Ulric dahlgren
udahlgren@aol.com
Served under him at MCRD San Diego
1935 Severn Grove Road
Annapolis, MD 21401 USA
I was a series commander under General Hochmuth's command from January to April 1966. My wife and I enjoyed the many receptions and small get-togethers he put on for the officers under his command, and I was privileged to have been party to several of his and General Krulak's discussions of their days together in China before WW II. General Hochmuth pinned my First Lieutenant's bars on - I wept when I heard he was killed. Semper Fi was never truer than when he said it. Ric Dahlgren
Saturday, March 01, 2003 |
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LArry MUse
Zihuatanejojoe@netzero.net
Fellow Marine
10914 Mayfield Road
Houston, TX 77043 USA
Accounting of the events leading to this Hero's death
BUNO 153757 At about 1040 hours on 14 November 1967, Capt. Milton Kelsey, pilot, 1st Lt. Thomas Carter, copilot, and crew chief Cpl. Ronald Phelps lifted from VMO-3's mat at Phu Bai in BUNO 153757, designated Scarface 1-0. At 1145, they picked up Major General Bruno Hochmuth, CG 3rd MARDIV, his aide Maj. Robert Crabtree and Liaison Maj. Nguyen Ngoc Chuong to visit ARVN BGen. Ngo Quang Truong in Hue. The aircraft departed the hospital pad at Hue Citadel at 1145, enroute to Dong Ha and was chased by an HMM-364 UH-34 piloted by Capt. J. A. Chancey. At 1150, the aircraft was flying northwest over Hwy. 1 at about 1500 feet. At YD672266, Capt. Chancey saw the aircraft's nose yaw to the right twice and at the same instant the aft/engine section exploded in an orange fireball. The fuselage separated from the rotor and the aircraft fell in pieces. The fuselage landed inverted in a flooded rice paddy the tail cone a short distance away. A Sparrowhawk was immediately dispatched, as well as an aircraft recovery team from VMO-3. Burning fuel on the surface of the paddy hampered recovery, however there was no evidence of explosion in the fuselage. The bodies were returned to Phu Bai and pronounced by Lt. John Parrish all are believed to have been killed on impact. Immediately after the crash, and in the years since, a great many rumors circulated concerning the cause, ranging from enemy ground fire, to ARVN artillery fire, to U.S. friendly fire, and even sabotage. Gen. Hochmuth was the first and only Marine general officer to die in Vietnam, and there was a good deal of pressure to list his death as combat-related. Moreover, this was VMO-3's largest loss of life in Vietnam and it was difficult to accept that these squadron-mates could have died in anything but combat. In fact, the aircraft suffered a tail rotor gear box failure and the official findings on the incident, submitted by BGen Robert Keller in November, 1967, states "there is no evidence to indicate this mishap was caused either by hostile action or inadvertent friendly fire." A few days later, the squadron held a memorial service in the new, thatch-roof chapel at Phu Bai, and for the second time in 1967, we sang the Navy Hymn. Lord, guard and guide the men who fly Through the great spaces in the sky. Be with them always in the air, In darkening storm or sunlight fair, O hear us when we lift our prayer, For those in peril in the air Courtesy Ron Zaczek "The UH-1E that Ron Phelps was in crashed as a result of tail rotor failure although I can't say how it landed. It was in our hanger for a while and they went over our maintenance procedures with a fine tooth comb. Everyone was really paranoid for quite some time. Our area was primarily the Phu Bai region we also had a detachment in Khe Sanh that we rotated every two weeks or so. One of our duties was to ferry Gen Hochmuth around when and where he wanted to go. Ron and I were both crew chiefs and we all took turns on the Generals slick. From what I can remember we spent a week or two at a time on this duty. When it was my turn to come off the slick, Ron took over for me. It wasn't too long after that when the crash occurred and they all were killed. I had purchased a new camera just about that time and it was my good fortune to take a picture of Ron in front of our squadron sign. I needn't tell you how special that picture still is after all this time." Submitted by Richard T. Musante, VMO-3
Tuesday, October 25, 2005 |
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LArry MUse
Zihuatanejojoe@netzero.net
Fellow Marine!
