobras would proceed to use flechett 2.75" rockets to wipe out an area about 800meters by 600meters with about five dart every in every square foot covered. I was quite effective in stop interdiction through the selected areas.. Wesley was working this area but he had a cloud layer bottoming between 1000 and 1200 feet AGL (MSL one and the same in the most of the delta). Our normal procedure was to start at 1500 feet and break off after about 30 seconds of firing. Apparently he started low and ended low and caught one of those tall palms. Cobra comes apart badly. Later on the Flight Surgeons discovered the we were developing narcolepsy from forcing our self to sleep through the day. It built up things in our blood which caused our reactions and thinking to slow. Wesley is survived by two daughters. Ted was the gunner because we had a policy that newbie fly 90days in the front seat and go through in country qualifications before they get into the back seat. Ted was a new RLO who hadn't been there two months. Therefore, he was most likely logged as P. I know that Wes was in the back and Ted in the front. If it was deemed and accident I would have to do the investigation. This was ruled a combat lose. So I only got the evidence after the fact not on site. I had trained Wes in the 235th and brought him along to be AC and flight lead. from "Greg" , June 2002.
My name is Ronald Keith Carroll, and my mother Rhonda Smith Carroll and I are the only survivors of my father Wesley. He had no daughters. Secondly, my father had yet to go on R&R when the crash happened. He was scheduled for R&R about 7-10 days from the date of the crash. From: Ron Carroll
