Message Forum

Welcome to the Watterson High School Message Forum.

The message forum is an ongoing dialogue between classmates. There are no items, topics, subtopics, etc.

Forums work when people participate - so don't be bashful! Click the "Post Message" button to add your entry to the forum.

Post Message

Prior Page

Page

07/16/17 11:33 PM

#1549

James Hamilton, M. D.

Joe,

Live to be a centenarian - now that is a great bucket list item! Of course you may end up being the only one at our 85th reunion and have the last word on post #1,547,642 of this Forum. May your telomeres outlast those of your wife by at least one day!

07/17/17 09:35 AM

#1550

David Mitchell

Thanks Fred. And part of the article confirms your photo:

Complete with a garb not dissimilar to that of his character in the movie “Caddyshack” — all the way down to the bucket hat — Bill Murray hit the Willis Case Golf Course Friday afternoon to celebrate his 45th reunion at Regis University.

Now can we please get back to the casting ponds?

07/17/17 10:12 PM

#1551

David Mitchell

I thought I'd share an article written a few years ago in our local Hilton Head Monthly Magazine - a sort of splashy resort magazine with articles mostly about the beach life, golf courses, fancy huge houses, or restaraunts of the Island. Now and then, an intersting local celebrity (which the Island is full of)

I was organizing this reunion for a few guys (first time together in 45 years) and two elderly ladies that I knew suggested I go to the local press. I thought it seemed like an odd idea,but it grew on me. I am so glad we documented this as there is almost no history of the "Loach" pilots and their bizarre mission. Some folks even doubt our story. I estimate maybe 800 of us altogether in about 6 or 8 squadrons in all of Viet Nam (that's out of over 40,000 American helicopter pilots in all of the war. In my experience, even many Viet Nam Veterans are unaware of our existence. I have run into about 4 guys in my entire life who knew of us, and each time the same reaction, "You were one of THOSE guys?"

These are just a few of my guys from Comanche Troop in the Blackhawk Squadron from '69 and '70 in Vinh Long, an Army airfield base near the city of the same name on the northern most split of the Mekong River in the Viet Nam Delta (far south). I'll explain a bit more as time goes on.

Note: There are two photos that will not print no matter what I try. I will make up for that with other photos later. I should point out that due to the bizarre nature of our mission, 5 of the 7 of us in this photo - (two did not fly the high risk part of the mission) - were shot down a combined total of 14 times - (me only once, ha ha). And we had another of the group show up late, missing out on being in this photo. He would have added five more times himself! And bear in mind, this was only a small part of our Troop (Company), and just one of three Troops in the Squadron. The total number of "shoot downs" would probably leave you scratching your heads.

I want to keep this rather "safe" for all of you with different feelings about it. Hope to make it not about ME, but I am the witness to the story so yes, I'll be in some of it. I also promise to avoid some of the really gruesome stuff. And I will do my best to avoid politics for the most part.

AND -- I don't want this to "take over" the forum.

Hope you find it interesting. And I will follow with some more over time.

Band of Brothers

HILTON HEAD

VIETNAM WAR HELICOPTER PILOTS REUNITE AFTER 44 YEARS

It could have been any reunion anywhere in the country of seven longtime friends who hadn’t been together as a group in 44 years. They told stories about the old days, interrupted each other mid-sentence with different recollections of the memories being shared, laughed, shared a tear recalling certain decisive moments carved into memory, and told one another to speak up because they couldn’t hear very well anymore.

Pictured from left is Don Ericksen, Bob Buffington, Al Goodspeed, Dave Mitchell, Phil Lange, Joe Byrd and Bill Pond.

It could have been any high school reunion, with old friends talking about life way back when Nixon was president and the “summer of love” had just ended and a man walked on the moon.

Except these friends were also members of a certain brotherhood. And their reunion at the Omni Hilton Head Oceanfront Resort last month was to reflect on the time they shared as helicopter pilots in the Vietnam War from mid-1968 to mid-1970. Past and present rolled into one emotional jumble of gratitude and bonding over the events that brought them together when they were 20 to 26 years old.

On the first day of the three-day gathering, seven pilots met in a conference room for several hours to tell their war stories — the day, the time, the weather conditions, the conflict, who they were with and their feelings about what they experienced. All were members of the 7th of the 1st Air Cavalry squadron (three more pilots would arrive at the reunion later that Friday afternoon), nicknamed the Black Hawks, who were based at an Army airfield at Vinh Long in southern Vietnam about an hour’s flight south of Saigon. All flew between 800-1,500 helicopter hours during their military time in Southeast Asia.

Inline Image Not Displayed
“We were 24/7 together, and no matter what happened the day before, you woke up at 5 and there’s a board on the hooch, where we lived, and it said where you’re going and who’s flying with who, and you’re going on the next mission,” said Al Goodspeed, an Atlanta resident and former first lieutenant and captain who was shot down three times and earned three Purple Hearts. “Whatever happened yesterday, if Dean got killed or Gary got shot in the head, that’s gone. You don’t have time to grieve over it, think over it. You’ve got your next mission and you go out there … and I think that’s why a lot of people have trouble when they get home.”

