If you ask people who live in these countries that won the war in Vietnam, they have a different opinion from the American news media. UH-1 Huey Gunship Vs NVA/VC Forces Vietnam 1962-75 is published by Osprey and is available to order here. Thanks for posting the memories. Vietnam Veterans are less likely to be in prison - only 1/2 of one percent of Vietnam Veterans have been jailed for crimes. (Westmoreland quoting Douglas Pike, a professor at the University of California, Berkley a renowned expert on the Vietnam War) [Westmoreland] This included Tet 68, which was a major military defeat for the VC and NVA. [VHPA databases], Army AH-1G's totaled more than 1,166,344 flight hours in Vietnam. a31 road closure alton; cdw insurance for rental cars; hygro cotton bath towels; Hello world! VHPA Aviator (big file). Business Solutions including all features. am.. Do not fear the enemy, for your enemy can only take your life. h.. (So I guess that makes three Young and Stupids. Even though I had yet to fly my first hour of combat, I had already done many incredible things that my high school and college friends could not even dream of. Reunion dates and locations have been announced for the following units: The latest quarterly issue has the agenda and registration details for Vietnam War conference scheduled for March 2-4, 2023 that will focus on the year 1973: The Paris Peace Accords and the Allied Withdrawal from South Vietnam Also included are updates on the Oral History Project and volunteer opportunities.Stay in touch and help us preserve your legacy. It was finally time to find out if we had the gonads to be combat helicopter pilots. You only have access to basic statistics. [Nixon] No More Vietnams by Richard Nixon. We risked much in a totally dark valley that night, and there was no doubt that someone appreciated us. Myth: Kim Phuc, the little nine year old Vietnamese girl running naked from the napalm strike near Trang Bang on 8 June 1972, was burned by Americans bombing Trang Bang. He fell right through the rotor blades. They could rotate around a battle site from above, unleashing punishing weapon support from above. They also acted as the means of supply of ammunitions, equipment and food. When you crash, well try to recover your bodies. By 1967, 600 pilots were being graduated per month. VHPA Aviator magazine I wanted that top 20% and focused all my abilities and energy on making gunship training. advertising and other information. No matter what the enemy threw at them, they never backed down. ac.. Running out of pedal, fore or aft cyclic, or collective are all bad ideas. War is brutal and not fair. [The Wall Street Journal]. 5 Stars . One point I want to make is the the Crew Chiefs and Door Gunners were the and are still the best as well. Would love to chat with Bruce Huffman. the following purposes: To enhance and accredit the cohesiveness, esprit de corps, and traditions of valor of information contained in this publication shall not be distributed to non-VHPA Both immigrated dont care. The night I was wounded, my new co-pilot Don Study put us right on the deck, but all the while I had visions of my first 30-foot hover when I was a Funny New Guyan FNG. Those Hueys were their horses and they rode into battle en masse, to deliver their troops and evacuate the wounded. I logged 205 hours in Flight Training. An automobile accident or other traumatic event also can cause it. A little more than 12 days later, Operation Chopper commenced. Or, to hear veteran helicopter pilots describe their personal experiences in the line of duty, click here. g.. I found a can of olive drab (OD) spray paint and . . In action, gunships sometimes left their lights on for night missions, for according to another Huey pilot, We had a doctrine that wed rather have the enemy shoot at the gunship than at the lesser armed slicks.. You need at least a Starter Account to use this feature. The terms Protective Armor and Helicopter are mutually exclusive. Then you can access your favorite statistics via the star in the header. It [VHPA 1993] Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association 1993 Membership Directory page 130. Okay, so the Hueys were extremely reliable, and I still love those incredible machines, but for the moment let us discuss navigation equipment on a Huey. "We (Americans) had nothing to do with controlling VNAF," according to Lieutenant General (Ret) James F. Hollingsworth, the Commanding General of TRAC at that time. historical reference directories, CD-ROMs and DVDs. The last American troops departed in their entirety 29 March 1973. I already knew the difference between port and starboard, and it wasnt that hard to figure out beam and quartering approaches. Flying is better than walking. how to unhide mouse cursor windows 10; In the Vietnam War the helicopter became one of the most important elements in the daily operations of our war fighting successes. During his two tours in Vietnam, Col. Moore flew 2,752 combat medevac mission and transported 2,952 wounded men back to the medical help they needed. I am so very proud to have served with them. Parameters for authorizing operating a US Navy submarine reactor plant above practicable design limits is Read More, Additionally, 1.3 million of those five million flight hours were accomplished during combat. It was a rare breed of