PLEASE DESCRIBE WHO OR WHAT INFLUENCED YOUR DECISION TO JOIN THE ARMY.
I always thought I wanted a military career. I joined the ROTC unit at Phoenix Union High School in 1955 and rose to the rank o captain. I received the American Legion Award for Outstanding Captain in my senior year.
I was drafted and entered active duty on January 3d, 1965. I was scheduled to take basic training at Fort Ord California only to be diverted to Fort Polk La. What a bummer. No California sunshine, girls, sand or sea, only swamps and rednecks at Fort Polk LA. After 12 hours of flights, buses and walking we were finally shown to the barracks and into the rack at mid-night. They got us up at 0500 for chow and testing. The battery of tests lasted 4 hours. I�??m still amazed that I did so well considering lack of sleep. I qualified for Officer Candidate School (OCS), flight school and special forces. The next day we were transported to North Fort, for the basic training. We were issued all out gear, run ragged hauling it into the barracks. Then we had free time the rest of the evening. Remembering back to my high school days in ROTC, I decided to �??spit shine�?? my boots. When I was a member of the drill team, we �??box�?? laced our boots, when I did with my newly issued ones. The next day they had us fall into formation. I was on the front row, when this big black sergeant stood in front of me and said �??boy, how did you learn to polish boots like that?�??. I told him high school ROTC. He directed me to see him after the formation. SSG Oliver took me into his room in the barracks and told me he had just been reassigned from Fort Ord because of the meningitis outbreak. This was the reason I had been diverted to Polk. He told me this is not a place for a black soldier and he planned on staying drunk until he was reassigned back to Ord. He wanted me to be the acting platoon sergeant, responsible for the platoon and only come to him when I had a problem. I had my own room. I did all the drill and ceremonies training, moving the platoon to the training sites and roll call. He was very pleased with my performance and left me alone most of the time. I qualified EXPERT with the M-14 rifle. Ten days before graduation, we received our orders, for either advanced schooling or assignment. My assignment was to be a cook with a basic training company, Fort Polk LA. I could not think of a worse assignment. I think because I stated I had been a short order cook in the coffee shop where I worked during high school, I was a qualified cook. Needless to say this was not my idea of a career choice. I ask SSG Oliver for help to get my assignment changed. He took me over to the first sergeant and told him what a great job I had done and find me another assignment. The first sergeant asked me what I had done in the civilian world other than cook. I told him a worked power line construction and drove heavy-duty trucks. He said for me to see him in the morning. The next day he had new orders published, assigning me to Fort Bliss as a heavy-duty truck driver. Hooray!! After arriving at Bliss, I realized that it was not possible to remain in the Army and pay child support so I received a hardship discharge in August 1965. I still had a military commitment, so I joined the Arizona National Guard in Phoenix. My unit was the 222d Transportation Company (light truck) and I was assigned as a truck driver. Shortly after joining, there was a bulletin announcing the upcoming Officer Candidate School run by the Arizona Military Academy. I applied and was accepted as a candidate and promoted to Sergeant. There were 65 candidates entering the class of which 40 were from the National Guard. The rest of the cadets were from the Army Reserve. The program lasts one year with a two-week summer camp at Yuma Proving Grounds as a junior candidate, 11 weekend drills throughout the year and another summer camp as a senior candidate. The national guard only graduates the number of officers necessary to fill vacancies and for the year 1967, there were 12. So during the year, 28 of the cadets from the national guard needed to be eliminated. I placed a second Lieutenant bar in my helmet liner and swore I would not be one of those booted out. I teamed up with Albert Rodriquez to keep each other motivated and in the game. We worked well together and both of us graduated as second lieutenants in August 1967. In 1968 I attended the Transportation Officers Course at Fort Eustus Virginia and became branch qualified. The OCS through which I was commissioned was Infantry. I had been watching the 10 PM news of helicopters flying in VN and thought this would be a way to get Helo qualified and be hired by SRP as a pilot. I applied through the Transportation Corps (my basic branch). Two weeks later I received a call from Infantry Branch about my application, indicting they were interest in me and that Transportation branch had an influx of ROTC pre-flight students and did not have any fight slots left for that year, so they sent my application to Infantry Branch. I ask about flight school and was told that if I came on active duty, finished infantry basic, passed the Flight Aptitude Serviceability Test (FAST) and the flight physical, they would send my to flight school. I then ask what happens if I don�??t pass one of the two tests and he said that I would only have to spend 18 months on active duty. I thought to myself �??and I know where 12 of those 18 months will be: pounding the swamps of VN�??. I fellow OCS cadet had gone on active duty directly to flight school several months before through Armor Branch. I ask the Colonel if he would pass my application over to Armor branch and he told me that his good friend LTC Denzler need some help, so he agreed. Colonel Denzler called me two days later and asked if I had taken the FAST test and flight physical, to which I said no. He said go to the nearest military installation and take the test and physical and call him the results. I went to Williams AFB for the flight physical and Fort Huachuca for the FAST. As the only time I was ever in an airplane was flying to Louisiana on a commercial jet, the FAST test was overpowering. I didn�??t know which side of the airplane the red light was on; what an altimeter was; and the flight orientation of the aircraft on the attitude indicator. But after a few question like: would you rather fix a lawnmower or read a book?, I determined that they wanted someone mechanically oriented and an out-doors man. So I answered all the questions with that in mind and worked my way through the aviation questions as best I could. I received the results two weeks later and called Colonel Denzler. He said the FAST and physical were very good and he would let me know. The next day when I returned to the line office from the job site, the dispatcher said I had a call from Washington DC and gave me the number. I went by the armory and called. I was called to active duty, reporting to Fort Wolters Texas on 21 May 1969, for primary flight training. I completed primary flight training in August 1969 and was assigned to Hunter Army Airfield, Savannah GA for advanced training. This phase of the training was to learn instrument flying and transition into the UH-1 helicopter. I graduated in February 1970 and was promoted to First Lieutenant the same day. I then was sent to Fort Knox and attended the Armor Officer Basic Course, graduating in May. My next assignment was orders to Viet Nam and I had 30 days leave before deploying. When we got to the airport in Phoenix, I told the family not to worry, that I would see them in a year. I felt completely confident that nothing was going to happen to me �??over there�??.