Each day began like the day before in the delta on the northern split of the Mekong River. The mission commander flew in a Huey helicopter with a copilot at 500 feet. At 1,500 feet, flying in a big, wide circle, two heavily armed Cobra attack helicopters watched and waited. About 10 feet above the rice paddies were a lead and a wing scout pilot aboard Loach copters, hunting and locating the enemy. If the scout Loaches were shot at, which happened regularly, they would drop colored smoke to mark the Vietcong’s location, then fly off while the Cobra gunships fired rockets. Four other Hueys were on standby for each of the day’s three two-hour missions, and would drop off South Vietnamese ground soldiers near the target site if necessary.

“The guns are hitting the tree line beside us as we drop in, and I was in this state of shock … and you could see these muzzle flashes over in the woods and I looked back, and in my trance, this ship in front of me started to burn off ammunition and apparently a round of cooked-off ammunition comes flying back and flicks against my windshield, ping, you know, like this, and that snapped me back to attention,” said Dave Mitchell of Bluffton, the reunion’s organizer and a warrant officer during the Vietnam War who was shot down once in his 18 months of action. “Off to my right, Bob (Towe, a warrant officer and later chief warrant officer who did not attend the reunion) is standing, walking like a peg-legged man in a circle like this and he has a cut over one eye and it’s like, he was like just a dummy.”

“He was a dummy,” Texan Joe Byrd, a military lifer and first lieutenant during the Vietnam War, joked to the group.

Mitchell and the rest of his crewman dragged Towe into the helicopter “and then we just lifted over the trees and got the hell away from there.”

One after another, story after story, the former pilots spoke in somber, almost monotone voices. Nothing but the facts for this group of Vietnam veterans.

“A week or so later I wake up, I was sleeping on a down day … I get up and they’re all talking, the major and the first sergeant have left in the middle of the night under armed guards and straight jackets and the two of them were both having nervous breakdowns,” Mitchell said, recalling one incident. “They were out in the middle of the night … on the main active runway, in their underwear, drunk as lords, on squadron frequency, yelling, taunting and teasing each other so everybody is listening to this.”

Inline Image Not Displayed
The men all used words such as “fear,” “confusion,” “anxiety,” “shock,” “kill or be killed,” “comradery,” “brotherhood” and “boredom” to describe their time serving in the Vietnam War. They also agreed that, whether they knew it or not at the time, they had nightly therapy sessions in their hooch, sharing that day’s events, laughing as young guys do and letting out pent-up feelings, if only for an hour or two.

“A lot of (the skirmishes) I can’t remember anymore because we just got into it almost every day … but the one we call the 502nd North Vietnamese Army Battalion is one I still remember virtually every night because it comes back and haunts me,” said Bob Buffington from Georgia, a warrant officer who later became a police detective in Atlanta as a civilian.

“We started moving in closer and blowing some grass away and found some bloody bandages and even some weapons leaning up against the trees,” Buffington said. “A colonel got hit and they brought in a new command-in-control guy, and by this time they knew we were there and we knew they were there and so the shooting was pretty rampant and we had taken a couple of hits … so I moved out into a wide open field with some palm trees and some other stuff between them and the bunker line where the bad guys were and I popped smoke (to mark the enemy’s position). And we brought in a platoon, but they were on the wrong frequency (and couldn’t receive communication about the impending disaster that lay ahead). Their lead element was already within 20 or 30 yards of the bunker line and everything just opened up and they shot them to pieces … I mean they were just being ripped apart. They started putting those machine guns together … some kid had gotten a belly wound and they said he wasn’t going to make it. I went in to try to pick the kid up (in the copter) and they had him tied between two M16s and a poncho and just as soon as I got into position and started lowering down so they could put him in, the whole world opened up and they killed everybody and we were shot in pieces. That’s when you guys got overrun that night, and then the bad guys went into the jungle (in Cambodia).”

These pilots’ lifelong relationships have lasted longer than most of their marriages. The men still experience sleepless nights and adrenaline rushes when an unexpected noise startles them or certain smells trigger graphic memories. It took most of them years to come to terms with their war experiences, especially after they say most of the nation turned their backs on them upon their return home after the war. The vets were angry and disillusioned and eventually went their separate ways.

But they have each other now, as they did 44 years ago.

“I just want to say that you couldn’t be with a greater bunch of professionals doing the things that we did. Most people would never believe some of the things we did. Everybody had their job to do: the helicopter pilots, the infantrymen, the Air Force guys,” said Don Erickson of Long Island, N.Y., who was a first lieutenant during the war. “The pilots I flew with were the best in the world at that time and congratulations to all you guys, including me. It was great to be in a great unit; we really did our jobs the way it was supposed to be done.”

