thedrifter
05-28-07, 08:46 AM
May 28, 2007 - 12:00AM
Remembering those who gave all
CHRISSY VICK
DAILY NEWS STAFF
It was June 23, 1967, when Norm "Frenchy" LaFountaine's life would change forever.
The young lance corporal was one of 31 Marines and two Naval aviators on a training mission for flight crew members before entering the Vietnam War. They loaded up two CH-53A Sea Stallion helicopters to do a combat assault landing on Camp Geiger before going out into the field for a week.
None of them would make it that far.
"At 9:03 a.m., we flew around 5 or 10 minutes to get the effect of being transported to an LZ (landing zone), then we over flew the runway to get to the LZ," LaFountaine said by telephone from his Florida home. "Around then, somewhere between 350 and 500 feet, we ran over a Huey UH-1E."
Two helicopters with Marine Air Group 26 unknowingly had flown into the same space and collided. The Huey was carrying two pilots on a routine training flight, and both were killed.
Both the pilot and co-pilot of the CH-53 survived.
"We were missing a tail rotor and other parts," LaFountaine said. "We crashed on the tree line and everything went white. There were a lot of flames, a lot of fire and a lot of silence."
Of the 35 service members on the CH-53, 22 were killed in the crash. LaFountaine, one of 13 injured, was dragged from the fire by a friend before he was transported to the Naval Hospital.
He spent seven months there recovering from a shattered left leg, knee injury and a cracked rib that punctured a lung. He would later find out he had spinal and neck injuries that went undetected.
"But that's all minor compared to the other guys like Jim Spence, who spent hours in surgery," he said.
Spence, who suffered 22 broken bones and spent 14 months in the hospital, and LaFountaine are still close friends. The two share a bond most people will never know.
It centers upon life and death.
"Forty years later, I think it was a terrible waste of life, but it was nobody's fault," LaFountaine said. "Things like that you learn in life not to question. You learn that everything is for a reason, and all of those Marines were in a dangerous profession and we all knew it could happen."
LaFountaine later went back to active duty and served in the Vietnam War as a crew member. He got out of the Marine Corps in 1969 and traveled around the world for business, continuing to have problems with his injuries to this day.
But he lives his life to the fullest.
"I was given a gift (the Marines who died) weren't given, so if I don't do something worthwhile, it just makes them a waste," LaFountaine said. "And these guys weren't victims; they were out there making a sacrifice."
Now, as the 40-year anniversary of the crash approaches, he, other survivors and family members of the service members killed will reunite.
The group will hold a small, private memorial service June 23 at the New River Air Station. It will be a time to reflect and remember some who gave all.
"It's important because we all need to help each other, and we can't get through anything in this life without each other's help," said Atlanta resident Marge Holden, fiance of Cpl. George S. Bondarewicz, who was killed in the crash. "But with each other's help we can get through anything no matter how hard it is."
Holden is organizing the memorial with LaFountaine's help. The two connected long after the crash and have been friends since. Both want others to remember the sacrifices of service members - then and now.
"People don't realize there is more than parents that are affected, there are fiance s, brothers, sisters," LaFountaine said. "After the funerals were over and the Marine Corps gave them their flags, the families didn't have support."
Holden was one of them, she said.
"All of us close to those men suffered immensely, indescribably, sometimes denying the event, other times being consumed by it," she said. "All seemed lost for a space in time. Life wasn't perfect beforehand, but it was the life you knew and it fit like a skin. When you lose that protection, you feel raw in so many ways, and it hurts beyond imagination."
Holden will always remember her fianc smiling. Though she went on to marry and have children, he stays with her.
"The ordeal is not over," Holden said. "Bits of that scene in the past sprinkle intermittently onto everyday settings, sometimes with bittersweet effect. Mostly we try to get on with the tasks at hand in a way that honors the memories of our loved ones who died and give some type of meaning to our own lives. Occasionally we fall short. But not this time."
Holden organized the June memorial in hopes of paying due tribute to those who died in the crash - and helping others.
"I only wish that I had the strength to do something like this right at the minute after (the crash)," she said. "I would like to help the families who have lost somebody because with George's brother, he's still emotional. Everybody tries their best, but once it's over those people have to live on their own, and there's no support system there."
The group has plans to unveil a memorial fund to help the families of fallen service members and also wounded warriors at the June memorial luncheon.
"On Memorial Day everyone heads to the beach and cookouts and many of them don't give a second thought to why we have Memorial Day," LaFountaine said. "When it comes, I may be enjoying it, but it's the celebration of what they gave us. This is not about me, this is about the guys we lost, the guys that never had a chance to do the things that we did."
Contact staff writer Chrissy Vick at cvick@freedomenc.com or by calling 353-1171, ext. 8466.