I arrived at Long Bin replacement detachment on the 21st of May. We had a week of in-processing: country orientation, shots and more shots, equipment issue and more shots and filled out a preference to which unit you wanted to be assigned to. I had been warned by the other officers in the basic course (many were warrant officers who took direct commissions and had served in VN already) to stay away from the 101st Airborne Division. So I listed 1/9 CAV, 1st Aviation Brigade and two other I can�??t remember, but not the 101st. One morning a Warrant Officer came into barracks and announced assignments in alphabetical order and U being at the end, I was about last to hear where I was going. I�??m sure they did there assignments the same way, give everyone above me their choice and I got what was left: 101st Airborne Division. VN was divided into four Corps areas, with I Corps in the far north on the De-militarized Zone (DMZ) and the location of the 101st. For those war buffs, this was the location of Hamburger Hill, Ashua Valley and Khe Sahn. Mountains over 5000 feet and dense jungle and a long stretch of the HO CHI MINH TRAIL.
I boarded a C-119 cargo aircraft for my trip to Camp Eagle, the location of the 101st Headquarters. The C-119 is a very loud aircraft, so I put on my flight helmet to reduce the noise. Right beside me was a mic jack, so I plugged in and could listen to the flight crew. I noted upon entering the aircraft that the pilot was a LTC and the co-pilot was a second lieutenant. I could hear them discussing the flight and what to expect at each airfield we landed at. Phu Bai was the last stop and he told the co-pilot that if we were landing to the east, he had to very careful as the runway was very short and we would be landing over a hill just short of the runway. He said you need to hit the numbers, referring to the numbers at the beginning of the runway. Yes, we were going to land to the east and as we started the approach he again cautioned the co-pilot to �??hit the numbers�??. As we turned final, the pilot said �??you�??re a little high�?? and again �??you�??re a little high�?? and then �??DAMN YOU MISSED THE NUMBERS�??. A slight pause and �??3000 FEET ARE YOU GOING TO MAKE IT�?? pause, then louder �??1500 FEET, ARE YOU GOING TO MAKE IT�??, then, �??DAMN�?? as the nose wheel went off the end of the runway. The ground crew had to bring a tug and pull us back on the runway. I vowed never to plug-in again.
We were the taken to the G1 (personnel) office for in-processing. I was given a preference sheet for which aviation unit I wanted to be assigned to. I told the Captain there is only one unit here that I want to be assigned to and that was the 2/17 Cavalry unit, as a was an Armor Officer and Cavalry was a component of Armor. He said, not a problem lieutenant, C Troop lost three pilots last week. (one dead, two wounded) WOW! I asked where the unit was stationed and was told here at Phu Bai airfield. So once the in-processing was completed, I expected to be taken to my unit. As I started to gather up my stuff, the captain said I need to attend SERTS first. He explained that everyone coming into the division was required to attend a basic combat soldier course at Camp Evans. SERTS stands for Screaming Eagle Replacement Training School. (the division is known as the �??Screaming Eagles�??) I pointed to my wings and flapped my arms and said �??aviator not grunt�??. (Grunt is an infantryman). He laughed and told me to get on the truck outside with the gear. Off we went up QL1 (the main north/south road in VN) in an open topped tractor-trailer troop carrier. No weapons �?? and I remember seeing convoys being ambushed on TV back in the states. What a start for my combat tour: almost killed in a plane crash and now I�??m out in Indian territory without a gun. Lord help me. So here we go, up QL1 for an hour, dumped off at a small compound run by NCO�??s, screaming that if we didn�??t get our A**�??s in gear we would all be dead. For the next seven days we played infantry: dug fox holes; setup perimeter defense; laid out claymore mines; and the dumbest of all, did patrolling outside the perimeter without ammo. UGH!!!!!!!!!!!! The only highlight of the whole time was being picked up on one of the patrols by a CH-47 Chinook helicopter and taken back to base.
