HOUSH, ANTHONY FRANK

Name: Anthony Frank Housh
Rank/Branch: E6/US Army
Unit: B Company, 228th Aviation Battalion (Assault Support Helicopter), 11th
Aviation Group, 1st Cavalry Division
Date of Birth: 26 June 1946 (Decatur IL)
Home City of Record: Newton IL
Date of Loss: 19 April 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 161918N 1070921E (YD291087)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: CH47
Refno: 1135

Source: Compiled from one or more of the following: raw data from U.S.
Government agency sources, correspondence with POW/MIA families,
published sources, interviews. Updated by the P.O.W. NETWORK in 2020.

Other Personnel In Incident: Michael Wallace; (missing from CH47,
coordinates YD291087-LZ Tiger; pilot, co-pilot and gunner survived); Douglas
R. Blodgett; William Dennis; Jesus Gonzales (missing from CH47A, coordinates
YD290105; pilot and co-pilot survived); Arthur J. Lord; Charles W. Millard;
Philip R. Shafer; Michael R. Werdehoff (missing on CH54, coordinates
YD255095-LZ Tiger)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On April 19, 1968 three Army helicopters were shot down in the A
Shau Valley of South Vietnam. All three were making supply runs to Landing
Zone Tiger in Quang Tri Province. Five men survived the three crashes, and
nine men remain missing.

The CH47A on which Douglas Blodgett was a crewman, William Dennis was flight
engineer, and Jesus Gonzales was crewchief was resupplying ammunition at the
LZ when it received small arms fire from the ground and crashed. The pilot
and co-pilot were able to crawl away, but the rest of the crew was never
found. They were declared Missing In Action.

The CH47 on which Anthony Housh was flight engineer and Michael Wallace was
crewchief was hit by 50 calibre and 37 mm ground fire on its approach to the
LZ. Housh and Wallace jumped from the aircraft from an altitude of 50-100
feet above the jungle canopy. The others were rescued. No trace of Housh and
Wallace was ever found. They were declared Missing In Action.

The CH54 "Flying Crane" on which Arthur Lord was aircraft commander, Charles
Millard pilot, Arthur J. Lord co-pilot, Michael Werdehoff flight engineer,
and Philip Shafer crewchief was carrying a bulldozer into the recently
resecured LZ Tiger when the aircraft was hit and crashed. All the crew were
classified Missing In Action.

Thorough searches for the 3 helicopters were not immediately possible
because of the enemy situation. A refugee later reported that he had found
the wreckage of two U.S. helicopters, one with 3 sets of skeletal remains,
in Quang Tri Province. The U.S. Army believes this could correlate with any
of the three helicopters lost on April 19, 1968, but no firm evidence has
been secured that would reveal the fate of the nine missing servicemen.

Some 250,000 interviews and "millions of documents" have been analyzed
relating to Americans who may still be alive, captive, in Southeast Asia.
Many experts believe there are hundreds of men still alive, waiting for
their country to rescue them. Whether any of the nine missing from near LZ
Tiger is among them is unknown, but it is clearly past time for us to bring
our men home.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

01/2020

https://dpaa.secure.force.com/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt0000000KYqyEAG

SFC ANTHONY FRANK HOUSH

Return to Service Member Profiles


On April 19, 1968, a CH-47 Chinook (tail number 66-19063) on a resupply mission in the A Shau Valley area, South Vietnam, was approaching its landing zone when it was struck by enemy machine gun and anti-aircraft artillery fire. The helicopter caught fire, lost control, and crashed to the ground. However, before it crashed, while it was still slightly above the jungle canopy, two crew members jumped out of the burning aircraft. Three other crew men, who survived the crash and were subsequently rescued, said they did not see these two men again after the crash, and search personnel could not locate them.

Specialist 6 Anthony Frank Housh, who entered the U.S. Army from Illinois, served with Company B of the 228th Aviation Battalion, 1st Cavalry Division, and was one of the two crew men who jumped out of this helicopter before it crashed. He remains unaccounted for. Following the incident, the Army promoted Specialist 6 Housh to the rank of Sergeant First Class. Today, Sergeant First Class Housh is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Based on all information available, DPAA assessed the individual's case to be in the analytical category of Active Pursuit.

If you are a family member of this serviceman, DPAA can provide you with additional information and analysis of your case. Please contact your casualty office representative.

Service member profile discrepancy? Please help us ensure the accuracy of each profile by submitting documentation about a service member profile.