Viet Nam - Memories and Stories of our Heroes

Susan Clotfelter Jimison

on September 20, 2015 9:51 AM

Not a day goes by that I don't think of my brother lost to the Vietnam War over 47 years ago. CWO Mark Clotfelter was my only brother and like most families we buried our feelings and plowed through life. It took the sudden death of my father in 1996 to motivate me to reach out and find the men my brother flew with. With the power of the Internet I was able to find them and learn not how my brother died but how he lived.

When I realized how much this did for me I hoped to shared my story with others to encourage more Gold Star family members to do the same. I wrote Dear Mark to share my journey with others.

CWO Mark Clotfelter served 9 months in Vietnam flying the attack helicopter, the Cobra, with the 361st Aviation Company (Escort). Did my heart good to learn they never forgot Mark and they too, touch his name on the Wall in D.C.

Terrell Fry

on July 13, 2015 9:21 PM

My wife's dad was Joseph Michael Wilsher. He was in A TRP, 3RD SQDN, 17TH CAVALRY, 1ST AVIATION BDE, USARV. He was killed in a helicopter accident on Feb. 24, 1971. The official records indicate the aircraft crashed on short final to An Loc from about 20 feet after witnesses heard an explosion and saw a fire. The helicopter dipped it's nose slightly to the left and fell straight down, exploding on impact. It appeared to be making a normal approach. Then, at about 20 feet above the ground, the aircraft yawed to the right, (a small explosion was heard and fire was sighted at this time), dipped its nose to about 045 degrees below the horizon, rolled slightly to the left and fell straight down exploding upon impact.

Mike's death has been and still is very difficult on my mother-in-law. Therefore, we know very little about him. We have been able to find a book that has two chapters dedicated to the incident that killed him. Amazingly, the book was written by the one person whose life was directly saved by Mike.

As this man tells it, he was on the helicopter as it lifted a few feet off the ground and moved onto the flight line waiting for permission to take off. They were contacted by the tower and ordered to sit back down and wait for another passenger. The helicopter was already at it's weight capacity and couldn't take another passenger. The order was given to "bump the gunner" so the officer could board. Shortly after that, the helicopter crashed killing everyone on board.

I did some research on the gunner that was bumped and discovered that he survived the remainder of the war but has since passed on. In reading his book, it is apparent that he was a strong Christian man and often reflected on why God chose to let him live while others died.

Mike's death set into motion many changes in my wife's family that ultimately led them to moving to Oklahoma where we met. I believe that as he looks down at his children and grandchildren, he would be proud of them.