I don't know how this is to be done, so, I am submitting this information to you for purposes of letting folks know through PAS that then, First Lieutenant. Terry Driskill, who was with HMM-262, September 1969 - September, 1970 died of brain cancer on 19 July, 2017. His ashes will be interred at the Washington-Cross National Cemetery in Newtown, PA. He resided with his wife, Hwei had at Doylestown, PA. Terry was an excellent guitarist and after graduating from High School, he was in the Steve Miller Band. Terry is pictured with the Steve Miller band on their second album, "Sailor" on Capital Records. He spent much of his life following Vietnam, in Europe and Southeast. He held a PhD in literature and taught English speaking American students throughout his life. He was an author and had begun to write of his experiences in Vietnam. His works on Vietnam were not yet published.

During his tour, Terry was in the March 6, 1970 flight, led by then, Major Wiley Sellers into the Thuong Duc corridor to insert a group of CIDGs. The flight was fragged by the First Recon Battalion. On or about March 2, there had been some hoist problems on a 46, a frayed cable due to wear and tear. As Second Lieutenant David Skibbe of 1^stRecon was being hoisted out of the jungle, the cable snapped, sending him to his death. Later that same evening, Captain L. McVey, of 1^st Battalion Recon was being lowered into the same area in an attempt to recover Lt. Skibbe’s body. Once again the cable failed and Capt. McVey was sent to his death. (Dan Kellum, a former Marine and well known author who writes about Vietnam, conducted a thorough investigation into the deaths of Skibbe and McVey, published in his series of books, "American Heroes, Grunts, Pilots and "Docs" available on Amazon, ) The four-plane HMM-262 flight that day, led by Major W. Sellers, Chatterbox 4, was an effort to recover the two bodies. They would be taking CIDGs from the Special Forces’ Mike Force, picked up from the Special Forces compound south of Marble Mountain Air Facility, into the area known to be infested with enemy forces.

During that insert, all hell broke loose. Fleischer's 46 was shot down in the zone. His copilot John Kosinski , their Crew Chief, Danny Radish and both gunners were pinned down most of the day. First Lt. Hugo Beck, the HAC and Terry Driskill, copilot, along with LCpl Jefferey Wilson, Crew Chief and two .50 Cal. Gunners went into the zone to pick up Fleischer's crew. They came to a hover in the zone and while they "sat and took it," hoping that some crew member of Fleischer's 46 would make it to their 46, they were cut to pieces. realizing they would be the second 46 down in the zone if they remained any longer, Beck was able to coax the stricken 46 out of the zone, performing an emergency landing at the Thuong Duc Special Forces compound. Jeffery Wilson, the Crew Chief was dead. Both gunners were seriously wounded and the 46 was out of commission. The remainder of the day, Lt. Fleischer, a trained FAC, called in air strikes all around their downed craft. Later in the day, the downed crew was brought out by a 46 from HMM-364 flown by their CO. mid-afternoon, Major Sellers went back to the zone, leading a 10 plane CH-46 assault, made up of CIDGs, back into the zone (This was the era of Redeployment and Vietnamization). Their purpose was to set up a perimeter to make it safe for the 46 to be pulled out of the zone. Days earlier, HMM-161 Capt. Brian Duniac, the HAC, and Marty Benson, the copilot, were shot to pieces when inserting CIDGs near this same area. Marty Benson was killed.

In September, 1970, Terry was the lead night medevac bird and his best friend, First Lieutenant Bill Davis was the chase 46, Bill and his whole crew were killed that night. His 46 caught fire at altitude and burned up on the way down. Terry escorted Bill's body back home to California where he and Bill had grown up together.

Harold G. "Hal" Walker
LtCol USMCR (Ret)