Bill Pond, a first lieutenant and later platoon leader who was shot down four times during the war, said “it was very, very emotional” seeing his brothers at the hotel after so many years apart. “It was just wonderful.”

07/17/17 10:38 PM

#1552

Janie Albright (Blank)

Dave, wonderful article! I hope your reunions with your brothers have helped ease this difficult path you travel. Truly amazing! God Bless all of you who served. You are truly appreciated.

07/17/17 11:06 PM

#1553

David Mitchell

Thanks Janie,

Somebody better like it - it took me most of the evening to figure out how to load it - ha ha!

Note: After more than two years, I just now realized that the part in the middle about the Major and the First Serageant being arrested --- see "A week or so later I wake up......." fails to mention what they were doing. They were drag racing in the two company jeeps, right ON the main active fixed-wing runway! Picture that scene at 3:00 a.m. with 6 MP gun jeeps chasing them around on the airfiled for 45 minutes to corner them and place them under arrest - in their undies.

When they were flown out they were both under heavy sedation in straight jackets and were deliverd to "LBJ" (Long Binh Jail) the big Army jail north of Saigon. Never saw or heard from either one again. We knew something was wrong with the Major before this happened - another story some other time.

P.s. I know you're thinking I am mis-spelling some names of places but I am not. It was Vinh Long and Long Binh - the "h" goes on the end.

07/18/17 03:29 AM

#1554

James Hamilton, M. D.

Dave,

First, thanks to you and all the brave men of your incredible unit for your service.

As a career Department of Army civilian I never encountered soldiers who had a more dangerous MOS than your group. The closest I can imagine would be the Japanese Kamikaze pilots of WWII.

But I have a question: were the VC so dumb that, after a few of your missions, they did not learn that if, from well hidden positions, they fired upon the LOACH helicopters thus unmasking their location, they would be annihilated by the Cobra gunships? I have no knowledge of military strategy but concealment and camouflage would seem to have worked better.

07/18/17 08:50 AM

#1555

Jeanine Eilers (Decker)

Thanks for posting this, Dave. I hope we never forget what the worst of war is like. We appreciate your service and your memories.

07/18/17 12:00 PM

#1556

Joseph D. McCarthy

Dave. What a wonderful post and gathering for our troops. Terrific prequel to the story. Let's hear more when you feel like it.

07/18/17 02:04 PM

#1557

Mark Schweickart

Dave,

Wow, fascinating stuff. However, your dropping of hints such as "You were one of those guys," implies there are far more dramatic stories to be told. You have definitely piqued our interest. Then again, as you said in your preface, you do not want to make it all about you, nor too gory, nor done in such a away as to raise charged political feelings, therefore, further sharing might be awkward if done as forum posts, not to mention being too long for a forum post. I would urge you to write up your experiences, and then let us know when it is available. Then you could just send a copy by private email to those of us who may be interested.

Then again this sort of project may be sending you down roads you would rather not spend too much time travelling on, so that is certainly understandable as well.

07/18/17 07:11 PM

#1558

David Mitchell

Thanks to all of you for your coments. I intend to proceed with caution. I hope to load the "other" article from our local newspaper - if I can remeber how to upload the damn thing (took me hours to figure out how to do it last night (*&$G_:#@eH). The other article is a bit melodramatic but it has some better photos - and you will see a "Loach" more clearly. It was a surpise to see it come out as our local Sunday front page feature, and an even bigger surprise to be awakend by my young assistant pastor (and good friend) telling me of the newspaper he had just bought that morning - "for the first time in years". (He was in the newspaper article)

I want to point out a few quick facts,

a) I promise to lay out a bit of a more complete explanation of our goofy mission. That should help clarify a lot of what may follow in the way of individual stories.

b) Our unit was a Cavalry unit, but we were NOT part of the famous "First Cav", as it sounds in the article. The unit name should read, 7/1st (seventh of the first) Cavalry Squadron - of the First Aviation Brigade. It was just too difficult to explain to the writers of both articles. And besides, everybody has heard of the 1st CAV! I guess it played well to the readers.

c) Mark, Thanks for your concern, but after many years, I am out of the woods for the most part on the difficulties with bad memories and "triggers" of bad memories (yes, PTSD). The cathartic effects of this wonderful reunion, and a life-changing moment on my first Marked Men For Christ retreat about 18 months ago has lifted me out of that quagmire. I was given the chance to dump all that crap on the Cross and walk away a "free" man. Life is so much sweeter (and easier) living in the light of His love, than hiding out in a "safe place", pounding your head against the darkeness.

d) The article refers to "three two-hour searches each day. Incorrect. We usualy did 4, and sometiems 5 per day. Two hours because that was our approximate fuel load capacity. An old Vietnamese proverb says that when your airplane runs out o' gas, you go bonk in rice paddy! (We already did that enough without running out of gas)

e) There were more (or at least equally) dangerous missions (IMHO) - like "tunnel rats" and certain Medivac situations, and perhaps certain special units like one of our own silent classmates (ahem!) in Marine Recon missions. But yes, we were doing pretty high risk stuff. It was really a sort of dare devil "in-your-face" type of tactic.

f) Jim, I'll get into more detail later but, there is no simple answer. There were those (VC) who could maintain their discipline and hold still in their (well camoflauged) postion for as long as we were over them, and we never saw them. We all agreed at our reunion that there must have been many many times when we flew right over them for hours (from 6 or 8 feet!) and never knew they were there. But there were many more times when the temptation must have been too great for them to resist, and they would open up with their AK's and try to knock us down - succeeding occasionally. Last time I checked, they too were human.

