15 Jan 1969 D 1/35 went in to reinforce a Cav Blue unit that was on the ground securing a downed Cobra. From that incident the Cav commissioned artwork entitled "Leave No One Behind." D 1/35 lost their medic on that mission (SP4 Steve R. Reiser) had 11 WIA's along with 4 men with broken ankles from jumping off of the choppers, PFC Langhorn from C/7/17 Cav received the Medal of Honor posthumously for his actions that day. I have provided a link to the artwork for general interest. The artwork does not mention D 1/35. Although the artwork was intended to represent their Regiment I think it reflects on all that served.

Dave Fogg

" After considerable discussion and more research, we
selected the events surrounding PFC Garfield Langhorn's Medal of Honor as
the theme for the piece of art. PFC Langhorn served as an RTO in C/7/17th
Cav's Blues and died on 15 January 1969 north of Plei Djereng, in Pleiku
Province, II Corps. We knew that C Troop had inserted their Blues to
retrieve the bodies of two AH-1G pilots, 1LT Sterling E. Cox and WO1 James
B. Petteys. With this scant information, we started calling for more
details that could help us build a piece of art that will make the whole
Regiment proud. The trail soon lead to the VHPA and to the Directory
Committee. I was shocked that even during my first phone call, I was
talking to someone who not only knew about these events in considerable
detail but also knew how I could contact eye witnesses! Incredible,
absolutely incredible! My next phone call was to active duty COL Bob
Mitchell at Ft. Rucker who as a Warrant Officer, OH-6A pilot, actually
watched Cox's Cobra crash! Pictures of 7/17th Cav 1969 period
helicopters? Sure no problem - the 1995 VHPA Calendar has a LOH and a
Snake! Printed documents? Sure no problem - the 1992 ship Directory
contained a wonderful history of the 7/17th Cav in Vietnam with almost a
full page devoted to the events we are interested in! Details about this
AH-1G? Sure no problem - the Database Committee provided the tail number,
history of the aircraft, hours flown, date of purchase, and grid
coordinates of the crash site! Incredible! The VHPA is absolutely
incredible! We have commissioned an artist, Joe Kline, to prepare this
piece of art and have been researching everything we can about the crash
site. We are starting to draw pencil sketches of the terrain and the
events as we imagine them. We want this painting to be as realistic as
possible. Our problem, of course, is that none of us have seen an AH-1G
crash site and certainly not in II Corps. The last thing we want is for
Vietnam veterans to point out errors in the painting. Our job is to honor
the Regiment not have people disappointed. With everything the VHPA has
already done for us, I hate to ask for more but I think we could use help
in three specific areas. First, if anyone has photos of AH-1G crash sites,
especially in the mountains of Southeast Asia - please share them with
us. For example we don't know how a Cobra folds up when it crashing into
the trees. We have a good map of the terrain and we think we know what the
river and rolling hills "look like." We know the Montagnards had cleared
an area not far from the crash site and that it still contained tree stumps
but we don't have any details about how this should look. Second, we would
really like to talk to anyone who served in C Troop's Blues during that
period. We believe the platoon leader's name was LT Steven L. Campbell
from the witness statements for the Medal of Honor. Any help in locating
him would be wonderful. We believe the Blues should be wearing steel pots
versus boonie hats - correct? We don't think the Blue had rucks, only
their web gear with ammo, canteens, and towels - correct? Third, we need
experts to critic the pencil sketches for errors. Clearly Cav guys
familiar with the Plei Djereng area would be good but so would DUSTOFF and
any of the Huey crews that supported the 4th Infantry Division or even the
1st Air Cav Division - they both worked that area. In closing I'd like to
mention the obvious - there is a lot of respect for what you guys did many
year ago in the ranks of active duty units today! We know you had a tough
job to do, for a long time, and a long way from home without enough support
from our country! We have grown up and almost take for granted the
machines, tactics, and procedures you all developed. But we know who did
them first and it was not us; it was you. Sincerely, MAJ David M.
Blackburn, Fort Bragg, NC
A limited edition print was made of the original art work copywrited by Joe
Kline in 1998. The print is titled "Leave No One Behind."