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Major Belli's impact with the trees was so great that his parachute was torn in half and he was completely separated from the shroud lines. When he awoke, approximately 15 minutes after his ejection, he discovered that he had a badly broken arm and a dislocated knee. The injuries immobilized him and, in his own words, "I knew that I was going to stay right there until either they rescued me or something else happened."
Word was received at NKP on Ashcan 01's plight at 1027, and the Jolly Greens
were scrambled with Jolly Green 52 to act as low aircraft. When the Jolly Greens
arrived at the scene, it was learned that neither the OV-10 Nail FAC nor the
Sandy had been able to locate the survivor due to poor weather. In the immediate
area of the survivor, the weather was completely overcast with bases of the
clouds extending to the ground. Winds were from the northeast, gusting to over
30 knots.
Jolly Green 52 located a hole in the clouds about three miles southwest of the survivor and descended below the overcast. Each attempt to head north toward the survivor was met with a wall of clouds and on many occasions, while looking for a clear route, the helicopter was forced to climb up through the clouds. Attempts from the north were barred by 6,000-foot mountains, while the ridge that the survivor was on precluded attempts from the west.At one time, a SAM passed within 200 feet of Jolly Green 52 and on four other occasions, the Jolly received hits from automatic groundfire after drifting over Mu Gia Pass. Another flight of Jolly Greens arrived in the area and became the target for several SAM firings. As the afternoon progressed, weather conditions worsened in the area and it was decided at 1730 to call off the SAR effort for the day. Sandy gave Ashcan 01 bed-down instructions and insured him that the SARTF would be back first thing the next morning. With the weather and the approaching darkness, the survivor allowed that there was not much that could be done about it and he settled down for the night awaiting first light.
The Sandys and the Jollys held a meeting at NKP that night to discuss the best method of operation for the next day's effort. It was determined at that time that there just was no better way to do it except wait for the weather to improve. Later that night, however, Major Kenneth Ernest, the pilot of Jolly Green 52 scheduled for the Jolly Green Low position the following morning, called a meeting of his crew to brief a tactic that had never been tried before. Major Ernest told the author: "We just decided to go in in the weather--in a hover right on the trees. Everyone was briefed on just how I wanted our position passed. We knew at times that there would just be one person who would have sight of a tree, and everybody else would be IFR and I would just fly on that one person. If someone sighted something on one side of the airplane or in the rear he would say "clear" in that area. That would mean he had something in sight then he would start giving "move left five feet" and I'd have my eyes out front hoping I could catch something. And then we would leap to it and wait for something else to clear in front and then leap to that tree. "
The SARTF arrived back on the scene at 0545, 11 December, and awaited first light. Major Ernest's crew in Jolly Green 30 (Jolly Low) secured a doppler fix from over the survivor's position to aid in returning to him and, since the weather was about the same as the day before, Jolly Green 30 descended through a hole in the clouds and began searching. Beginning his run-in to Ashcan 01 from about two miles southwest, Major Ernest was IFR and required assistance in locating the survivor. The assistance was provided by a, Sandy and a Pave Nail. The Sandy orbited behind the Jolly Green and provided headings for the Jolly through direction finder cuts with the survivor. The Pave Nail orbited 90 degrees off the Jolly's track and monitored the angle between DF cuts on the survivor and on the Jolly.
In this manner, Jolly Green 30 slowly made its way from tree to tree toward Ashcan 01 Alpha. Along the way, the parachute of Ashcan 01 Bravo (the backseater) was discovered. A flight surgeon aboard Jolly Green 30 determined that the man (who had by then been hanging in his parachute harness for over 20 hours, suspended in a tree, with the wind causing him to swing against the tree trunk) was not alive. An unenviable decision had to be made at that time by Major Ernest. To 'retrieve the body would require lowering a PJ on Jolly Green 30's only penetrator. With the gusting winds making the helicopter difficult to control, this meant risking the life of the PJ and losing the penetrator. Without the penetrator the mission would have to be aborted, and with Ashcan 01 Alpha calling out that he was just a short distance away, Major Ernest elected to continue to the survivor. In discussing the decision he made, Major Ernest recalled thinking: ". . . What happens if I lower the PJ down there-- we only have one penetrator. . . what happens if I get him or the penetrator stuck down there in the trees? We would have to abort the whole mission because we wouldn't have a penetrator to pick up Alpha. That's one thing--also risking the life of the PJ going after a dead man, that's the second thing. Also--here's a live man. Let's get him. Let's get him right now."
The coordination between the Jolly, the Pave Nail, and the Sandy resumed as Jolly Green 30 continued to inch its way toward Alpha until a hover was established over Major Belli. Approximately one hour had been spent in mostly IFR weather for Jolly Green 30 to move the two miles or so to Ashcan 01 Alpha. Major Belli described the pickup from his vantage point on the ground: "The rain and winds were still gusty, and I could see the cloud cover right over the top of the tree canopy. Anyway, they finally got over me, and they asked if I wanted a PJ to come down. I told them I guessed one had better since I wasn't in much of a condition to help myself. Actually, they sent' two down, which was probably lucky because I think it took both of them to get me on the penetrator. It was kind of funny, because I could see the penetrator with the PJs coming down, and I could see the bottom of the helicopter, but the top of it was in the clouds. I thought that chopper pilot must be having one helluva tough time trying to hover there, with the gusty winds, and him just about IFR. Anyway, they got me on the penetrator and pulled me aboard."
Major Ernest, who won the Aviation/Space Writers Association Helicopter Heroism
Award for his part in the Ashcan 01 Alpha rescue, gave much of the credit to
Major Belli. The importance of the actions taken by the survivor was emphasized
when Major Ernest said, "I didn't make the pickup. The guy on the ground helped
so damn much. His vectors--stuff like that, trying to get me to him--little
helpful hints on what the area looked like, what to look for." _74/
The rescue of Ashcan 01 Alpha marked the first time an IFR recovery had been
made. Several observations and suggestions resulted from the operation. Some of
these were:
1. An LNRS night pickup was considered but prevented by the weather in the area
the night of the 10th.
2. The modified doppler on the LNRS aircraft proved to be very accurate and it
was recommended that all HH-53 helicopters be so equipped.
3. The Pave Nail FACs used on the mission proved that the aircraft could be a
very important part of the rescue force.
4. Using the same Jolly Green crews for the continuation of the mission the next
day worked very well. It was recommended that this be made a standard procedure.
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