* I promise I will explain this all much better later. If it sounds hard to fathom - it is.

Finally, my vanity forces me to explain that none of us liked this photo very well. We have no idea why they used "sepia" tone for the print, but that and the fact that the guy said, "everybody look serious" - which I and one other did (while the others smiled) looks dumb.

07/18/17 10:39 PM

#1559

David Mitchell

http://www.islandpacket.com/opinion/opn-columns-blogs/david-lauderdale/article33619551.html

Sorry, I think I may have broken the website. If you click the link above it will get to the article I have been trying to load all night. And my intro is as follows:

This is the other artcle I mentioned. It is the Thanksgiving Sunday (2014) cover feature of our local Island Packet (and Beaufort SC Gazette). Small towns make small news big - lol.

David Lauderdale is a small time local legend of a writer and historian for the Hilton Head, Bluffton, and Beaufort SC area. His weekly article is usually back on 6th page with few, if any photographs. I had two meetings with him to give some of our background for the story befoe he came to the hotel for his interviews with the guys. When we first met in his office, he said "I've never heard of anything like this". I said, it's okay, nobody else has either. By the time we finished our second meeting, I could see his wheels spinning as he realized he had a much bigger story than he first thought. About a week after the article

he told me that he had more emails from this article than any in his prior twenty plus years with the paper.

I was awkened that morning by a text from my young assistant pastor (who is in the article), saying, "I have not bought a newspaper in years, but I am buying six copies of this one." I texed back, "Jonathan, what are you talking about?" He responded with a photo of the heading and first photo. I was stunned! We did not see this coming. (BTW - it followed the Magazine article by about 5 days - which created quite an impact with many friends and associates)

I hope you are able to see the third photo. It is Bob Buffington and I at the reunion. He is in a wheel chair as you see from the other article. He carries a bullet next to his spine from a police shoot-out while on the Atlanta police force from over 20 years ago - a shootout with good cops vs. bad cops in a wild drug bust (of some senior ranking drug dealing cops - weirdest story I have ever heard in my life!).

The ship is a "Loach" (OH-6A "Cayuse"). the name "Loach" is simply the pronunciation of the acronym L.O.H. for "Light Observation Helicopter". Made by Hughes Aircraft (before they were sold). We were the "ancestors" of the same Loaches you saw in the film "Blackhawk Down". And another terribly misrepresented scene from Apocalypse Now ("I love the smell of naplam in the morning"). I never heard of Army helicopter units opening fire on a whole civilian village like that - ever! (I guess that's what you come up with when you spend 18 months shooting a film in the blistering heat of the Phillipines, in a drug induced haze, running out of money, storms ruining your sets multiple times, with one lead actor being totallly unprepared and the other lead actor having a heart attack.)

We are both 20 here and I am in my second week (no tan yet), continuing to learn the tactics from a more experienced pilot. This is a few days after my infamous vomiting episodes you may recall from my first three days in the air with Captain Joiner. In the first photo Bob has his foot on the "Mini-gun" which fired at "limited" rate of fire of only 2,200 round per minute and made a deafening buzz.

I agree, this article is a bit melodramatic, but I wanted you to see the first photo - hope you can see both at the bottom.

One more important fact - the difference in the two photos of Bob and I is 45 years and 45 pounds

07/19/17 09:43 AM

#1560

David Mitchell

If you can tone down some of David's language it would read a little more realistically. I don't know about "swoop down and win the day"? Or "living in a jungle hooch" - heck, we lived in rows of hooches on a large Army airfield. The jungle was out there somewhere. And the "Loach's contribution to freedom" - wow, that's a bit over the top.

And we all express ourselves differently. Joe Byrd's "kick ass" comments are his own. Joe is the dumbest Texan I ever knew - and still, I love him to death.

07/19/17 09:56 AM

#1561

Janie Albright (Blank)

Just in case you didn't see the email. We have about 20 responses so far and I have not heard from some I know will be there. Larry Foster said his went to spam so trying to cover all bases.

We are planning an informal class get-together on Saturday evening August 26, 2017. It will be pizza and salad, beer, wine and soft drinks, maybe a few extras thrown in.