I arrived at Phu Bai sub-base and in-processed with the troop headquarters and assigned sleeping quarters in an old Marine Quonset Hut. You can not believe the mess it was. There were 10 Warrant Officers living there and the place reeked of smoke and spoiled food. (RLO�??s or real live officers e.g. commissioned officers have a saying that Warrant Officers are just E-4s with a O-club card) I found an open bunk in the corner and cleaned up the space around it. That evening I was to see the Troop Commander for an in-briefing and assignment. When I was in the Armor Basic Course, with all those direct-commission Warrants, they blew so much smoke up my backside that they convinced me that I needed to fly scout aircraft and after seeing movies about the �??little bird�?? buzzing at tree-top level, I agreed. So when I had my session with the troop commander, �??Major John D. Sterrett III�??, I was already to plead my case for flying scouts. He told me to sit down, handed me a bible and said the Lord should be your co-pilot. He was assigning me to the lift platoon (Hueys) as a section leader. I told him I was an Armor Officer and wanted to fly scouts, to which he said: you�??re a married man with a family and that�??s where you�??re going, end of discussion. The mission of the lift platoon is the airlift the �??blues�??, an infantry platoon, to secure unit aircraft shot-down out is the area-of-operations (AO). Once the downed crew has been rescued and the aircraft rigged for evacuation or destroyed, we go in and pick them back up. A secondary mission is to insert Long Range Reconnaissance Patrols (LRRPs) into the AO and retrieve them in 5-7 days unless they come into contact with the Viet Cong (VC). So there is a lot of boring ready-room time waiting for someone to get shot down or deploy and pickup LRRPS.
Three weeks in the unit I received an in-country check-ride, an area orientation and had flown a couple of missions. Then one day I get a call from the troop commander �??John D. Sterrett III�??, to report to his office. He informed me that the unit had just failed a Command Maintenance and Material Inspection (CMMI) and that I was being assigned to the motor pool until the unit passed a re-inspection. He said because I was a former Transportation Officer I should know motor pools. Until then I was grounded and could not fly. Well guess what? The unit was not authorized a motor pool and all the vehicles except for the commander�??s jeep currently in the unit were also not authorized. There were 3 2½ ton trucks, 2 ¾ ton trucks, mules (a motorized wagon) and the commander�??s jeep. All these pieces of equipment were either borrowed or �??appropriated�??. There was a motor sergeant borrowed from headquarters and several �??mechanics�??. The mechanics were soldiers (mostly crewchiefs or door-gunners) caught with drugs and were grounded. We had no spare parts other than borrowing or raiding the �??bone yard�??. A mission impossible. After 3 weeks with the help of the headquarters maintenance officer and supply officer (accounted for on paper the vehicles on-hand) we almost passed the CMMI re-inspection. Fortunately at this time, �??John D. Sterrett III was reassigned and Major James Newman became the commander. (Sterrett was despised by the entire troop. There was a hand-written sign above the urinal in the latrine that stated: JOHN D. STERRETT III, LET MY PEOPLE GO! SIGNED GOD. There was an attempted fragging of his quarters just before he left. A coffee can filled with gasoline and a hand grenade with the pin pulled and taped with electrical tape was left near his bunk. It was found before it detonated. Major Newman stopped by the motor pool and asked me what an Armor Officer was doing here and I told him what happened. He ordered me out of the motor pool and back to the lift platoon. Jim Newman was a great man�?�
During my time in the motor pool, another LT was assigned to the platoon. He was John Schiefer and we were almost twins in life experiences. we were the same age, had come on active duty from the national guard, was divorced and remarried and worked powerline construction. He was from Idaho. We teamed up and enclosed one end of the quonset hut using discarded 2.75 inch rocket boxes and mosquito nets. I had Pat send me an electric frying pan and care packages with Mexican food. We bought a window air conditioner and small frig, lined the boxes with books (came by the hundreds via the USO) and added a secure door as things, especially out of the frig, disappeared.
A week later, one of our sister units LOCH (light observation helicopter) was shot down in the A Shau Valley and landed in a deep ravine. I was flying with Captain Malcom (MAC) Jones, the platoon leader. The platoon leader is normally the first aircraft to land in the landing Zone (LZ). Our first approach was met with heavy automatic weapons fire and we aborted. Additional fire from USAF jets and our Cobras was applied and we made our second attempt. We had rope ladders out on the side of the helicopter and three of the people on the ground were able to get on-board. We were taking heavy fire and departed the LZ, thinking we had everyone. Soon we heard over the FM radio �??I�??m down here all by myself. I�??m the meanest MF�??er in the jungle�??. Another Huey piloted by CW2 Harvey Rents flew into the LZ to pickup the last soldier. The grunt climbed on top of the LOCH and jumped, catching the last rung of the ladder. Sgt Horst, crew chief, un-buckled, climbed down the ladder, wrapped one leg through a rung and grabbed the soldier by his rucksack and held him until the aircraft landed is a safe area. For this action I was awarded my first Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) by the 101st Division Commander MG Tarpley at an awards ceremony at Camp Eagle.
