Either late December 1968 or prior to January 26, 1969 Lt. Moss Quinlan and crew lunched in support of a group of Marine Combat Engineers who were in the process of establishing a 105mm howitzer fire base on a mountain top south west of Hill 55.  Upon approaching the zone something went terribly wrong and YK-1 crashed just below the rim of the fire base.  The extent of injuries to the crew is unknown except they were bruised and banged up but no fatalities.

The plight of YK-1 was passed to the squadron and the Recovery Team was assembled.  That Team, in part, consisted of:

1stLt. Courtney B. Payne
SSgt. Oscar E. Creech -(Photo)
Sgt. William C. Barbier
Sgt. Stan Clontz
Cpl. James H. Banish
Pfc. Charles Lee Peddy
 
 
 
 

Da Nang Direct Air Support Center (DASC) advised the pilot of the recovery aircraft that the crew of YK-1 had been picked up from the crash scene and returned to Marble Mountain (or perhaps an aid station first).  Further, Da Nang DASC advised that a lifting aircraft (an Army CH-54 Sikorsky Crane) was not immediately available, and that they, DASC, had a couple of quick resupply missions to be run.  The recovery team was deposited on Hill 55 where they waited to continue their recovery task and the picture above was taken.  From left, Sgt. Stan Clontz, 1stLt. Courtney B. Payne and Sgt. William C. Barbier.

Lt. Payne, serving as the Officer in Charge of the many recovery tasks, only took his camera on this one mission.  This was a rather tame recovery, on others the recovery team had to fight their way both in and out of the crash sites.  The squadron, its members and in some cases the families of the crash victims owe a great deal to Lt. Payne and the dedicated Marines who volunteered as members of the recovery team.
 
 

Upon arriving, this image shows Cpl. James H.  Bandish on top trying to get the blades off.   The Marine Combat Engineers on the lip of the landing zone, which had been secured a day or two before the incident, were preparing the site to receive the 105mm howitzers.   The blade removal was expedited by using some explosive primer cord provided by the Marine Combat Engineers.
 
 

The team had "acquired" two chain saws, the yellow one in the photo being started by Sgt. Clontz was "donated" by MABS-16.  The saws were used to cut the trees the aircraft had impaled itself on except for a few small ones.  To Clontz's right arePfc. Peddy and possibly on of the Combat Engineers.
 
 

From left, Cpl. Bandish and Pfc. Peddy behind the tree stump.  The lifting straps have been put in place for the Army CH-54 to remove the wreckage but, Lt. Payne was not sure the lifting straps were positioned properly and asked if the Army pilot would reposition YK-1 on the fire base so the straps could be adjusted.  Lt. Payne recalls the radio transmissions from the Army pilot who, at first, refused to take the lift mission because he thought the zone was hot.  Once convinced that the zone was secure and he would not receive fire he said, "Ok I'll make one pass...that's all!   I'll pickle the SOB if we take one round of fire or, the aircraft doesn't 'feel right' or, if the Yankee Kilo aircraft starts to rotate too much."   Lt. Payne further recalls the lift, "He lifted the aircraft, the small trees just broke off and the CH-46 did about a quarter turn and never moved again. Trailing dust, dirt, tree stumps and a little fuel, YK-1 was airborne again and headed for An Hoa."

A few days later YK-1 came back to Marble Mountain where H&MS-16 preserved it with with a coating to prevent salt water corrosion, placed it on a barge, and shipped it to the rework facility in Osaka, Japan.  The aircraft was repaired and it flew combat missions again!
 
 

The aircraft taking recovery team back to Marble Mountain, perhaps you can recognize the guys in the picture. Unknown Marine on the machine gun and Sgt. Clontz is wiping his face in the back by the ramp with SSgt. Creech sitting across from him.
 

Information provided by:
    Courtney B. Payne, Major, USMC (Ret)
    James H. Bandish, former Cpl. USMC