You Sent Me , Bring Me
Home!
Rainer Sylvester Ramos
CWOW3/US ARMY
Troop C, 7th Squad, 17th Air Calvary
17th Aviation Group, 1st Aviation Brigade
MOS 602B
On January 9, 1968, the crew of a UH1C
(tail#66-00745) consisting of WO1 James L Phipps, aircraft
commander; WO Rainer S Ramos, pilot; SP4 Warren E Newton,
doorgunner; and PFC Fred J Secrist, gunner were on a gunship
cover mission about 20 miles West of the city of TAM KY in
Quang Tin Province, Republic of Vietnam.
LT Williamson, the pilot of another helicopter, was flying
as scout in front of WO Ramos' aircraft when he received a call
from WO Phipps indicating that they had been hit, was on fire,
and was going down. LT Williamson stated he would follow the
aircraft down. He saw smoke trailing from Ramos' aircraft, but
did not sight flames until the aircraft impacted on the ground.
The helicopter hit and exploded (the estimated impact speed
was between 65 and 80 knots). The senior officer of Troop C,
7th Squad, 17th Air Cavalry arrived and made several passes
over the downed aircraft. Heavy automatic weapons fired from
the North and East of the downed aircraft was received on
the 3rd pass, but it was noted that the downed aircraft was
gutted by fire and explosions. At no time was any evidence
seen that suggested that the crew had been thrown clear of
the crash.
During the first 45 minutes of the on-scene observation,
the ammunition, consisting of 2.75 rockets and 40mm grenades
were exploding every minute or two.
The senior officer remained in the area for about one
and one-half hours.
On January 20, a recovery operation was initiated
and the remainder of the aircraft was located in the bottom
of a large trench. About 3 sets of remains were recovered,
but only one set (that of PFC Secrist) was subsequently
indentified
Newton, Phipps, and Ramos were not dead, but
Missing In Action, indicating that there was still the
possibility that they were thrown clear of the aircraft and
captured by the enemy.
Whether Newton, Phipps, and Ramos survived the
crash of their helicopter to be captured by the enemy firing
at other aircraft in the area is certainly not known. It is
not known if he might be among those thought to be still
alive today. What is certain, however, is that as long as
even one American remains alive, held against his will, we
owe him our very best efforts to bring him to freedom.
Since American involvement in Vietnam ended in
1975, over 10,000 reports related to Americans missing,
prisoner, or otherwise unaccounted for in Indochina have been
received by the U.S. Government. Many officials, having
examined this largely classified information, have
reluctantly concluded that many Americans are still alive
today, held captive by our long-ago enemy.
On June 3, 1974 Rainer Ramos was
declared Missing In Action.You can find
Rainer Ramos on The Wall at
Panel34E-Row010.
To find out how you can help bring these men home,
click on the banner below.
Thank you to Karen,Jason Bachman, and Dennis for
all the graphics on this page.
 This Operation Just Cause Webring Site Is Owned By Robin Jackson
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