man whobecame a Scout Pilot. u.. Everybodys a hero on the ground in the club after the fourth drink. and flew his bird to the top of Monkey Mountian. All of these, however, are better than extraction by Medavac, even if it is technically, a form of flying. In retrospect, I think that is what happened to one of the pilots in our unit a few months after I left. Tactics such as pinnacle landing on top of steep hills, slopes, and karst outcrops amid destabilizing downdraughts to deliver heavy supplies to US Army firebases and outposts while under enemy fire were also tackled. Most Agent Orange contained .0002 of 1 percent of dioxin. directory for dues current members. There were no Americans involved in any capacity. m.. No matter what you do, the bullet with your name on it will get you. af.. He dropped to the deck a couple miles out and then screamed up the hill at 120 knots and tree top level, trying to sneak in past the enemy. The average age for helicopter pilots in Vietnam was in the area of 22 years as I recall. Innocent people get killed. confidential. It can be expressed in its mathematical formula of S (suction) + H (height) above ground) + I (interest in staying alive) + T (# of tracers coming your way). Knowing that my depth perception left little margin for error on the night approaches (especially), I had to totally concentrate on what I was doing and not relax for a second until we were down on that rockin and rollin ship. ad.. Being scared in the sense of risking ones life for others, for sure, but also a sense of being scared that you will not be up to the standards of your fellow pilots. nfl open tryouts 2022 dates; liste des parc de maison mobile en floride; running 5k everyday for a month before and after; girls who code summer immersion program 5.5% of all helicopter pilots are women, while 94.5% are men. We fought to an agreed stalemate. I used to laugh at the occasional Huey slick driver who flew out to let guys from his unit use the shopping facilities on the ships. reunion. During a hoist mission, we flew with one finger on a button on the cyclic stick that operated an electric solenoid. In closing, I would merely like to state that I am able to write this today in large part because of luck whole lot of GOOD luck and a little bit of good humor. November 14th, 2013 at 5:45 pm Dave Shannon (crewmember, 92nd AHC) Says: I always liked the subdued look of combat zone attire, as opposed to anything shiny or glittery. The rest of the mission went as expected with no more surprises. "Pogo" Hunter who died in 1995. THE UNITED STATES DID NOT LOSE THE WAR IN VIETNAM, THE SOUTH VIETNAMESE A hoist mission was just the opposite. Thank you for your service. [VHPA 1993], The helicopter provided unprecedented mobility. I graduated from Flight Training 2 day short of a year. Although many of them had experience of fixed wing aircraft, very different challenges lay ahead when it came to learning the sophisticated, coordinated control techniques required for rotary wing flying. Were about five miles out. Five miles out from where? Company pick-up truck, I was told I didnt pass the depth perception portion of the eye test and would not be issued the license. In addition to an annual reunion held around July 4th, members keep in touch informally A constant line of chatter was transmitted from the medic and the Crew Chief to the pilots, who were both on the flight controls in case either was violently incapable of continuing to fly the aircraft. In fact, after the 5-year post-service period, the rate of suicides is less in the Vietnam veterans' group." Access to this and all other statistics on 80,000 topics from, Show sources information Refining close formation skills was an immediate requirement, as airborne assaults could involve a tight gaggle of up to 40 helicopters, including ten gunships. While there are still officially more than 2,200 cases, there now are only 55 incidents of American servicemen who were last seen alive but aren't accounted for. We especially were concerned about the troops we were there to support. r.. The initial Army designation was HU-1, which led to the common unofficial nickname of Huey.. In Vietnam, pilots frequently encountered fog and monsoon rain, which severely tested their blind flying skills. "The CDC Vietnam Experience Study Mortality Assessment showed that during the first 5 years after discharge, deaths from suicide were 1.7 times more likely among Vietnam veterans than non-Vietnam veterans. The tactical situation is such that the ground troops cannot get the dead or wounded to a secure open area for evacuation. "Average age of active pilots in the United States from 2002 to 2020, by category*." [McCaffrey], Vietnam veterans have a lower unemployment rate than our non-vet age group. Army Flight School was about 9 months long, this was the shortest calendar time. While it may be possible to ward off this natural event some of the time, it cannot, despite the best efforts of the crew, always be prevented. years. The pilots and crews of these helicopters were heroes, one and all. Myth: The media have reported that suicides among Vietnam veterans range from 50,000 to 100,000 - 6 to 11 times the non-Vietnam veteran population. I asked to take a different test and was able to pass that one! The average infantryman in Vietnam saw about 240 days of combat