Jolly Green Giant 9 November 1967

Brower, Ralph Wayne
Air Force Captain

Ralph Wayne Brower, age 27, from Stow, Ohio, Summit county. Their last known residence was in Stow.

Service era: Vietnam

Date of death: Thursday, November 9, 1967
Death details: 

On November 9, 1967, an HH-3E Jolly Green Giant (tail number 66-13279) with a crew of four took off on a rescue mission in Saravane Province, Laos. The Jolly Green Giant was the second of two helicopters responding to an emergency call made by a reconnaissance team that had suffered heavy casualties. The first helicopter successfully extracted all the team except for two wounded men. This Jolly Green Giant picked up these last two men, but was hit by ground fire after liftoff, crashed, and burned. The helicopter’s pilot survived the incident and was rescued, but the other occupants died in the crash. A recovery team reached the crash site later that day and found several sets of remains, but poor weather and enemy forces prevented helicopters from successfully extracting the bodies they found. Continued hostile presence in the area precluded further recovery efforts, and the remaining five men who were aboard the Jolly Green Giant are still unaccounted for.

Captain Ralph Wayne Brower, who joined the U.S. Air Force from Ohio, was a member of the 37th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron. He was the co-pilot aboard the Jolly Green Giant when it went down, and was one of the men lost during the crash. Further attempts to recover his remains have been unsuccessful. Today, Captain Brower is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

Kusick, Joseph George
Army Sergeant

Joseph George Kusick, age 22, from Bruin, Pennsylvania, Butler county.

Service era: Vietnam

Date of death: Wednesday, November 9, 1967
Death details:  On November 9, 1967, an HH-3E Jolly Green Giant (tail number 66-13279) with a crew of four took off on a rescue mission in Saravane Province, Laos. The Jolly Green Giant was the second of two helicopters responding to an emergency call made by a reconnaissance team that had suffered heavy casualties. The first helicopter successfully extracted all the team except for two wounded men. This Jolly Green Giant picked up these last two men, but was hit by ground fire after liftoff, crashed, and burned. The helicopter’s pilot survived the incident and was rescued, but the other occupants died in the crash. A recovery team reached the crash site later that day and found several sets of remains, but poor weather and enemy forces prevented helicopters from successfully extracting the bodies they found. Continued hostile presence in the area precluded further recovery efforts, and the remaining five men who were aboard the Jolly Green Giant are still unaccounted for.

Specialist Four Joseph George Kusick, who joined the U.S. Army from Pennsylvania, was a member of the Command and Control Detachment, 5th Special Forces Group. He was a member of the reconnaissance patrol that was picked up by the Jolly Green Giant, and was killed in the crash. Attempts to recover his remains have been unsuccessful. Subsequent to the incident, the U.S. Army posthumously promoted Specialist Four Kusick to the rank of Sergeant (SGT). Today, Sergeant Kusick is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives., Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

Baxter, Bruce Raymond
Army Master sergeant

Bruce Raymond Baxter from Lowell, Massachusetts, Middlesex county.

Service era: Vietnam

Date of death: November 9, 1967
Death details: On November 9, 1967, an HH-3E Jolly Green Giant (tail number 66-13279) with a crew of four took off on a rescue mission in Saravane Province, Laos. The Jolly Green Giant was the second of two helicopters responding to an emergency call made by a reconnaissance team that had suffered heavy casualties. The first helicopter successfully extracted all the team except for two wounded men. This Jolly Green Giant picked up these last two men, but was hit by ground fire after liftoff, crashed, and burned. The helicopter’s pilot survived the incident and was rescued, but the other occupants died in the crash. A recovery team reached the crash site later that day and found several sets of remains, but poor weather and enemy forces prevented helicopters from successfully extracting the bodies they found. Continued hostile presence in the area precluded further recovery efforts, and the remaining five men who were aboard the Jolly Green Giant are still unaccounted for.

Master Sergeant Bruce Raymond Baxter, who joined the U.S. Army from Massachusetts, was a member of the Command and Control Detachment, 5th Special Forces Group. He was one of the two men from the reconnaissance patrol that were picked up by the Jolly Green Giant, and was killed in the crash. Attempts to recover his remains have been unsuccessful. Today, Master Sergeant Baxter is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

Maysey, Larry Wayne
Air Force Sergeant

Larry Wayne Maysey, age 21, from Chester, New Jersey.

Service era: Vietnam

Date of death: Thursday, November 9, 1967
Death details: On November 9, 1967, an HH-3E Jolly Green Giant (tail number 66-13279) with a crew of four took off on a rescue mission in Saravane Province, Laos. The Jolly Green Giant was the second of two helicopters responding to an emergency call made by a reconnaissance team that had suffered heavy casualties. The first helicopter successfully extracted all the team except for two wounded men. This Jolly Green Giant picked up these last two men, but was hit by ground fire after liftoff, crashed, and burned. The helicopter’s pilot survived the incident and was rescued, but the other occupants died in the crash. A recovery team reached the crash site later that day and found several sets of remains, but poor weather and enemy forces prevented helicopters from successfully extracting the bodies they found. Continued hostile presence in the area precluded further recovery efforts, and the remaining five men who were aboard the Jolly Green Giant are still unaccounted for.

Sergeant Larry Wayne Maysey, who joined the U.S. Air Force from New Jersey, was a member of the 37th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron. He was the rescue specialist aboard the Jolly Green Giant when it went down, and was one of the men lost during the crash. Further attempts to recover his remains have been unsuccessful. Today, Sergeant Maysey is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

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