Had the pilots been able to spread loads their pax, their would have been fewer casualties.
Thanks.
My involvement with the accident came at the very end. I was S-4, H&S Bn, 3rd FSSG and got a call from the Camp Kinser Camp Commandant on a Friday afternoon (literally at 16:30) saying that he needed 4 5-ton trucks for an urgent mission that would last all weekend. He couldn’t give me any details but emphasized that the mission was RIGHT NOW urgent. Once I understood, I called the MTO to round up the needed drivers and get the trucks dispatched. Then I went to meet the Camp Commandant (a fellow Captain) at the Armed Forces Mortuary (also aboard Camp Kinser) so that he could fill me in. The MTO joined us there a little later.
The Camp Commandant was already there directing a working party from his office putting up GP tents behind the facility. He briefed me on the recovery of the CH-53 fuselage, the transport of the tarp covered fuselage aboard the flight deck of a Navy LPD to White Beach and that the trucks were needed to transport caskets, embalming fluids, and other supplies from warehouse storage to the tents outside the mortuary.
The director of the mortuary gave us a tour of the facility and an overview of how the Marine’s remains would be processed. The remains were still being removed from the fuselage and had not yet begun to arrive at the mortuary. Anticipating our question, she informed us that her staff would be the only persons dealing with the remains. All I and the Camp Commandant were responsible for was providing trucks and working parties to assist them in periodically drawing and transporting additional supplies from stores to replenish items being taken from the tents. The mortuary staff normally did everything themselves but, in this case, with so many remains to be processed quickly, they needed outside logistics help.
We, of course, were glad to help them - even in a small way - to perform this last duty for our fellow Marines.