We have decided to have it in the "Library" of the building Janie lives in at The Alexander condo building at 500 S. Parkview Ave at Main in Bexley. This is only a couple minutes off I-70 at Bexley Main St exit. For those of you who worked on the reunion you can attest it is a good sized room with a pool table, piano, TV with lots of comfortable seating. We won't have to fight a crowd, pay high prices or tip. ;) We should have enough in our fund to pay for the party. At most we might have to chip in a couple bucks.

Joe McCarthy was unable to make our 50th and will be in Columbus on this weekend so we hope that many of you can reserve this date. We are calling this our "55th Grade School Reunion". Sounds like as good an occasion for a party as any. ;) You can invite some you went to grade school with if you like even if they didn't go to Watterson. There will be a $10 charge for those not in our class.

Please send an email to Watterson1966@aol.com to RSVP as soon as possible so we can make our plans.

07/19/17 11:38 AM

#1562

Mark Schweickart

Janie,

I won't be able to attend your get toegether for locals because 1) I am not local, and 2) I will be doing a little bucket list item that week--attending the Edinburgh, Scotland Fringe Festival. I have never been to Scotland, and the huge party they throw every year, with all sorts of theater and music events, is something my wife and I have been wanted to attend for awhile. So off we go!

Dave,

Thanks for posting the link to your local newspaper coverage about your reunion. We were all cursed (although some might say "blessed") to have lived through "interesting" times. Now, in our later years, it seems appropriate to reflect on all of that, so thanks for sharing. And your comment about the photo of you and your buddy and the 45 lbs. in 45 years was a good way to deflect us from making jokes at your expense. You two sure knew how to put the "scrawn" in "scrawny" back then. (Sorry, I couldn't resist.)

07/19/17 12:24 PM

#1563

Michael McLeod

Mark: Wow - I envy you about the Fringe trip. Most of the writing I do these days is about the arts, and Orlando has a very good Fringe festival. So I have reviewed the plays, interviewed artists from all over the world, made friends with a few of them. The way the Fringe works is that the artists are so damn poor that people volunteer to have them as guests in the time that they are here to perform and we've gotten to know the Fringe circuit from the inside out that way. You should come to the Orlando fringe sometime if you get hooked.

Dave: I second Mark's suggestion of giving yourself permission to say what you want to say -- do not over-edit yourself. And honestly from what I see you doing so far you're doing a good job, in the main, of saying what needs to be said. Knowing what to leave out is as important as knowing what to leave in. Just be sure you make that choice wisely. It all goes to your core purpose. What are you saying and why are you saying it? I also recommend "The Moth." Actually I recommend that to everyone. There are a series of books that record an oral storytelling project that began in New York City a few years ago. The personal tales are compelling. I use some of them in my classes.

Janie: I don't think I can make it. More's the pity.

07/19/17 04:57 PM

#1564

David Mitchell

Janie,

I am still hoping to get up to Columbus for the get-together. My chances are about 50/50.

07/19/17 05:12 PM

#1565

Janie Albright (Blank)

For sure our get together is not just for locals however we know unlikely people will come unless a good excuse to come visit others in Columbus at the same time. Joe McCarthy will be here from California and Peggy Southworth from Texas. Hoping for others as well.

07/19/17 05:34 PM

#1566

David Mitchell

Mark, I resemble your "scraun" remark. I wish I could find a later photo of me after I had lost weight from the heat and lousy food, then got pneumonia, followed immediately by "shigella dysentery". Sickest I have ever been in my life! I looked like a prison camp survivor. Got medi-evaced down to Can Tho, to the big "Binh Thuy Field EVAC hospital to be fed interveniously for three days. Came out weighing 132 pounds. I could give Jack Maxwell a run for his money.

I was the first guy to get it - then it ran through the entire squadron - like a wildfire. Came on you in flash with no warning symptoms. I was just walking back from our own airfield clinic, having just been released back to flight status from pheumonia, when I suddenly pitched over on some grass and started vomiting, and then intense diarrhea. Some guys helped me walk back to my bed where I got severe chills, then burning up - then chills again. It hit our C.O. while in the air during a mission. He had just a moment to say "you got it" (the controls) to his co-pilot, pull his helmet off, and fill it with his breakfast. (talk about a "bad hair day"). From the clues that it was just our Squadron (3 companies , or "Troops") and no other units on the airfield, they think it was something from our own squadron mess hall kitchen. My dad later hinted it must have come from dirty dishwater and told me when he was young man, that was often fatal - as they could not stop the dehydration fast enough.

But I did have a very sweet nurse, 1st Lieutenant Donna Boyer from St. Louis. I will never forget her. She was an angel of mercy and patience! ( she needed to be - I was a mess! )

( d'ya like how I seg-wayed into a pretty girl ending?)

07/19/17 08:31 PM

#1567

David Mitchell

I want to try and put whatever follows into prespective with a basic explanation of what we did. I'm sorry - this looks too long and detailed - ("Dave, you're kidding?")

The Air Cav "Scout" mission (or Hunter-Killer teams as sometiems called).