After I got out of the motor pool, I volunteered for as many flights I could get. One afternoon just as evening was starting, a request came in to do a resupply mission to firebase Mexico out by the A Shau Valley. I volunteered to take the mission. Upon return to operations and filling out my flight log, I realized that I had gone over 90 hours flight time in a 30 day period and according to flight fatigue regulations I was grounded until receiving clearance from the flight surgeon to continue flying. I reported to the platoon leader of my flight time. He had me scheduled to fly a LRRP insertion with W01 Mark Minier on that mission. He said for me to report to the flight surgeon in the morning to get clearance and he would assign my roommate John Schiefer to take my place. I went to breakfast and then to the flight surgeon�??s office and he ask me how I felt, to which I replied fine and he gave me a �??go fly�?? slip. As a approached the flight line I notices people running around and was told that Minier and Schiefer had been shot down in the landing zone (LZ) and both were dead along with 2 passengers and the door gunner. Apparently the Rangers decided to land in the LZ without being prepped by our cobra gunships, which are normal procedures. When the A/C came to a hover, a 50 caliber machine-gun opened up on them and the A/C crashed. Had I not volunteered for the resupply mission the night before, I would have been in the seat John Schiefer occupied. Needless to say, this really hit me very hard and this was the first pilot death since I arrived in country. I made aircraft commander AC shortly after that was in charge of my own aircraft and crew. In September our unit was detailed to assist the Marine Corps in an operation near Da Nang in a region called Elephant Valley. We did the scouting for them and they inserted infantry to exploit the situation. We were flying 10-12 hours per day for about a week, sometimes not shutting off the A/C; hot refueling and eating while in the air. When we returned to Phu Bai, the Squadron Commander, LTC Robert Molinlli scheduled a �??CAV CALL�?? at Camp Eagle and it was a command performance, which means everyone must attend. We were all really beat, but were flown up to Camp Eagle for the meeting. It was bucketing down with cold rain when we departed. Once the meeting finished, a Pilipino band was brought in for entertainment. So with loud music playing, booze flowing like a fire hose and the effects of no rest for a week, my resistance was at a low ebb. The squadron headquarters was situated on top of a small hill and our helicopter was on the landing pad at the bottom. It was still pouring with rain and we stumbled down the hill getting soaking wet. I laid on the floor of the AC as we flew the 15 minutes back to Phi Bai. There was no vehicle to transport us back to our hooches, so we walked. I laid down on my bunk and promptly fell asleep. The next morning I woke up and had a terrible cough and it was very difficult to breathe. I went to the ready room and crashed for the whole day. As the monsoon was well underway, there were no flights scheduled for a couple of days. I laid in the ready room for two days before I went to the flight surgeon. He listened to my chest and told me to get to the hospital as he thought I had pneumonia. I had to hitchhike to the hospital, which was across the runway. They x-rayed my chest and told the medics to get me ready to be medivaced to the USS Sanctuary, a Navy Hospital Ship. I was gasping for air and was about to pass out when a medic placed a plastic bag over my head. In my delirium, I shouted out �??don�??t put me in a body-bag, I�??m not dead�??. What had happened was I hyper-ventilated and the bag was used to get the CO2 back in balance. I remember an IV being inserted in my arm and the lights went out. The next thing I remembered was being led down a corridor, now in a Johnny, by a corps man. We entered a room and he told me to get on the top bunk. I ask him why couldn�??t have the lower one, which he agreed to. Then out like a light. I don�??t remember how long I was under, but I woke up, finding an IV in each arm and needing to go to the bathroom right now. There was no one around, so I grabbed the two IV�??s and heading down the hall, running into a Navy Nurse who advised me to get back in bed, to which to said I had to go bad and where was the latrine? She said get back to bed and I�??ll bring you a bottle. I said out of my way and point to the latrine, which she did. Once relieved, I went back to the room. A corps man came in and removed the IV�??s, gave me a pair of pajamas and led me to �??Officer Country�??, on the upper decks of the ship. There are four people per room with small TV�??s at each bunk. Meals were served family style with silver chaffing dishes and there was a large refrigerator full of food we had access to. In the evening there was an outdoor movie on deck with popcorn and cokes. (Sorry no booze) I was on the mend and spent 10 days relaxing in the sun.