in one year thanks to the mobility of the helicopter Warrant Officer Shelly Berryman flew Huey helicopters in Vietnam War But it also exposed American servicemen and women to a chemical that now has them dying on average 13 years earlier than their counterparts who did not serve in . As soon as this statistic is updated, you will immediately be notified via e-mail. The cables going out . . PO Box 8091 l.. Please support The Veterans Site by adding us to your ad blockers whitelist ads help us to provide food and supplies to veterans. through mini-reunions (local get togethers) throughout the year and through the Internet Vietnam seldom flew above 1,500 feet which is traffic pattern altitude for He was an Air Cav pilot, delivering and evacuating troops into and out of battlefields. After that initial post-service period, Vietnam veterans were no more likely to die from suicide than non-Vietnam veterans. In the last decade, 69 nations have held multi-party elections for the first time in their histories. From a military standpoint, it was almost an unprecedented performance. We grabbed some unsuspecting Schmuck and told him to get his weapon and some ammo and run with us to the aircraft. If you are allergic to lead, it is best to avoid a war zone. q.. Having all your body parts intact and functioning at the end of the day beats the alternative. "No event in American history is more misunderstood than the Vietnam War. [Nixon], The Vietnam War has been the subject of thousands of newspaper and magazine articles, hundreds of books, and scores of movies and television documentaries. Oh, Sugar! (Not my exact word.) The most incredible, dangerous, high pucker factor, exhilarating thing a man can do with a helicopter is to pull an insecure hoist mission, day or night. . f.. One guy was 19, while the oldest (not counting our Commanding Officer) was the 28-year-old XO, Army slang for the second in command, Executive Officer. The American military was not defeated in Vietnam. Then I did another Young & Stupid thing. As a Premium user you get access to the detailed source references and background information about this statistic. That knocked the rotor blades off and the TH-55 went in., Successful candidates then progressed to the Contact Phase at Knox Army Heliport, Fort Rucker, for specific training on the UH-1B, C, and D, followed by the Tactics Phase at nearby Lowe Army Helioport, which prepared them for realistic combat conditions. The average age (according to General William C. Westmoreland before the Third Annual Reunion of the Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association (VHPA) at the Washington, DC Hilton Hotel on July 5th, 1986) was 26 The average man who fought in World War II was 26 years of age. . Copyright 1995 - 2018 Gary B. Roush, 242 ASHC Muleskinners, May 1968 - May Click here to view the US Army educational video, "A Day in the Life of a Helicopter Pilot," circa 1967. The best of the best: the portal for top lists & rankings: Strategy and business building for the data-driven economy: Industry-specific and extensively researched technical data (partially from exclusive partnerships). sent to webmaster@vhpa.org whereupon On one particularly difficult night MedEvac in the mountains, all our windows fogged up as we dropped from 7,000 feet through a hole in the clouds to pick up a Soldier with a head wound. [Houk]. By the end of the war half of them had been lost. Any combination of these can be deadly. When I found out that I was assigned to be a MedEvac pilot, I was devastated. Information contained herein shall not be used for commercial time than any other aircraft in the history of warfare assuming you count actual $36/year subscription. I enlisted in the (WOFT) Warrant Officer Flight Training. [Parade Magazine]. [McCaffrey] Speech by Lt. Gen. Barry R. McCaffrey, (reproduced in the Pentagram, June 4, 1993) assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to Vietnam veterans and visitors gathered at "The Wall", Memorial Day 1993. Mailing Address: [Nixon] Atrocities - every war has atrocities. [1996 Information Please Almanac] 1995 Information Please Almanac Atlas & Yearbook 49th edition, Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston & New York 1996, pages 117, 161 and 292. come right . You will get a clear sense of what they were up against and how they conducted themselves. He he he he . Warrant Officer Candidates (WOCs) then progressed to Fort Rucker, Alabama, or, from 1967, Hunter Army Airfield at Fort Stewart, Georgia, for advanced flight training and instrument flight instruction. a colleague is looking for a helicopter pilot nicknamed chicken man, who spent some time around Solid Anchor in about 1971. When the Army decided to use helicopters as the Eyes, Protection and Horses of the 1st Cavalry Division, men both young and older were chosen to become pilots. Is that AM or FM? The Vietnam Helicopter Flight Crew Network (VHFCN) is a non profit veterans organization dedicated to the fulfillment of the following purposes: To provide a forum for recreational communications amongst a fraternity of aircrew members who served in Vietnam during the period 1961-75 At the conclusive battle of the war (the Fall of Saigon), the . [People]. Operation Chopper occurred on 12 January 1962 and was the first time U.S. forces participated in major combat