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Michael Lautzenheiser


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Missing For
Years: Days: Hours: Mins: Secs:



Name:Michael Lautzenheiser
D.O.B: 15 Sept. 1971
Home of Record: Muncie, IN
Date of Loss: 26 Oct. 1971
Country Of Loss: South Vietnam / over Water
Coordinates Of Loss: 121301N / 1091847E
Status:Killed / B.N.R.
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Over Water
Unit: 68th Aviation Co. 52 Aviation Btn. 17th Aviation group




Name: Michael Lautzenheiser
Rank/Branch: E5/US Army
Unit: 68th Aviation Company, 52nd Aviation Battalion, 17th Aviation Group, 1st
Aviation Brigade, Camp Holloway, Pleiku RV
Date of Birth: 15 September 1951 (Hartford City IN)
Home City of Record: Muncie IN
Date of Loss: 26 October 1971
Country of Loss: South Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 121301N 1091847E (CP165510)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Other Personnel In Incident: Mickey Eveland; Thomas F. Green; Albert Trudeau;
Sanford I. Finger; Robert A. Nickol (all missing); Leonard G. Maquiling
(aircraft commander-remains recovered); three other non-crew aboard-bodies
recovered.

REMARKS: CRASHES-4 REMS FND-NOT SUBJS

SYNOPSIS: Before dawn on the morning of October 26, 1971, Mickey Eveland was
awakened by his assistant platoon leader, G.J. Curry and told that he was
needed as crew chief for a resupply flight from Camp Holloway at Pleiku to Cha
Rang Valley and An Son. SP4 Walia, the crew's usual crew chief had to be
present at a promotion board that day, so Mickey Eveland was selected to fill
in for him. Pvt. Green, gunner; WO Albert Trudeau, pilot; CWO Leonard
Maquiling, aircraft commander; SP5 Michael Lautzenheiser, the flight engineer;
were also awakened. The crew flew from the 52nd Aviation Battalion, "Flying
Dragons". Mickey had a hard time waking up, and Curry had to return to reawaken
him. Maquiling, the oldest of the crew, had just turned 23; Trudeau had just
turned 22. Eveland and Green were barely 19. Mike was 20.

The CH47B, serial #66-19143, call sign Warrior 143, departed Camp Holloway at
0750 that morning and arrived at An Son at 0900 hours after a stop at Cha Rang
Valley. While at An Son, the aircraft received further orders to fly to Cam
Ranh Bay with a stop at Tuy Hoa. The helicopter arrived at Tuy Hoa at 1115
hours and departed there at 1350 hours. Shortly after departure from Tuy Hoa,
Trudeau radioed that he had 10 people aboard and expected to arrive at Cam Ranh
Bay at 1420 hours. He had taken on 6 passengers for the flight, Finger, Nickol,
and three others. The weather was expected to worsen south of Tuy Hoa, and the
pilot was cautioned to contact Coastal Center for weather conditions.

The last time anyone saw Warrior 143, it was near Nha Trang, headed south into
bad weather. Search and Rescue was initiated at 1555 hours. Between October 27
and November 1, debris identified as being from 143 was found washed ashore on
Hon Tre island, just offshore from Nha Trang. The condition of the debris
recovered indicated that the aircraft had struck the water at high speed. In
all, four crew members' remains were found during the search period. However,
there was no sign of Eveland, Trudeau, Nickol, Green, Finger or Lautzenheiser.
An extensive search continued through November 9, without success. In 1972, the
missing crew members were declared Killed in Action, Body Not Recovered.

An additional recovery attempt was made based on the possible sighting of the
wreckage of the aircraft on October 9, 1974. Two South Vietnamese scuba divers
spent 1 hour and 30 minutes each in an underwater search, but did not locate
the wreckage.

Hon Tre island was definitely Viet Cong territory and their junks plyed the
waters surrounding it at night. Veteran fighter pilots told the Lautzenheiser
family that, in spite of the seemingly dismal facts surrounding the loss of
123, the presence of so many Viet Cong made it possible that the crew of the
helicopter could have been taken captive.

As the years passed, anguish for the families of the men missing on Warrior 143
only grew as thousands of reports flowed in relating to Americans still held
captive in Southeast Asia. The Vietnamese appear, to many authorities, to be
holding the men against the day the U.S. will pay their promised reconstruction
aid. The U.S. firmly holds that it will not pay. Meanwhile, nearly 2500
American families wait in limbo, and American heroes die in the hands of a
long-ago enemy, victims of a political war that, for them, will not end.