I was dropped off at the 24th Corps Headquarters in Da Nang and had to make my own way back to Phu Bai. For the next couple of months it was business as usual. In January, Major Newman called all the officers together and told us to prepare to deploy on a secret mission and we would not know where we were going until we were airborne. We were to lock up all our personal items in the troop storeroom and only take our issued field gear. At 0500 we departed Phu Bai heading north towards the DMZ. We arrived at Quang Tri, the headquarters of our sister unit, A Troop, and were briefed by the 101st Division Staff. We were going to support Operation Lom Son 719, a joint U.S/Army of Viet Nam (ARVN) incursion into the country of Laos for the purpose of cutting the Ho Chi Min Trail, a major supply route from North Viet Nam to the south. U.S. helicopters were to support airmobile operations to insert and extract combat troops deployed up to 40 kilometers into Laos. My unit was responsible for providing reconnaissance for the insertions and do search and rescue of downed flight crews. A month prior to this operation we trained elements of the Hoc Boa, an elite ARVN ranger unit in the City of Hue who were the troops for securing the downed AC and rescue the crews. C troop, my unit was to deploy to Khe Sanh to secure part of the airfield and prepare for arrival of the squadron headguarters. The 5th Mec Brigade was to secure the remaining area around Khe Sanh. I was the acting platoon leader as Captain John Stolp, the newly assigned leader, as he had only had 1 week in-country. As we flew out the �??brown line�??, a dirt road leading from Quang Tri to the Khe Sahn airfield, we saw the 5th Mec pined down by the enemy. We turned around and spent one night in Quang Tri and occupied the airfield the following day. Khe Sahn was a large base occupied by the U.S. Marine Corps and was overrun by the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) in 1968. There were revetments for parking aircraft and a runway made out of metal planks called PSP. Our ground convoy arrived and set up GP medium tents for sleeping and the headquarters built a operations center in the revetments. We started missions the following day (7 Feb 1971) and lost four scout helicopters and two cobras (gunship). Our first rescue operation took place within two hours of troops going across the border. A scout helicopter was shot down about 20 kilometers deep into Laos and landed in a large bomb crater. I led the mission with Cpt Stolp as my co-pilot. We were told to hold northeast of the downed aircraft at 2000�?? by the command and control (C&C) mission leader. Flying at 2000�?? we were out of range of small arms fire. As I circled as directed I saw some trucks on the road stop, remove tarps from the rear of the truck and started firing at us with a 50 Caliber machine guns. I reported this to the C&C and was told to hold northwest at 5000�??, which is out of range of the 50 CAL. We were the cleared in to the downed AC location. I made the decision to make a low-level approach into the site because of all the small arms fire we took while in a holding pattern. I dropped down to 50 feet about five kilometers from the downed AC and was directed to the site by the C&C. This was a high-speed approach with a quick stop maneuver and descended into the bomb crater. The Hoc Bao jumped out of the AC at about 10 feet and set up a perimeter defense. Our second AC made the same approach as I did and added another eight soldiers on the ground. We departed the landing zone (LZ) and stayed low-level until we had high airspeed and then climbed to altitude and wait to extract the troops and downed crew. Within 5 minutes we were told that the crew was dead and directed to pickup the troops on the ground. I conducted the same flight maneuver as the initial approach, but came at it from a different direction. We encountered heavy fire on both the insertation and extraction. The second AC was hit in the tail boom, but no vital components were hit. We returned to base and prepared for another mission.
On 7 March 1971, I was sent on as downed aircraft recovery mission 20 kilometers into Laos. A huey (UH-I) had been shot down and had landed in a heavy stand of bamboo. The downed crew did no want to leave to AC for a clearing which was a long way from the downed bird. I directed the crew chief to clear the tail rotor and I descended into the bamboo stand. The main rotor was like a lawn mower cutting the bamboo and throwing it everywhere to include inside the helicopter. Some of the shoots came into the cockpit and broke out the plexiglass panels on the roof above the pilot and copilot. We rescued the crew of four and departed without receiving any bullet hole in the aircraft.
Once Captain Stolp took over the platoon, I was tasked to fly C&C missions out of the troop�??s operations center. One day I was sent out to confirm locations and tail numbers of AC shot down in Laos. My observer had gyro-stabilized binoculars that could read the tail numbers of AC we found. Several problems were encountered 1) the tail numbers were painted black on an olive-green background, 2) some of the AC were in heavy growth or in trees and 3) the wreckage would be scattered over a large area. After a frustrating search we were unable to accomplish the mission, I decided to do the low-level procedure I used in downed AC recovery. I was covered by two cobra gunships and I had them guide me over the downed AC. I would do a quick stop, my observer would take a photo of the tail boom, recording the numbers both visually and with a backup photo. In one hour we documented all the known downed AC and we returned to Khe Sanh. The report was sent directly to the division headquarters. That afternoon, operations was notified of the completed mission and the photos. Major Newman, the troop commander, called me in and asked how I accomplished the mission and got the pictures. I explained my tactics and he started shouting at me about what a lousy Lieutenant I was, not following orders and endangering my crew. I had flown with him when he did the exact same thing and I told him so. He said: �??I should court-martial you �?? go see the squadron commander�??. The squadron headquarters was in the next revetment, so I headed over there with my tail between my legs, knowing I was in deep dudu. When I entered the operation center LTC Molenilli, the squadron commander, was seated at a desk and I reported to him. He stared at me for the longest time then stood up and called all the people in the center to attention. He gave me the same dressing down that major Newman did, telling me I was a sorry Lieutenant and I thought he was going to rip off my rank and send me back for court-martial. He then said if I could not be a lieutenant, he would therefore promote me to captain and pinned captain�??s bars on my collar. Everyone had a good laugh at my expense.
I purchased a movie camera prior to deploying to Khe Sahn and took some great movies of combat operations. I also took it to Hawaii on R&R. While in Khe Sahn, while living in a large tent with no security, someone stole the camera and about 12 rolls of film. Boy was I pissed, because there was no way to replace it until the operation was over. Some of my history lost.
