Going Home

submitted photo Herb Crosby prepares for flight. [Click to enlarge]

Herald-Tribune

Home is the sailor, home from the sea,

Jim Adams of Nevada stands by the helicopter he flew in Vietnam. One of the men with whom he served, Herb Crosby, was Missing In Action following the disappearance of his aircraft in 1970. His remains were located and will be interred in Arlington National Cemetery. submitted photos [Click to enlarge]

And the hunter home from the hill.

"Requiem," by Robert Louis Stevenson

"He was an officer and a really nice guy," local architect Jim Adams said. He was referring to Captain Herbert Charles Crosby, a pilot in the 71st Assault Helicopter Company 1st Platoon Adams led during part of his tour in Vietnam in 1969 and 1970.

Later, Crosby moved on to a Gunship Platoon. It was here, on a mission near Tien Phouc, South Vietnam, on Jan. 10, 1970, that Crosby's helicopter disappeared.

Crosby was leading two other helicopters returning to the unit's base at Chu Lai, South Vietnam. Because of the weather, the helicopters were flying under instrument flight rules.

Just before the loss Crosby directed the flight to a different heading and the helicopters changed frequencies to contact Chu Lai ground control. Radio contact was lost with Crosby and never regained. The other two helicopters made it to Chu Lai and a search was instituted to locate Crosby's helicopter.

His remains were repatriated following a series of investigations that began immediately following the loss and continued through 2006. On May 25, 2007, Crosby will be interred in Arlington National Cemetery.

A group of veterans, including Adams, plan to the family for the occasion.

"I consider it a real honor to be invited by the family to come and participate," Adams said. "He was a good soul. This is closure for his family."

Adams said the area his unit operated from was close to mountains, and pilots had to keep that in mind when flying at low altitude.

"You would be flying at treetop level, and all of a sudden a mountain looms up," Adams said.

Adams said most of the time helicopter pilots flew under visual flight rules and used their knowledge of the terrain to navigate. IFR flying was considered risky.

"You usually had an area you operated in, and you got to know it like the back of your hand," Adams said. "I only went IFR once, but it was a real pucker factor. Most people look at clouds and they're white and puffy things but pilots hate them."

Adams knows about helicopter crashes -- he's survived four of them.

"I was shot down four times," Adams said. "Though one of them was considered mechanical failure."