Feb. 6, 1962 - One U.S. Army helicopter crashed and burned, and two others were hit by Communist Viet Cong guerrilla fire today on an American-supported combat mission ferrying South Vietnamese troops into action. There were no American or South Vietnamese Government military casualties. “It was another miraculous escape for us,” said an American military source who was part of the mission. The operation involved 15 U.S. Army helicopters. U.S. military authorities in Saigon today banned Western correspondents from accompanying future U.S. helicopter combat missions against Communist guerrilla forces in South Vietnam. They said the ban had been ordered by Admiral Harry D. Felt, Commander in Chief of Pacific Command.