On March 17th 1971, I was sent out on a mission to locate and destroy anti-aircraft weapons that had hampered the extraction of beleaguered ARVIN troops. Every time an attempt was made to land in the LZ, AC would receive heavy fire from a ridge line close to the extraction area. My mission was to silence this fire so troops could be air lifted out. I flew over the ridge line and received antiaircraft fire. As I flew out of the fire, the cobra gunships rolled in and fired on the targets. I made a second pass and did not receive fire. I dropped altitude and again flew over the area and took more fire. Again the cobras engaged the target. On my third pass, I was hit with six 50 CAL rounds through the bottom of the helicopter. My observer SSG Kieth as hit in the leg, shoulder, and wrist. There was blood all over the cockpit and on the windshield. I directed the crew chief to get a tourniquet on his leg. The crew chief was traumatized and could not assist. SSG Kieth took the rotor tie down (a strap that secures the main rotor to the tail boom when the AC is parked) and applied his own tourniquet and gave me a thumbs up. I radioed the closest firebase to get medical aid for Kieth. All the close firebases were under fire. We had several warning lights on a long with severe vibrations. I told the cobras to cover us and I descended to a low level so that I the engine or flight controls failed, I could put the AC on the ground and headed for Khe Sahn. We did a controlled crash onto the medical pad. SSG Kieth was removed from the AC and gave me a thumbs up. We learned later that he lost his leg. The troop commander decided that I needed to get back in the air and sent me on a mission to find the artillery positions that shelled Khe Sahn. I took 3 Cobra gunships with me and headed northwest of the airbase. It was early evening and very hazy and about the time the enemy artillery would fire on the base. I was at 9500 feet, way out of enemy fire I thought, then the ADF system started buzzing meaning that we were being painted by radar when the crew chief screamed in the mike that there was puffs of gray smoke near the tail of the aircraft. I pushed the nose of the aircraft over and started an emergency decent. At about 125 knots (max speed is 120) we struggled to get control over the aircraft. We pulled our at 4000 feet and about 140 knots. Because we probably over-torqued the aircraft I cancelled the mission and returned to base. Upon inspection, we found several holes on the tailboom and the fiberglass cover was missing. Major Newman told me to take my crew to Quang Tri and take the night off. We stopped by the hospital to see SSG Kieth and gave him a CAV hat and a 50cal round we found in the helicopter which was on a dog tag chain. He started to cry, which made us really feel bad, but he said his tears were for the camaraderie he felt for our unit. His only complaint was his left leg was cold. (the one he lost) We hit the club for some drinks and chow and a good nights sleep. Back to Khe Sahn in the morning. Lom Son 719 concluded on 25 March and we returned to Phu Bai. Information on this operation can be found at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Lam_Son_719
When we returned to Phu Bai I was the senior aircraft commander in the lift platoon and had 30 days left in-country and the command tried not to sent the �??senior guy�?? on potentially hazardous missions. We were on standby for downed aircraft for the squadron and everyone was in the ready room, being very bored, when a new Captain instructor pilot ask if anyone could take him over to Eagle beach to do some air work because he had a check ride in the next week. I volunteered and was told by operations to monitor the troop radio frequency in case they had to launch. When we returned an hour later, they platoon had launched to secure a downed aircraft in the Ashau Valley. Neither of us heard the radio call. Two of our aircraft were shot down during the recovery operation and one crew spent the night on the ground surrounded by the enemy. No one was hurt, but I could have been the one on the ground and with less than 30 days remaining on my tour.
Four days prior to my DEROS (return to the states) I was ask if I wanted to leave early and they gave me two hours to pack my gear �?? which I got done in one. I cleared the troop headquarters and was on a C-130 to Long Bien for a flight home. I expected to leave the next day, however, a group of soldiers came in and took all the seats. Another night in-country and the O-club. Same story the next day. The night before my real DEROS, I was at the Air Force O-club across the runway when the whole world lit up. There was a major sapper (vietcong special forces) attack on the airfield. I caught a ride to the departure area, grabbed my gear and headed for the terminal. We were loaded on the plane and it took off from the taxiway. What a close call. I deplaned at SEATAC in Washington State and caught a flight to San Francisco to visit SSG Keith at Letterman General Hospital. The day I arrived, he had been fitted with a prosthetic leg and actually walked. Then home to the family.
While I was in VN, I heard of a program to get fixed wing rated using the GI Bill to pay for the school and permissive temporary duty for the time. I enrolled with Sawyer Aviation and spent 16 weeks learning to fly fixed wing aircraft. At the end of the training I earned a commercial license and an instrument rating. I was then assigned to Fort Huachuca Arizona in the base flight detachment where I qualified in the U-6 Beaver (the Alaska aircraft). After a couple of months fly at the airfield, I got a call from Armor personnel branch inquiring what I was doing at Ft Huachuca, a signal base, to which I responded: you guys sent me here. They said: �??boy, you don�??t need to be flying airplanes, you need command time�??. So off to local personnel office to find a command. Just in time as they were forming a provisional company to handle returning soldiers from VN and a special class of soldiers who had engineering degrees working on classified projects. I formed the company, which also included management of the consolidated mess hall.
