AW2 Clifford H. Schoonmaker
HS-84  SH-3A
BUNO: 152127
8/19/57-04/08/79
Hometown: California
Shipmates Comments:
AW1 (Ret.) Jesus Padilla
As I recall the helo was headed East for overland Navigation The crew ran into troubles over the mountains in bad weather. I seem to recall some sort of catastrophic mechanical difficulty in the main rotor system. The entire Reserve HS community was grounded pending the accident investigation.

The lessons learned from the crash were directly incorporated into my training, as I was the next person out of RESHELTRA SCHOOL. It was quite a somber mood when I arrived at HS-84. The training personnel at the school were AWC Matherin, AW 1 Bob Arthur, AW2 Tony Hanner.

I remained at HS and HSL-84 for the next twenty years. This ranks me as the longest standing SELRES enlisted member of the Squadron. There was not another mishap of this magnitude for the duration of my duty. Although I did not know the AW2 Schoonmaker, I feel confident that the dues he paid contributed to the safety of HS and HSL-84 crews for the next 20 years.

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