10914 Mayfield Road
Houston, TX 77043 USA
HAPPY USMC BIRTHDAY
Sir, you leadership will never be forgotten! Happy United States Marine Corps Birthday! Semper Fidelis, Sir! Hand Salute to a fallen HERO!
Thursday, November 10, 2005 |
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LArry MUse
Zihuatanejojoe@netzero.net
Fellow Marine
10914 Mayfield Road
Houston, TX 77043 USA
Another Whom Served Under the General remembers
This is from a e-mail sent to me yesterday, the Birthday of the USMC, from a Marine that had served under this General! "WHAT CAUGHT MY ATTENTION WAS GEN HOCHMUTH. HE WAS THE CG AT MCRD SAN DIEGO WHEN I WENT THROUGH BOOT IN 64. AM LOOKING AT HIS PICTURE IN MY GRAD YEARBOOK AS I WRITE THIS. WENT TO TEXAS A/M, COMMISIONED IN JULY 1935. SERVED IN CHINA IN 1937 WITH THE 6TH MARINES FOR A SHORT TIME THEN JOINED THE 4TH CHINA MARINES. SERVED LATER IN WWII AS CO OF 3/4, 6TH MAR DIV. LANDED ON JAPAN 1945 AS XO OF 4TH MAR DIV. AFTER THE WAR. 1957 SERVED AS CHIEF OF STAFF OF MCRD, 59 PROMOTED TO BRIG GEN. PRIOR TO HIM TAKING OVER AS CG OF RECRUIT TRAINING THE BOOK SAYS HE WAS IN DC OVER R&D AS CHIEF OF STAFF. THE REST IS HISTORY. OBVIOUSLY THE BOOK DOESN'T SAY WHEN HE WENT TO NAM." see note below! "WISH I COULD SCAN THIS BIG OLD BOOK FOR YOU TO SEE HIM IN LIVING COLOR BUT I'M A NOVICE ON A PC" SEMPER FI! BOB H. 3/4 AND 4/12 NAM 65-66 From the Bio on this Vietnam Memorial Site it indicates that the Gerneral went to Vietnam on March 18, 1967!
Friday, November 11, 2005 |
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LArry MUse
Zihuatanejojoe@netzero.net
Fellow Marine
10914 Mayfield Road
Houston, TX 77043 USA
Anniversary
Sir, on the anniversary of your death, you are remembered and loved! Hand Salute to an American Hero!
Monday, November 14, 2005 |
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Gordon Odom
GODOM1@austin.rr.com
Was his orderly at MCRD
I was in Boot Camp in 1964 while the General was CG. After ITR I was transferred back to MCRD San Diego and went to School. I was assigned to a unit that was serving overseas, but was due to return in 2-3 weeks. So I was assigned to serve these weeks at Headquarters MCRD. I was assigned as an orderly for General Hockmuth. He gave me my first promotion and much inspiration. I had the honor of restoring his Calvery Saber that he received as a graduate from Texas A&M. I was a fellow Texan and he was very kind to me. I was in Nam when he was killed, although I was not serving with him (I was with 3/5). I didn't know he had been killed until I came back 4/68. He represented what the Corps is. May God bless the General. Semper Fi
Monday, January 30, 2006 |
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JOHN ELLIS
ellisjoh@aol.com
Commanding General, MCRD San Diego
129 LARKSPUR LN
GEORGETOWN, TX 78628-4571 USA
MY COMMANDING GENERAL
I ENLISTED 15 NOVEMBER 1965 AND SHIPPED OUT TO BOOT CAMP 30 DECEMBER 1965 WAS IN PLATOON 1046 (HONOR PLATOON). NEVER MET THE GENERAL, BUT HE WAS A MOST IMPRESSIVE MARINE HE IS ONE OF THE FIRST PICTURES ONE VIEWS IN THE RED BOOKS WE HAVE OF OUR BOOT CAMP EXPERIENCE.
Friday, March 17, 2006 |
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