This page is dedicated to the memory of Capt Harrold James Hellbach,POW/MIA

Branch of Service:	USMC
Rank:	CAPT
Unit:	VMFA 232, MAG-11
Length of Service:	4 years
Date of Loss:	19 May, 1967
Country of Loss:	South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates:	170403N 1070255E (YD180880)
Status: (in 1973)	Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category:	2
Aircraft:	F8E "Crusader"

CAPT. Harold J. Hellbach was the pilot of an F8E. On May, 19, 1967, CAPT. Hellbach's aircraft crashed near the city of Vinh Linh in Quang Binh Province in South Vietnam. Little hope was held that CPT Hellbach survived and he was declared Killed/Body Not Recovered. Defense Department records list CAPT Hellbach's loss as hostile, so it is presumed that it was related to a combat mission.

CAPT Hellbach was flying a mission over Quang Binh province in North Vietnam when he radioed in that he has been hit by enemy gunfire on 19 May, 1967. His wingman saw the plane go down, but an ensuing search and rescue mission failed.

The Vought F8 "Crusader" saw action early in U.S. involvement in Southeast Asia. Its fighter models participated both in the first Gulf of Tonkin reprisal in August, 1964 and in the myriad attacks against North Vietnam during Operation Rolling Thunder. The Crusasder was used exclusively by the Navy and Marine Air Wings (although there is one U.S. Air Force pilot reported shot down on an F8) and represented half or more of the carrier fighters in the Gulf of Tonkin during the first four years of the war. THe aircraft was credited with nearly 53% of MiG kills in Vietnam. The most frequently used fighter versions of the Crusader in Vietnam were the C, D, and E models although the H and J were used also. The Echo model had a heavier reinforced wing able to carry extra Sidewinders or bombs, and were used to attach ground targets, giving it increased vulnerability. The Echo version launched with less fuel, to accommodate the larger bomb store, and frequently arrived back at ship low on fuel.

Since the war ended, nearly 10,00 reports relating to Americans missing, prisioners or unaccounted for in Southeast Asia have been received by the U.S. Government. Many authorities who have examined this largely classified information are convinced that hundreds of Americans are still held captive today. Fighter pilots in Vietnam were called upon to fly in many dangerous circumstances, and were prepared to be wounded, killed or captured. It probably never occurred to them that they could be abondoned by the country they proudly served.

In 1993, a team from the military's Joint Task Force-Full Accounting saw museum photographs showing wreckage that coincided with the date of CAPT Hellbach's disappearance. An initial searh of the crash site in 1997 turned up only wreckage. Later that year, a team excavated the site and uncovered human remains plus more wreckage and pilot-related items.

Five years after seeing photographs of aircraft wreckage in a Vietnam military museum, the US military has identified the remains of a serviceman whose plane was shot down 31 years ago. The remains of CAPT Hellach, 24 of New Orleans, recently were identified by the Army Central Identification Laboratory Hawaii at Hickham Air Force Base.

Name:	Harold James Hellbach
Age:	24
Date of Birth:	September 21, 1942
Home of Record:	New Orleans, LA
Marital Status:	Married
Religion:	Protestant


View Guestbook	Send E-mail	Sign Guestbook

This POW/MIA Ring siteis owned by Kim Wallace. [ Prev | Skip It | Next 5 | Random | Next | List of All Members] Want to join the ring? Get the info.

This POW/MIA Ring site
is owned by Kim Wallace.

[ Prev | Skip It | Next 5 | Random | Next | List of All Members]

Want to join the ring? Get the info.