A few years ago an Apache Pilot was bragging about close air support so I posted this photo to show him what real close air support is, he never replied. Of course an Apache fights from a 5 mile standoff. We did it at 40 feet.
They do get really big, I walked up close to some at Atlanta zoo and I was very surprised at how big they are. One swipe from them could be deadly for sure.
Dang, that's really close there. Looks like it would be hard with all the wind from them, for the soldiers to maneuver across. That's amazing piloting those helicopters like that.
That isn't anything, try landing 25 helicopters on a small narrow runway in the jungle with fog so thick you couldn't see your hand in front of your face. Down on the southern coast we had such an airfield and one morning it was so bad one helicopter dropped down into the ground fog and slowly made his way to the far end of the strip and he popped colored smoke from the very end of the runway, another ship did the same and popped smoke on the entrance to the strip. We had 25 troop ships and 7 gunships and no one was killed. Normal parking is about a two foot distance to the ship in front of you. On the other hand flying and fighting in it is really dangerous and sometimes necessity over ruled intelligence. Same area as this airfield I mentioned at 3am we were called out to help an artillery outpost that the VC overran and actually seized the 155mm howitzers. By the time we got there two cobras from our headquarters were already on scene and we had to fly a circle over and around the encampment. I was watching to my right and could see nothing but fog and then I saw one of the cobras start an attack run with 20mm cannon, he lost his vision and flew into the ground. One second I was listening to his conversation with his wing man and the CC ship far above all of us, then the next he and his pilot were gone. The CC above us came over the radio and told us to pound everything around the area, there are no survivors. I have so many stories to tell so many things I've seen and done and I don't want to forget them. I think I tell them more to make myself feel good than just remembering any particular night or day. You know I had been home from Vietnam for 6 years before I ever met another Vietnam veteran, no one wanted to talk about it I guess. My own family had little knowledge of what I did for 3 years, mainly because I never wrote home, never had the time. My girlfriend at the time I left for Vietnam died last year and it was 40 years we were not in touch. I finally got into touch with her and she sent me the small black and white photos I had sent her. She kept them all those years. If it weren't for her I would have few photos to share. I had better color 35mm that I lost while I was in the last company the 121st. I had some really good shots while hovering over our kills after being shot at by a 30 caliber WWII machine gun while we just happened to fly by their bunker not more than 3 miles from the airfield on our way home for the evening, out of ammunition and fuel and we still had to make that hard turn and take them out even if we ran out of fuel. We killed two out of 5 and the 3 we missed ran into an underground bunker. A fast reaction force arrived and tried to talk them into surrendering but they refused so they were blown up. More to the story but I got some great shots of the guy carrying the 30 caliber and the other carrying the ammo cans. I can tell you it got a bit scary watching my M60 rounds falling much too short but our wing man still had mini gun ammo and he took them both out with one long burst. So many stories and everyone I knew over there had more.
Thomas the last care package we sent was tro a heli pilot in Mosul, they were requesting chap stick, socks, snacks,etc,etc, and candy and toys to throw down to the local kids as they flew over. Remember the two heli's that crashed into each other in Mosul, I feared one was the pilot we were corresponding with, He sent us the letter a short time before that, we still have the letter. Now they make it very hard to visit vets in the VA's and that is a shame. I wouldn't visit now but we tried several years ago.
You should maybe record on a recorder and have it typed for a book of your life like you said before you forget the things you want to remember. I've heard about many who were there, who wouldn't talk about it at all, and if it helps you feel better, I think you should. Never know some of your kids may make a movie of your life experiences. Viet Nam, was over when I became 18 and I was classified A1 on my draft card so I would've been going right behind you if it wasn't stopped then. Lots of my family served and I was gonna, but never did. One of my Uncles made it through WW11 and the Korean war, in Army. At Mama's funeral, Daddy's other brother told me he has some great photos of both those wars.