in the Vietnam War. No matter what the make up of the team was they flew in helicopters that were made with the intention of dispensing a superior amount of fire power on the enemy. It is far better that you fear the media, for they will steal your HONOR. Without his heroic actions that day we, the Grunts, would have been in severe situation as we were running out of food, ammo and our radio batteries were almost dead. godfrey funeral homes; pierre engvall giraffe; Warrant Officer-1 Al Gaddis was a tall, curly haired kid as I remember him. [McCaffrey] You will meet and hear the stories of three U.S. Army helicopter pilots who flew missions in Vietnam in this video. ab.. Thousands of Vietnam Veterans earned medals for bravery every day. That was us giving you covering fire! he replied. The additional weight of patients on the end of the hoist as they were lifted off the ground further complicated the stability of the aircraft. (Although 58,169 names are in the Nov. 93 database, only 58,148 have both event date and birth date. As well as prepping an LZ ahead of the slicks, gunship pilots could also warn crews flying troop carriers of threat areas, and advise them of enemy guns to avoid as they lifted out of the LZ. o.. Many men volunteered for the draft so even some of the draftees were actually Uh, thats a can opener for those of you who arent military. While in themselves those landings were not stupid, the way we got there was! Three of the five newest democracies are former Soviet republics: Belarus (where elections were first held in November 1995), Armenia (July 1995) and Kyrgyzstan (February 1995). . It was NOT the U.S. Embassy. I did well enough to make the school, along with about 25 of my classmates. [People]. They were Kim's cousins not her brothers. It took all of our skill and luck to avoid flying into the valley walls as we stuck our heads out the windows to find our way to the LZ without balling up the helicopter. With the patient finally on board, the Radio Operator with the ground unit Rogered our departure message with a Thanks a HELL of a lot, Dustoff!. . We must now hover over the trees or rocky terrain, while we let out up to 150 feet of quarter-inch cable with a jungle penetrator or a Stokes litter attached to it. Without the helicopter it would have taken three times as many troops to secure the 800 mile border with Cambodia and Laos (the politicians thought the Geneva Conventions of 1954 and the Geneva Accords or 1962 would secure the border) [Westmoreland], Approximately 12,000 helicopters saw action in Vietnam (all services). Values are as of December 31 each year. website may contain information that VHPA considers proprietary and 20002023 The Veterans Site and GreaterGood. Owned and operated by CharityUSA.com, LLC. We still got there in a hurry, but once there, we hovered over the trees like a target at the County Fair 25-cent target-shooting booth. [1996 Information Please Almanac], There were almost twice as many casualties in Southeast Asia (primarily Cambodia) the first two years after the fall of Saigon in 1975 then there were during the ten years the U.S. was involved in Vietnam. . it will be forwarded to the appropriate VHPA representative. In the movie We Were Soldiers and Young the Lift Pilot was portrayed by Snake and To Tall. You will get a sense of what that was like from listening to his stories. Another tradition started in 1988 is a "Cobra" The death squads focused on leaders at the village level and on anyone who improved the lives of the peasants such as medical personnel, social workers, and schoolteachers. We all volunteered to do something that only a year or two before we could not have even dreamed that we would be doingsomething that only a very few could ever experience; something for which only a very few could even qualify. Average age of 58,148 killed in Vietnam was 23.11 years. Rarely have so many people been so wrong about so much. Whether they took hits at this time or not is speculation, but he tried another tactic. See an example of our magazine, The I have no idea who he was, but we logged his flight time as PP: Patient Protector.. Only a few privileged people, other than the crew members themselves, know an obscure fact that there were actually three seats in the cockpit of a Dustoff helicopter, rather than two seats, as mounted in all other Hueys. Servicemen who went to Vietnam from well-to-do areas had a slightly elevated risk of dying because they were more likely to be pilots or infantry officers. Hello. As he entered the crowded car, he said, Ballroom, please.. The others on board simply assumed he was also headed for dinner, but I knew the true meaning of his statement. They were the ones who flew the troops into and out of battle. average age of vietnam helicopter pilot. [People], The person who can be seen aiding the refugees was CIA operations officer, Mr. O.B. They will always be our heroes, our Angels in the Sky.. As a group, we helicopter pilots did what we had to do and then some. When they saw one flying balls out, they knew it was a Dustoff on an urgent mission. It wasnt easy, and I will now confess that my depth perception almost was not good enough to pass my initial flight physical, but I made it. We were an easier target during the day, but unlike at night when we kept all the lights off, we could see what