Ellie
Remembering those who gave all
CHRISSY VICK
DAILY NEWS STAFF
It was June 23, 1967, when Norm "Frenchy" LaFountaine's life would change forever.
The young lance corporal was one of 31 Marines and two Naval aviators on a training mission for flight crew members before entering the Vietnam War. They loaded up two CH-53A Sea Stallion helicopters to do a combat assault landing on Camp Geiger before going out into the field for a week.
None of them would make it that far.
"At 9:03 a.m., we flew around 5 or 10 minutes to get the effect of being transported to an LZ (landing zone), then we over flew the runway to get to the LZ," LaFountaine said by telephone from his Florida home. "Around then, somewhere between 350 and 500 feet, we ran over a Huey UH-1E."
Two helicopters with Marine Air Group 26 unknowingly had flown into the same space and collided. The Huey was carrying two pilots on a routine training flight, and both were killed.
Both the pilot and co-pilot of the CH-53 survived.
"We were missing a tail rotor and other parts," LaFountaine said. "We crashed on the tree line and everything went white. There were a lot of flames, a lot of fire and a lot of silence."
Of the 35 service members on the CH-53, 22 were killed in the crash. LaFountaine, one of 13 injured, was dragged from the fire by a friend before he was transported to the Naval Hospital.
He spent seven months there recovering from a shattered left leg, knee injury and a cracked rib that punctured a lung. He would later find out he had spinal and neck injuries that went undetected.
"But that's all minor compared to the other guys like Jim Spence, who spent hours in surgery," he said.
Spence, who suffered 22 broken bones and spent 14 months in the hospital, and LaFountaine are still close friends. The two share a bond most people will never know.
It centers upon life and death.
"Forty years later, I think it was a terrible waste of life, but it was nobody's fault," LaFountaine said. "Things like that you learn in life not to question. You learn that everything is for a reason, and all of those Marines were in a dangerous profession and we all knew it could happen."
LaFountaine later went back to active duty and served in the Vietnam War as a crew member. He got out of the Marine Corps in 1969 and traveled around the world for business, continuing to have problems with his injuries to this day.
But he lives his life to the fullest.
"I was given a gift (the Marines who died) weren't given, so if I don't do something worthwhile, it just makes them a waste," LaFountaine said. "And these guys weren't victims; they were out there making a sacrifice."
Now, as the 40-year anniversary of the crash approaches, he, other survivors and family members of the service members killed will reunite.
The group will hold a small, private memorial service June 23 at the New River Air Station. It will be a time to reflect and remember some who gave all.
"It's important because we all need to help each other, and we can't get through anything in this life without each other's help," said Atlanta resident Marge Holden, fiance of Cpl. George S. Bondarewicz, who was killed in the crash. "But with each other's help we can get through anything no matter how hard it is."
Holden is organizing the memorial with LaFountaine's help. The two connected long after the crash and have been friends since. Both want others to remember the sacrifices of service members - then and now.
"People don't realize there is more than parents that are affected, there are fiance s, brothers, sisters," LaFountaine said. "After the funerals were over and the Marine Corps gave them their flags, the families didn't have support."
Holden was one of them, she said.
"All of us close to those men suffered immensely, indescribably, sometimes denying the event, other times being consumed by it," she said. "All seemed lost for a space in time. Life wasn't perfect beforehand, but it was the life you knew and it fit like a skin. When you lose that protection, you feel raw in so many ways, and it hurts beyond imagination."
Holden will always remember her fianc smiling. Though she went on to marry and have children, he stays with her.
"The ordeal is not over," Holden said. "Bits of that scene in the past sprinkle intermittently onto everyday settings, sometimes with bittersweet effect. Mostly we try to get on with the tasks at hand in a way that honors the memories of our loved ones who died and give some type of meaning to our own lives. Occasionally we fall short. But not this time."
Holden organized the June memorial in hopes of paying due tribute to those who died in the crash - and helping others.
"I only wish that I had the strength to do something like this right at the minute after (the crash)," she said. "I would like to help the families who have lost somebody because with George's brother, he's still emotional. Everybody tries their best, but once it's over those people have to live on their own, and there's no support system there."
The group has plans to unveil a memorial fund to help the families of fallen service members and also wounded warriors at the June memorial luncheon.
"On Memorial Day everyone heads to the beach and cookouts and many of them don't give a second thought to why we have Memorial Day," LaFountaine said. "When it comes, I may be enjoying it, but it's the celebration of what they gave us. This is not about me, this is about the guys we lost, the guys that never had a chance to do the things that we did."
Contact staff writer Chrissy Vick at cvick@freedomenc.com or by calling 353-1171, ext. 8466.
Ellie