Our operation was basically a reconaissance mission, but with the weapon capability of destrying what we found (most of the time). Kind of an airborne "search and destroy" mission (as some "ground pounders" would call it).

In our "Squadron" with three "Troops" (Cavalry terms for Regiment and Company), we were one of those three Troops (or Companies - and forgive me if I use them interchangeably). Our Squadron were the "Blackhawks" commanded by a Lt. Colonel, usually in their early forties. The three Troops in our Squadron were "Apache Troop", "Comanche Troop" (mine), and "Dutch Master Troop" (I think they couldn't find another "B" tribal name after using Blackhawk). Each troop was commanded by young Majors (in their early thirties). Each morning, the three Troops would take off from our airfiled at Vinh Long, and fly out to various locations throughout the Delta based on an assignment receivd lt the previous night. Not that it couldn't change at the last minute due to "hotter" (more recent) intelligence. There were about 10 or 12 of these locations with small little rural airfields with a fixed-wing landing strip and refueling tanks (or large rubber bladders) containing our fuel. Those 10 or 15 sites were always the same and all three Blackhawk units always went to, and then "worked" (conducted our mission) out of those locations for the entire day. But almost always we each went to a different one for that given day. Apache went one place, Comanche another etc. Then we returned home to our home base, Vinh Long, by evening. We flew very few night missions and they were a mess.

Some of those locations you would find on a map but most were tiny rural villages with nothing more than a small "Special Forces" compound (Green Bererts) on site. Those were usually the folks who came out on the runway and explained our mission for the day - and had the "latest" intel for us.

Names like; Moc Hoa (most frequent - up on the Cambodian border where the photo of Bob and I was taken), Sa Dec, Cau Lahn, Chi Lang, Chou Duc, Ha Tien, Tre Vinh, Ben Tre, Ca Mau, My Tho ("mee tow" -John Kerry's old hangout) and my (least) favorite, Vi Thanh (vee tawn). Oh, and "the Cement Plant" (which was, oddly enough, located right by a big cement plant out on the edge of Cambodia and the Gulf of Thailand (with loading docks on the waterline). Note: if you hear your favorite place called you must yell BINGO to win a prize.

Each Troop's daily assets consisted of a "flight" of 13 ships. There were 5 Hueys, 4 Cobra Gunships, and 4 Loaches (my platoon). The four tactical names were C&C, Lift, Guns, and Scouts.

One Huey was the "C&C" (Command & Control) which was flown by a daily rotation of either the CO (commanding officer), the XO (executive officer) or usually, the "Ops" (operations officer) - and their co-pilot. He would be that day's Air Mission Commander, or "AMC". He commanded, directed, and basically ran that day's operation in the air.

The other four Hueys were what we called the "Lift" platoon. That was a platoon of pilots who flew only the regular Hueys and were used only to bring out ground forces and "insert" (or later, "extract") them into and from areas where needed, if and when we got in to trouble over our heads. They were also nicknamed "Slicks". They would sit all day on the runways we worked out of, and wait to be called. Lots of days they did nothing but fly out to our location, shut down, lay under the shade of their ships, and nap, play cards or read until it was time to go home. We teased then about being a bunch of lazy "do-nothings" but when we needed them they always came - and I do mean ALWAYS!

The 4 Cobra Gunships ("guns") were the fire power of the mission. The Guns had two pilots also (but seated in tandem) with lots of fire power - one of two rocket pods under each stub wing, and a "turrett mounted" mini-gun that fired at a frightening 6,600 rounds per minute and could be rotated and aimed from the co-pilot's position in the front seat.

The 4 "Loaches ("Scout" pilots) were the eyes (and the "bait") of the mission. The Loaches were the name of the ship, "Scouts" was the name for our part of the mission. (I may also use those names interchangeably) We Scouts flew with only one pilot (due to the risk) and one young enlisted man in left seat as the "Observer". He carried a weapon (usually a C.A.R.15) and leaned out his door all day looking as we flew the search. He also had numerous grenades close at hand (colored smoke for marking a target, also CS gas, white phosforous (burns anything - even under water) and plain old concussion grenades (not as powerfull as the old "Pineapples" from WW2 movies). On our left outboard side, we also had mounted a "mini-gun" capable of firing at a reduced rate of only 2,200 rounds per minute (if it wasn't jamed with dried vomit) and could be raised and lowered on my controls (with my "cyclic stick" trigger at my index finger). But it had to be to be aimed side to side by our directional aircraft pedal control - kind of limiting, but we got used to it.

Once we arrived at our day's base, we would all top off our fuel tanks and set our ships down along the side of the runaway awaiting instrutions. In a few minutes, we would have chosen the first teams to go out and begin the search. When we headed out to the Area of Operations ("AO") all together (C&C plus one team of 2 Guns, one team of 2 Scouts) at about 1,500 feet of altutude. The C&C would call out over the radio, "Okay one eight (Scout call sign for whoever that first lead ship was), drop down here and let's start at the intersection of these two canals and work to the west for a while". At that point, the C&C would drop down to about 500 feet, and the team of two Scouts - a "lead" and a "wing" - flying behind to cover the lead - would drop down to just above the terrain - rice paddies mostly, but sometimes trees - and begin flying slowly back and forth at about 6 or 8 feet above the terrain - (yes, six or eight feet). We moved like two little bees dancing around one another across a row of flowers in a garden.

