30 years since Indian Springs Crash

[magician]

Originally Posted by Combat Jump

Magician, It was the Recondo Pit Stop.

Yeah!

That was it. Jesus. I am going to have to change my name to Al Tzeimer.

[bstag1/75]

Rest In Peace, brothers gone but not forgotten.

Sua Sponte!

[mcdude]

I often talk with Ted Thomas (LTC-ret). He as an engineer officer, and the support platoon leader, even though we was an engineer.

He has told me the stories of that day. He put those men on the aircraft, and recalled the awful feeling of finding out the bad news that day. He will never forget it.

R.I.P., men.

MD

[glassiam]

Gone but not forgotten....RIP Brothers.

[Latewatch]

Originally Posted by magician

Yeah!

That was it. Jesus. I am going to have to change my name to Al Tzeimer.

Hadn't thought of the Recondo Pit in years... Steve rest assured that you're not the only one who's memory isn't what it used to be.

Chrissy I didn't work directly with your Father but I remember him as a very professional NCO who was always helpful to me the few times that I went to the Battalion Aid Station. He along with the others that died on that mission will always be remembered by the ones they served with.

[Sinister Dave]

Rest easy, Ranger Buddy.



USSOCOM Memorial, MacDill Air Base, Tampa

[pavegnr]

RIP. That was a long night. That was not a pretty site on NVG's either. I was on the lead Pave that night.

[F4 WSO ALO]

I was on that airplane. At the time I was a young USAF Captain...and the 2/75 Air Liaison Officer (ALO).

I was sitting on the floor beside Ranger Critselous when the airplane hit the ground. It was loud and the ride was as rough as I've ever experienced. Since there were no seats...there were no seat belts. We all got tossed around pretty bad and I was lucky enough to come up against the floor mounted winch we'd used to pull the little birds into the C-130. That kept me from being thrown farther forward and I was able to dig my way out of the rubble when the bird came to a stop.

By the time I found a way out the aircraft was pretty much fully on fire and as I exited a tear in the port side port side skin the first 'whoosh' of rolling flame came from the back to the front of the airplane. I'm pretty sure nobody came out after me (I watched the AC-130 video a while later and pretty much confirmed that).

I knew the Rangers that died...as ALO I worked directly for the LTC Powell. Bynum had taped my sprains and fed me 'Ranger Candy' when I was beat up. Critselous and I shared a bag of Tootsie Rolls I had in my ruck sack during the flight.

My 2 years with the 2/75 are some of my fondest memories.

[CharlieRanger1FFV]

Rest in Peace, Brothers.


RLTW!!!

[sedativecrane8]

RIP Brothers!
RLTW

[mewilson]

Magician, long time...

Chrissy,
I wanted to share with you my last memory of your father, Jimmy Bynum, on the evening before his death. We were on the airfield waiting to take off that night and head out to the training area in Nevada. We hadn't yet got on the C-130. The mood was light and Jimmy and Capt. Greg Gardner were wrestling and laughing on the tarmac like a couple of school boys. Gardner was flicking Bynum crap about being "an old man." He asked Jimmy how old he was, and I think Bynum said "32". Then Gardner jokingly bragged about being 36 and in better shape than Bynum. It was true. Jimmy was somewhat "high mileage" and abhorred PT. Anyway, they got along great and it was good to see that kind of fraternal behavior between an enlisted man and an officer (although Gardner had been an SF medic in S.E. Asia...).

That same evening Cpt. Gardner passed out chem lights to all the medics --something we hadn't done before. That chem light greatly facilitated our rescue of the injured later that night.

[magician]

Hey, Maddog.

Welcome aboard. There are a few of us here. There is a lot to read, if you do a little searching. Some funny threads, too.

Do me a favor and look again at your welcome email and go make a brief introduction in the appropriate thread. That will keep everyone happy. Just include when you were in 2d Bat and your MOS. Nothing else needs to be said.