While I was a company commander, my command was part of the monthly post parade and awards ceremony conducted on the 1st Monday of the month. I was called into Col Payne�??s office (my boss) and told I was to receive an award at the next months review. I had no idea what the award would be, so I called the personnel office and they told me some awards had been received from VN and I was to receive three Distinguished Flying Crosses. I didn�??t even know I was recommended for any awards when I left country. The reviewing officer for the review was a two star general named Hestad, the commanding general for the Intelligence Command. The general and I had butted heads in the recent past. Some of his officer students in the basic course would let their hair grow longer than regulation (Military Intelligence spooks) and I would see them and order that they get a haircut to military standards. General Hestad�??s Chief of Staff (Colonel) called me to protest and I told him it would not be possible to maintain good order and discipline within my company if second lieutenants ran around with hair exceeding military standards and if the command wanted them to have longer hair, put them in civilian clothes. I became known in the command as �??HAIRCUT 6�??, 6 being the designation for commander.
I as the first to be decorated, with the highest award coming first. The general stepped in front of me and said �??don�??t I know you?�?? I just Grinned�?� The Sergeant Major (SGM) handed him the medal, which he pinned on my uniform and he turned to move to the next soldier. The SGM stopped him and said there was more. He pinned another on my uniform and started to move again, the SGM stopped him again, and said another. When he pinned the last one on he said �??is that all SGM?�??I commanded the company for 22 months. Shortly after assuming command of the company I received another call from branch, this time telling me that the minimum education requirement for a commissioned officer on active duty was a bachelors degree and if I didn�??t get one soon, I would be eliminated from the service. Fortunately, near Fort Huachuca was a community college with a professional pilot curriculum. I enrolled in January 1972 and was granted 30 hours because I had already acquired a commercial pilots license. I started with 9 semesters hours and was told by my boss, LTC Hilton Payne, to use the morning to run the company, close the door in the afternoon and study. He was very supportive and I did on semester of 15 hours. I was able to complete my Associates Degree by the time I left Fort Huachuca. After 22 months in command I got another call fro Branch asking if i was homesteading in the command and 18 months was sufficient and I needed to get some staff time. So off to the personnel office again seeking a staff job. Just my luck, they recently fired the installation Race Relations Officer, a Major, and assigned me the position. This is when the U.S. Army was experiencing some serious race problems and the Department of the Army was implementing mandatory Race Relations and Equal Opportunity training and all soldiers were required to complete a 20 hour course. The Race Relation and Equal Opportunity (RREO) office was in turmoil due to the firing of the major and preparing for the mandated training. When I arrived at the office, I was met by a black sergeant named Peterson. His first comment after welcoming me was �??the are two kinds of nigers, field nigers and house nigers, and I�??m a house niger�??. Needless to say I was shocked and at a loss for words. He smiled, told me to call him Pete and said sit down Captain and let me tell you about race relations. He said facing the problem head-on and getting it all out on the table was the best way create understanding between the races. After an hour he introduced me the rest of the staff and explained that the installation was directed by DA to complete 20 hours of RREO training for every soldier on the post by September 1972. This was March and 12,000 plus soldiers on the post. WOW! I was sent to Ft Benning GA for a RREO course. Upon my return, we commandeered the post library, recreation center and a classroom from the Intel school to conduct classes. Everyone worked their butts off and we completed the requirement before the deadline. During this time I was still responsible for maintaining my flying currency as a Cat B Aviator. So I would fly on weekend to get my hours, many time flying the Huey up to Phoenix to see mom and dad. Short flying story: I had just been signed off on the U-6 by the instructor pilot on Friday and was assigned a mission to fly to Tucson and pick up a LTC who was teaching Command and General Staff College at the post. I fired up the U-6 (my first solo flight) and headed to Tucson, land at the international airport (my first) and picked him up on time. We headed back to Huachuca and ran into a snow storm, which was not predicted on the weather report I read before taking off. By the time was arrived at Huachuca, there was 4-6 inches of snow on the runway and the I had to land in a strong crosswind. The Beaver is a high-winged trail dragger and very hard to land in a crosswind. Fortunately it had stopped snowing, but with the crosswind and 4-6 inches of snow on the ground, it was a difficult landing. I did get it on the ground. The ground crew had to bring a tug to pull the aircraft to the terminal. The LTC told me that was one hell of a landing and patted me on the shoulder. I was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal for my work as a commander and RREO officer. I departed Huachuca in August 1974 in-route to Fort Knox Kentucky for the Armor Advanced Course (Aviation was not a branch at that time). It was a nine month course and we enjoyed living in Kentucky. Great golf courses and many interesting places to visit. I continued my college off duty with the University of Kentucky. Near the end of the course, Armor Branch visited Knox and did a career interview and make your follow-on assignment. I was to be posted to Fort Hood Texas, assigned to the 6th Cavalry Brigade. This was to be may second assignment with cavalry. We arrived in June and Pat and the kids went to Phoenix because there was no housing available on base. I purchased a house in Killeen and the family came in August. I was initially assigned as a plans officer in the 7/17th CAV S-3 shop.