The intent was two-fold. First, to locate them (thus, the close eyeball search), and second, to get them to shoot at us. I know, it sounds crazy, but it is what we actually did. Once we were fired upon, we had achieved two things - we had confirmed their position, AND we were now permttted to fire back.

* Remember, this was an "un-declared war" and therefore we could not shoot first (*in most cases - more on that later).

The search could be interesting. We learned to read the terrain, and many types of clues indicating their presence. Tracks, bent back rice shoots in the paddies, fresh-cut nippa palm leaves layed in a certain way, muddy water in the canal next to a rocking (but empty) sampan (boat), and many other subtle things. If we could see them we would try to circle back and forth to sort of tempt them to fire. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. To further entice them we would ask permission (over the radio from C&C) to "recon by fire" and fire our mini-gun well over their heads or a ways off to the side of them. Sometimes the deafeneing buzz would scare them into shooting at us. Failing that, we would sometimes have our observer toss out one of our "CS gas" grenades - upwind of them (yea, I know, nasty). What often worked best was after a few of these attempts, we would appear to be hovering away slowly, or simply turn our tail to them, so they knew we could not see them or defend ourselves. That was often more than they could resist. We flew almost acrobaticly at times - hovering slowly sideways, backward, and sometimes, at a completely still hover, then kicking pedal and rotating on a dime to change directions. We were so brazen and cocky. We thought we were invincible. We were 20 after all, and we had earned Army Aviator's wings! We thought we were gods, and so sure they could'nt hurt us we would do stupid things. I often describe our attitude as "callous". Routine can make one awfully callous.

Once they fired at us, we would call out (actually it was usually more like a frantic scream) "Receiving fire" over the radio, our observer drops a colored smoke, and we pull away as fast as we could. Once we were fired upon, it was now game on! At this time, the "guns" who are flying a wide cirlce at 1,500 feet and listening to every word on the radio, now go into a steep dive and fire several pairs of rockets each (one ship following the other in the dive) while their co-pilots (front seat) fired the "turrett" mini-gun, spraying the area.

But here is the really crazy part. After the "guns" have worked over the area, the C&C calls out, "okay one eight, go back in and check it out." So now we Scouts are going back in over the area (still at 6 or 8 feet) to assess the damage. And often, the "guns" did not get them all on their first pass. So now they are waiting for you, no longer intending to hold their fire or worry about giving away their position. Now he is waiting for you with his finger on his trigger. Now you are flying into a much more "live" situation, and it could get pretty stressful. But now we could go back in "hot" - firing our mini-gun, or with observer holding a grenade with pin already pullled.

As you may imagine, this is where we would often take the most hits and be at the most risk. we often did this two or three times in succession, and I was once told to go back in a fifth time, which I refused. That story ends funny and is one I will share some other time.

I think this is enough of an explanation for now and you're tired of reading this. (and I'm tired of writing)

07/19/17 08:59 PM

#1568

Michael DeTemple

Dear Dave,

Thanks for your incredible stories about your experience in Viet Nam. My thoughts and feelings are swirling around with in me. It seems so harrowing to me - and so "fantastic" - literally. Reading them makes me feel I am in another world - in another space and time. How did you survive? How did you recover - and thank God you did. It must have been a long and hard fought road to healing. I'm glad you organized the reunion you did among your fellow Viet Nam vets. It sounds like it was a very therapeutic experience - and a very human one for a group of men who lived through a nightmare for years. How tragic. I well remember how much of this country reacted to the soldiers who returned from Viet Nam - including yourself and the men you served with. I feel ashamed by all of that - what you must have endured when you came home - after the terror you endured in the war. God forgive us. God bless you and all the men you know from your years in the service. I will keep you in my prayers. It is the very least I can do after all you did for our country. With profound respect and sincerely, Mike DeTemple

07/19/17 09:13 PM

#1569

David Mitchell

Golly, Thanks Mike.

It really was harrowing at times, but usually for just a few minutes at a time. And sometimes downright exciting, but also at times hysterically funny, and then again, incredibly boring at times - no, boring lots of times. And once in a while, tragic. Kind of like life itself - but a bit closer to the edge.

(Oh, and the girls in Sydney Australia were cute too)

07/20/17 02:10 PM

#1570

John Schaeufele

Dave,

I do not get on this website enough to stay up with everything but good stuff man! I was in San Diego last week and had the pleasure of dinning on the USS Midway. The whole flight deck is now a museum of helicopters and aircraft from the Navy. The helicopters reminded me of you in Nam, even if they were Navy. What incredible stories/experiences you have to share. I agree with others on this site, you need to write a book and record everything for history sake. I am sure Mark & Mike would be glad to serve as editors. Beside all the history you have made, you are a pretty good writer as evidenced by all the stories you have shared from OLP, the "hood", your family, etc.

