SEPTEMBER 20, 1969
Both crews survive. lLt. "Lil' Joe" Williams was flying lead Loach 224. The aircraft was hit by ground fIre. His right foot was hit and knocked off the pedal. Due to damage he attempted unsuccessfully to land. Ship crashed and ended up on one side.
Williams and gunner exited through what was left of the windshield and took cover near the ship. The trail ship, Loach 222, flown by WO Bloodworth and Jerry Greeno attempted to pick up the downed crew. While Greeno was on the ground helping with the wounded Williams, Bloodworth hovered to provide cover from the intense small arms and rocket fIre from near by treeline.
Suffering intense enemy fire he lost
tail rotor control. While spinning he fired the mini gun at the enemy as
he landed in paddy water. Bloodworth and Greeno joined the other crewmen;
they all headed for the cover of another treeline 50 yd. away. During the
trip Bloodworth was hit in the arm twice by enemy fIre. While the guns
were beating up the bad guys, C&C slipped in and picked up all four
War Wagons.