I have missed you. But you should take care to never bump into me. I am going to harm you badly for hurting my goat in MedLab, you prick.

Jesus, we were insane, back in the day. I make penance every day now, for those excesses. I wonder whether young Ranger medics today are as crazy as we were?

[Stopp700]

A lot of good RANGERS died that day. Some of them the Cadre of the BN, which built what we know now ...... All good soldiers.

[adtexan]

RIP brothers.

[mewilson]

Magician,
Posted my introduction thread. Don't remember hurting your goat in MedLab, but that doesn't necessarily rule out the possibility. My family and I went up to Seattle on vacation last summer, and, while driving through downtown, I remembered our excursions to the Gorilla Room and Baby O's for punk rock concerts in the early 80's. Rangers back then didn't enjoy the community support that they do now... We had to travel as far as the Seattle punk scene for our birth-control haircuts to pass as "normal".

Back to the topic of this thread: I had a recurring dream for several years after the crash. Cpt. Gardner and Jimmie Bynum show up at the BN Aid Station. They weren't really dead. The Army had taken the opportunity to sequester them for some spook shit right after the crash, and now they were returned to their families and colleagues. Everyone happy and relieved. I wake up, disappointed. Oh well, that's probably TMI.

Saludos.

[magician]

Weird dream.

Gerry is on here somewhere, and there are a slew of former 2d Bat Rangers. RB is here, too, but he rarely posts.

Who was that 91C in the BAS that worked with Makanani? Not Hansen. The guy whose first name was Jack. I cannot remember his last name anymore. He worked for Gardner and Bynum. He was a SP5 when I arrived at Bn. Not Dan Evans. Evans was an E7. I am talking about Jack, whose last name that I cannot remember.

I want to hook you up with a guy who is writing the definitive history of Urgent Fury. He posts here as mooch, I believe. Hopefully he will see this post and reach out to you.

[gerryeric]

Originally Posted by magician

Weird dream.

Gerry is on here somewhere, and there are a slew of former 2d Bat Rangers. RB is here, too, but he rarely posts.

Who was that 91C in the BAS that worked with Makanani? Not Hansen. The guy whose first name was Jack. I cannot remember his last name anymore. He worked for Gardner and Bynum. He was a SP5 when I arrived at Bn. Not Dan Evans. Evans was an E7. I am talking about Jack, whose last name that I cannot remember.

Jack Bowen, left 2nd Bn to go to 91C long course then went to 1st Bn (can't remember if he went to Grenada with them). He went back to 2nd Bn then on to 18D and 1st Group. He went to PA school in the late 90's and is now the PA at Camp McCall.

Yeah, Maddog TMI

I'll try to get RB to post, but he's busy and forgetful.

[magician]

Yeah. That was him. Bowen. Outstanding individual.

You are aging very gracefully. Your brain still works.

[mewilson]

I thought Jack was already a 91C long, then went from 2 BN straight to PA school. I could be mistaken.

Years later, I was a PA too, but didn't have a lot of interaction with the real military PAs (I was Commissioned Corps U.S.P.H.S., which I have renamed the U.S. Public Self-Service for their careerist culture).

I have some contact with Frank Wallace from time to time. He was the acting Battalion Surgeon before Bob Kane came on board. Frank retired from the military, went to medical school, and did his residency in critical care/anesthesiology.

Don Smith ("Smitty") also lives (lived?) in my neck of the woods. I was working in a Family Practice clinic when I first moved to Oregon and Don, a pharmaceutical rep at that time, would call on the clinic.

Gerry, did you retire from the Army? 1st Group? I remember when you and Boy Dan (now Command Sergeant Major Dan) visited me at University of California.

[magician]

I thought that Jack was a 91C, also, but I no longer trust my memory. I just remember that he was a BAS medic. Not a platoon medic.

Please give my best regards to The Chin. Ask him if he and his family still practice a nudist lifestyle at home.