Loved the comment you made in the article about the war being political and the fact that it was not supported by the politicians who started it. Unfortunately, you, your colleagues, some of our classmates and others had to fight it. By God's grace you survived to tell the story. So, tell it!

07/20/17 07:29 PM

#1571

David Mitchell

Thanks John, but it was my buddy Joe Byrd's comment about the war being political.

------------------------

I would like you all to meet my regular "Observer" and crew chief, Clint Hunt from some little "holler" down in "Kintucky".

Each of us pilots in the Scout platoon all had a certain regular observer. Although this sometimes had to change for various reasons (sick days, different days off, etc.). Most of them were pretty good at what they were asked to do. We all flew at least a few times with the other observers so we each knew them all pretty well. And although a young Sergeant Klark was considered our best observer, I think my observer, Clint was the best. He was a very good crew chief, and an excellent observer - alert, fearless, smart (though somewhat uneducated) and even taught me a few things in the air that I needed to be told. He was not afraid to tell me what he thought.

But on top of all that, what was so great about him really was his personality. He had this wonderful upbeat temperament that made him so great to have in a boring (and sometimes stressful) cockpit day in and day out. Every morning on the flight line before take-off he greeted me with his same boyish big grin and some comment like, "Mornin' Mr. Mitchell.* You ready to go rabbit huntin' again t'day?" It never failed to give me a lift. We were as close to a perfect team in the cockpit together as you could get. He remains one of my dearest memories from that season of my life.

As my observer, he would fly in my left seat, stick his face out the door, not get sick as we flew like circus clowns back and forth, searching as the ground flew past him, fire back at people shooting at him sometimes from 6 feet from his face, flip a left-handed grenade toss with the pin already pulled as we hovered back over a hiding place (usually with perfect accuracy), with someone waiting to shoot him (from his side of the ship - not mine!), and give me feedback on what he's seeing all the while we're doing this - for 2 hours at a time, three times a day, four or five days in a row - for a year! The "Observers" had cast iron stomachs, eyes of a hawk, quick reflexes, and the heart of a lion. Clint Hunt was simply the best!

I have often referred to him as a "kid" but he probably was my age. And I have not been able to locate him after all these years.

* ("Mr. Mitchell" is the military - though odd sounding - way we Warrant Officers were addressed.)

(Clint is on the right in both photos - do you see a little Joachin Phoenix in him?).

07/21/17 09:29 PM

#1572

Timothy Lavelle

BE VERY CAREFUL....

Mark Schweickhart is not to be tructed.

Or trusted.

And now, Sean Spicer is working for him.

Mark found out that I had the required surgery on my very best leg, "Righty" this past Monday morning. After making sure I would live (he didn't want to waste his money, which I think wise), he hired Sean Spicer. Sean has a new gig. He dresses up as a "Spicer Girl" and sings various sorts of messages on your doorstep.

So, this morning, here he is at my door (Spicer, not Mark...try to keep up OK?) bumping and grinding on the porch railing and singing his own rendition of "Up On Cripple Creek". It starts out "You're a Crippled Geek, You're goofy, You're a Crippled Geek, Sooo-o Doofey" and gets worse...hard to believe...from there. I wasn't so much pissed at Mark, nor bothered by Spicy being the messenger as I was disturbed at the ruination of a great old tune from The Band.

There will be one less erector set available for this Christmas as it now resides, screwed into my tibia. I have managed to spend months boring you with sad tales of winter in the PNW only to follow up with an unsafe act so incredibly dumb that will keep me out of action for the best part of the outdoor year here. But please, no matter how much you like him and no matter how little he costs, no more Spicer-Girl-Grams, OK? To those of you who have worked to raise my flagging spirits at times, way deep thanks.

Tim, speaking on behalf of so very many personalities who reside herein.

07/21/17 11:14 PM

#1573

David Mitchell

Tim,

I can't beleive your timing. I was about to put up something myself about the comedy in D.C. and how each week (or day) I say to myself, it just can't get anymore ridiculous. And then, lo and behold - it does! I was going to suggest that we nominate you for the job after Spicer's replacement quits or get fired (or is unmasked as Mitch McConnell's secret bookie).

But then, I recall you were once in "intelligence" and I wake up in a cold sweat, dreaming that you are a Russian hacker, planted years ago as a member of a "sleeper" cell, with the mission of stealing away the secret formula for Ben & Jerry's "Cherry Garcia" flavor.

Or are we about to learn that you were the 9th guy in those meetings with Thumper Jr. - attempting to sell the Russians old surplus boxes of Watterson turtles?

Whatever - Thank you for Making America Funny again.

Post Message

Prior Page

Page