CENTERBURG – U.S. Air Force Capt. Peter Hayden Chapman II, 31, a resident of Centerburg, was killed in action on April 6, 1972, in Vietnam during the Vietnam War.
Capt. Chapman was flying in a helicopter that was shot down, and he was missing in action for 25 years. He was born on Aug. 26, 1940, the son of Peter H. (1900–1981) and Dorothy J. [Bone] Chapman (1908–1997). Capt. Chapman’s remains — found, recovered and returned to authorities by farmers in Vietnam — were returned in 1997 and are now buried in Lock Cemetery in Licking County, Ohio. Some of the remains were also buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
Chapman’s story is amazing. He was a Centerburg High School graduate of 1958 and went into the Air Force shortly thereafter. He piloted a C-141 transport plane out of California for years, taking troops and supplies to Vietnam during the war. On the return trips, he transported the bodies of fallen soldiers.
He later piloted the Super Jolly Green Giant helicopter. Jolly Green 67 (tail number 68-10365) was an HH-53 long-range rescue helicopter assigned to the 37th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron (ARRS) at Da Nang Airbase, South Vietnam. Crewmen included Sgt. James H. Alley, Tsgt. Allen J. Avery, Capt. Peter H. Chapman, Capt. John H. Call, Sgt. William R. Pearson and Tsgt, Roy D. Prater (all KIA-BNR). The helicopter was downed by enemy ground fire on April 6, 1972, while attempting to rescue two American airmen who had been shot down and were hiding behind enemy lines. Chapman was not supposed to pilot that mission, but the pilot who was to go was married with a family. Chapman was single and so he told the other pilot he would volunteer to pilot the mission. Little did he know just how big that sacrifice would be.
This was one of the key events in what would become the largest rescue operation of that war, the rescue of Bat 21. Bat 21 was an EB-66 electronic jamming and reconnaissance aircraft. On April 2, it was hit and destroyed by a North Vietnamese surface-to-air missile as it and another EB-66, Bat 22, escorted three B-52s as they bombed advancing North Vietnamese units invading South Vietnam at the beginning of what has come to be known as the “Easter Offensive.”
Only one crew member, Lt. Col. Iceal “Gene” Hambleton, was able to eject from his stricken aircraft. His personal call sign for the rescue operation was Bat 21 Bravo. Immediately, U.S. Army helicopters tried to rescue Hambleton. But the North Vietnamese guns drove them off and downed one — a UH1 “Huey,” call sign Blue Ghost 39. Three of its crew members were killed and one was captured. The captured soldier was released by North Vietnam a year later. The bodies of the other three were eventually recovered and buried in Arlington National Cemetery in April 1994.
The next day, Jolly Greens from the 37th ARRS made two attempts to pick up Bat 21 Bravo. Both times, they were driven off with heavy damage to their aircraft. Additionally, an OV-10, call sign Nail 38, was hit and downed by an enemy missile.
For two more days, rescue forces fought the weather and enemy forces to try to rescue the two airmen. They could not get in. Instead, hundreds of airstrikes were put in to beat down the enemy gunners. But the 6th of April dawned bright and clear. So after 42 more airstrikes were put in, a rescue force of four HH-53s and six escorting A-1 “Sandy” aircraft launched to make another attempt to recover the two evading Americans. They were assisted by several forward air controllers in O-2s and OV-10s and numerous other support aircraft. Jolly Green 67 was designated to make the rescue attempt. But as it came to a hover over Bat 21 Bravo, it was raked by heavy enemy fire. The escorting “Sandy” A-1s tried to engage the enemy guns, but they could not get them all. And they could see what the ground fire was doing to the helicopter, so several shouted for the crew to fly out of the area. The crew of Jolly Green 67 aborted the rescue attempt and tried to maneuver their stricken aircraft to safety. But the enemy fire continued and so damaged the craft that it crashed in a huge fireball a few kilometers south of the survivors. The fire was intense and lasted several days. There were never any indications of survivors.
On April 10–12, a ground team infiltrated enemy lines and managed to rescue 1st Lt. Clark and Lt. Col. Hambleton.
A total of eleven men were killed over what was the largest sustained rescue operation of the war. But it was all done in the best traditions of the rescue forces. Their motto was, “That Others May Live.” During the war, they rescued 3,883 downed American or allied airmen, sailors, marines and soldiers and made it possible for them to return home. And finally, we welcome you home, Jolly Green, and salute you proudly for a job well done.
A book and a movie starring Gene Hackman, both entitled “Bat 21” were made about the rescue mission.
Chapman had four memorial services and is still remembered around his hometown of Centerburg with an annual award to a Centerburg High School senior who exemplifies the values he stood for.
The family had a funeral in 1972 when Chapman was declared killed in action.
Chapman’s relatives were notified that some of his bone fragments, along with those of three other crew members from the crash on April 6, 1972, had been positively identified. Advances in DNA technology allowed the Armed Services DNA Identification Lab to make the determination. The remains had been recovered in 1988 and had been in the lab since then.
“It’s kind of shocking because you think it’s over,” said Jean Huffman of Centerburg, who is one of his surviving sisters.
In November 1997, his family had a full military funeral for him and buried what remains had been identified, tooth fragments, in the family plot in Lock, Ohio. The most amazing thing happened during that service. It was a rainy day. Mourners stood under umbrellas, and soon they heard the telltale sound of a flyover of the jets when one flew off on its own, symbolizing the missing man. As those planes flew over, the sky opened up and the sun shone brightly for those few seconds, and as the planes disappeared from sight the sky closed and rain again began to fall. A goosebumps moment for certain!
There also was a military funeral in Arlington, Virginia, in November 1997, when a single headstone for all six crew members was erected.
Chapman’s nephew, retired Air Force Maj. Brad Huffman, of Delaware, said he idolized his uncle and chose to follow him into the Air Force.
“He was like a big brother to me,” Huffman said. “It’s an emotional time because it does bring up old wounds, considering the war ended in 1973 and we’re talking about it all these years later.”
Huffman was actually able to pilot the very plane his uncle had flown! He is also the only Centerburg alumnus who has graduated from a service academy, as he graduated in 1974 from the U.S. Air Force Academy.
Three of Chapman’s six sisters survive and will be on the float: Jean Huffman, Carol Evans and Beth Murphy. A late sister, Charma, will be represented by her son, Stuart Tucker. Evans’ son, David, and Huffman’s children, Brad, Jeana Haines and Julie, along with Julie’s husband, Rob Burke, will also be on the float, as well as a collection of Chapman’s great-nieces and nephews and great-greats.
The Centerburg history book — which is on sale for $20 at the front desk at Hometown Market, with proceeds going back into the festival — has an entire chapter with all the information on Chapman’s life and the final mission. Candy McCracken researched and wrote the history book.
“Even as an elementary student [I] knew who Hayden was,” she said. “He played football, played in the band, and it seemed everybody loved Hayden. A nicer, kinder young man you could never find. He was also quite handsome!”
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