This is the site we met the pilot on. Not as active now of course but still up. https://www.bing.com/ck/a?!&&p=f9b0...dy5hbnlzb2xkaWVyLmNvbS9XaGVyZVRvU2VuZC8&ntb=1
I'm doubtful I would ever take the time to do that. I have no children and little family left today. There is a University in Texas that has an archive for the war and our 336th company. A lot of personal things and memoirs have been placed there over two decades ago. A pilot of the 121st sent me a book the 2nd writing of his, I have it in my closet and have never read it. I was there longer than he was so I have already been updated. I spent a lot of personal time making tributes for those that requested one. He was grateful for his that I had sent him. He is retired and spends his spare time staying updated on veterans affairs health and benefits etc then mails the news to everyone on his mail list. One of my platoon leaders was a Capt and he retired as a full colonel. Both of us left the 336th around the same time and both of us were in the Nike Hercules personnel logs but at different times. He became a pilot at the San Francisco Headquarters flying the Commander around. San Francisco was one of the very last Nike Bases to close. Of course my time was 3 years earlier down in the cotton fields of Texas at Alvarado.
At least a few of your writings and stories are recorded here. I am amazed at your writing skill and the stories.
You've definitely lived a very interesting life, and are very lucky, too to have made it through all you've done. And as Mary posted, a lot of what you told is recorded, so there is that, in case you ever start to forget any of it. I am like you as far as any biological kids, Marie had three when we met, they were, seven, eight, and nine, so I help her raise them, all fifty's, now. Time really flies, doesn't it? Dealing with losses, of family and friends, is one of the hardest things in life to deal with to me, I have even had a hard time losing some of my dogs. Never seems to get easier, from what I've seen, just another sadness to go through.
@Thomas Stillhere, I saw this and thought of you, figure you might like to see it. Rotorcraft turning and burning, mainly the door gunners, ordinance men/women, and flight surgeons/air medics. From the very beginning of the Vietnam War, it was concluded that this would be a much different war. Enter the UH-1 Iroquois, affectionately known forever as the "Huey". It would have been impossible to fight that war without it. One reason was the door gunner. Depending on the sources, it is a general estimation.
The gunner sitting in the well is on a D Model or slick as it was called. The gunships were A B and Cs, I got to fly on every one of the gunships. In the beginning the A models were used for Troop insertion and had no power. All that Hollywood BS showing a Huey lift straight up is a bunch of crap. My crew chief and myself had to run beside the ship holding onto the stretcher poles then jump on once it had transitioned. Fuel and weapons and two of us were more than it was designed for, or powered for . Rocket pods you see with the Budweiser painting were loaded with 17 pounders and you only saw it with the Hog ship, 40mm nose cannon. That way you did not have to carry endless amounts of 7.62 plus having the large rocket pod helped to keep a center of balance when carrying the 40mm. If you had engine failure and had the 40mm cannon on the nose you stood little chance of auto rotation and would go down nose first, the big pods helped keep you in a controllable state. Without hydraulics it took two hands to fly the Huey so a lot of things were matched up to compensate for things that were not doable. Some of the units had no paintings it was all up to the battalion commanders whether to allow it or not. Also the M-60s in the gunships were allowed to not have the cords keeping it from falling out of the gunners hands according to the battalion commanders. My battalion never had any set rules for gunners. Seat belts were there but never worn, it is a very tight space to sit and usually you had to stand outside a bit to be able to see your 6 and have a good field of fire, in a steep turn you had to be careful to not shoot up your own main rotors because the angles were extreme and the blade tips would come down to your visual path when you were shooting. The left side was bad about throwing brass up into the tail rotor and it would ding them up pretty bad, the left seat usually got hot brass down his back if the crew chief wasn't watching what he was doing when firing, he could also throw brass over the right side if he was at inside angles. I didn't have to worry about all that just the blade angle. I felt very comfortable standing outside on the pylon because I could see a very large area. The G forces were strong enough it would be hard to fall off when you had your back to the ship. It was a strange job ! There were times when gunners or crew chiefs accidentally shot up their own mini guns. The mini gun killed a lot of us, it would get old and worn out and not eject the last round after firing. You had to make absolutely sure no one was standing in front of the guns while you were unloading and cleaning. Some had those steel tube guards you would slide over the guns when on the ground, but I saw only two pair in my two companies, they were not practical when you had to run out at night and get off the ground plus they weighted more than the mM-60s . I think a lot of that stuff got accidentally lost if you know what I mean.
Like this, is what you were talking about standing outside on a pylon, right? Hollywood never gets things right IMO, we find out on our own, and some never know the truth. Pretty smart as you said, they balance things out in a smart way, to make things work. A module, having no power, and y'all having to run, then jump in once it's up is really something.
I had a good web buddy on another site named Venom Jockey, his had blades on the back too. He was a heli pilot.