After 30 days a scout platoon in B Troop came available and I took command. This was probably the most professionally rewarding assignment I had. Our squadron was tasked to develop anti-armor tactics using attack helicopters as �??tank killers�?? for a possible conventional war. (we were still in the cold war with the USSR) At the end of the VN conflict, North Viet Nam deployed Soviet made armored vehicles across the Laotian border and came into contact with US and VN forces. Our Cobra attack helicopters were fitted with armor-piercing rockets and were quite successful in destroying the advancing force. A part of their success was that we had air-superiority and could standoff far enough to be out of effective return fire. However, in a conventional conflict, anti-aircraft weapons were very effective especially against helicopters. Our mission was to determine the best deployment of the attack helicopter in an intense anti-aircraft environment. We had a free hand in stretching the limits of the helicopters, operating in a nap-of-the-earth (NOE) mode and integrating other anti-armor assets such as the USAF. Maneuvers we did with our aircraft prior to this would get us sent in front of a Flight Evaluation Board (FEB) for unsafe operation of the aircraft. There was an unlimited amount of flying hours to be used. The initial concept was to fly NOE to keep below the horizon and evade enemy radar. The team consisted of three scout aircraft (OH-58 Kiowa) headed by a Battle Captain and five gun ships (AH-1S) fitted with wire guided anti-armor missiles. This organization was called a 3X5 mix and run by the battle captain from the scout platoon. The concept was for the team to get an intelligence briefing of the current enemy situation, develop an attack plan and engage leading element of the enemy armor. The scouts would deploy to the battle area and the cobras would go to a holding area and wait until the situation was develop. The scouts would fly as close to the ground as possible, down ravines, under trees, around buildings arriving at a location outside of anti-aircraft range. Targets were developed and attack missions sent to the cobras, who would deploy and engage the targets. Once we documented the proposed tactics, a demonstration of the employment techniques was developed to show off the feasibility of the maneuver. This was designated �??Round Mountain�?? and became a big �??dog and pony�?? show for every dignitary visiting Fort Hood. Round Mountain was a knoll out on the firing range with bleacher seats and used to view maneuvers. The Commanding General (CG) would be flying around showing off the post to dignitaries and call the Battle Captain requesting his location and what training was being conducted. (this was all prearranged) He would be told we where training anti-armor tactics on the range. He said to continue and they would observe from Round Mountain. His helo would land and the guests would view the maneuver area and listen to the radio traffic via a PA system. Even with binoculars, the employment of the team could not be seen and the first indication of the attack was when the cobra crew announced missiles away and 14 seconds later someone behind the bleachers would set off a small explosive device, simulating the impact of the missile. Of course the guests would jump out of their seats. Not once during the entire deployment was a helo detected and always beyond anti-aircraft range. The CG would have the cobras and scouts come up to a 50 foot hover and viewers ask the if they could see any aircraft and most would say no, them 100 feet and again no and finally the team would turn on their landing lights before the helos could been seen. While all this was going on, a scout aircraft had flown up a ravine and was within 300 feet of the bleachers, completely unseen. Then the CG would point out the scout and state that small aircraft could indeed operate in on a conventional battlefield. After conducting over 100 demonstrations for many dignitaries, to include the Secretary of Defense, and writing the proposed employment manual, the squadron was tasked to integrate this concept with USAF tactics and it was called Joint Air Attack Tactics or JAAT. My troop worked with the USAF team stationed at Nellis AFB NV to develop communications protocols, flight integration, egress procedures and intelligence reporting called Battle Damage Assessment (BDA). A draft joint manual was developed. During this time I was assigned as the operations officer for the troop, responsible for combat operations, training, and flight scheduling. My troop was selected to deploy a 3X5 mix and associated operation personnel to participate in the first test of the JAAT live fire exercise at Nellis AFB NV. The five cobras were loaded on a USAF C5a and flown direct to Nellis. The remainder of the taskforce flew cross-country from Fort Hood to Tonopah NV, 120 miles north of Las Vegas. We were quartered in motels and operated out of old WW11 hangers at the edge of the Tonopah Gunnery Range. (this is adjacent to Area 51, the UFO area) At our first briefing by the USAF, we were told never, never, never, ever cross into this restricted area. HUM? The Tonopah Range consists of 300 square miles of mountains, valleys and vast strips of desert. Within the range, small towns, roads, bridges, power lines and railroads were built to scale. All the most modern electronic warfare systems, anti-aircraft weapons, both US and soviet were deployed to depict a realistic combat environment. Also incorporated into the area was communication monitoring equipment, still and video photography connected to a controlling agency at the main Nellis complex. The entire area was a free-fire zone, meaning you could shoot all your weapons system in any direction. For two weeks we conducted live fire operations, usually two scenarios per day followed by a fixed wing flight down to Nellis for an after-action review with the Army and USAF debriefing the crews and watching the tactics filmed that day. Then a return flight to Tonopah and prep for the next day�??s operation. With some minor changes the JAAT concept was accepted as joint doctrine and is still used today.
MORE TO FOLLOW......
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