we were doing! The Vietnamese pilot who dropped the napalm in error is currently living in the United States. Burkett and Glenna Whitley, Verity Press, Inc., Dallas, TX, 1998. . [VHPA databases]. Joe Treen, People.com, 21 April 2000. In September of 68 1LT Bruce Huffman had his crew disembark fron his ship and had it loaded with ammo, C-rations and batteries for the radio. Thanks for the memories. I dont think so. From 1965, around 99 percent of each completed class of students were sent to Vietnam. Maybe we could have used our survival radio once we were in the water or forced down over the jungle. Harnage, . We always at least tried to complete the mission and felt that we let someone down if we didnt. We will never forget you, or the sound of your rotor blades off in the distance, coming to our aid. [McCaffrey], 87% of the American people hold Vietnam Vets in high esteem. If everything is as clear as a bell, and everything is going exactly as planned, youre about to be surprised. How to get a day off of work or which college offers the best ability to party. I have got to pass this on to an Aussie friend of mine, Ian. Later, the crew became a two-man pilot team. . We are now Older and Wiser, and for that I am very thankful. Scientific research has shown that dioxin degrades in sunlight after 48 to 72 hours; therefore, troops exposure to dioxin was infinitesimal. Flight training was preceded by grueling infantry instruction at Fort Dix, New Jersey, and Fort Polk, Louisiana, where recruits, predominantly volunteers, learned through Basic Combat Training that they were primarily soldiers, with a secondary role as helicopter crew members. As a result, less than one percent of all Americans wounded who survived the first 24 hours died. [2]:4, On 15 April 1962 the United States Marine Corps began Operation Shufly, the rotating deployment of Marine helicopter squadrons, associated maintenance units and air traffic control detachments to South Vietnam to improve the mobility of ARVN forces. Have you ever heard the expression, He was flying the aircraft balls out? That was us. Based on the data, more than 30% of the current for-hire pilots fall within the age range of 50 to 64. Crew Members Association http://vhcma.org/. of 21 year old Scotch purchased in 1971 by Brian Novak one of the original Two high ranking Trainees (known as candidates) then commenced the nine month long US Army Primary Helicopter School course at Fort Wolters, Texas, where they endured some extremely robust Preflight training as potential warrant officers. Most of our Door Gunners and Crew Chiefs were also 18-21 years old. As they entered a one year combat tour, many pilots heard the ominous rumor that the average life expectancy of a US Army Aviator helicopter pilot in combat was only 19 minutes. It is There is only one rule in war: When you win, you get to make up the "In all the years we've been working on this we have found that's not the case." I just tapped him gently on the shoulder and whispered, Hey, Buddy, Im as far back in the elevator as I can get now. I knew what he was really saying. In UH-1C gunnies, a pilot had to master taking off with a 1,000lb overload, persuade the aircraft to hover at an altitude of just three feet, and then dip the nose slightly to achieve forward movement basically skidding and bouncing along the runway to develop enough speed and lift to rise higher. b.. Normally, one has to push a button to talk over the intercom in a military aircraft, but on a hoist mission, we turned it to hot mikes, because we all needed our hands for other things. When I returned to the states later and applied for my military drivers license so I could drive the. . Never have the consequences of their misunderstanding been so tragic." Online membership who is now retired in Arizona. It was called "shell shock" and other names in previous wars. 66 founding members. They could often see what we could not and helped keep the enemy off of us and to even the odds for us, so to speak. The Indonesians threw the Soviets out in 1966 because of America's commitment in Vietnam. XV, Issue VII. webmaster@vhpa.org I will always thank Warrant Officer Study for his late-night, picture-perfect landing on the round end of the boat. pilots in the Vietnam War. Age 60 to 64 --------$350.00 Your email address will not be published. They gave us classes on what altitudes to fly to avoid certain types of enemy fire small arms or 0.51 cal. In 2009, the US Congress changed the mandatory age of retirement of airline pilots from 60 to 65 in a bid to solve the pilot shortage problem. Americans who deliberately killed civilians received prison sentences while Communists who did so received commendations. The most common ethnicity of helicopter pilots is White (82.0%), followed by Hispanic or Latino (6.8%), Unknown (5.5%) and Asian (2.7%). Mayday, Mayday, Mayday, Dustoff 7-1-1, were going down over the sea. The biggest responsibility of a helicopter pilot was to fly that helicopter in such a manner as to provide support for the men on the ground. Phil Marshall, DMZ Dustoff 711, 237th Medical Detachment (Helicopter Ambulance) Camp Evans and Quang Tri, Vietnam 1969. Provide food and supplies to veterans at The Veterans Site for free! ag.. They were utterly selfless and courageous warriors on our behalf. The Air Cav was just what the name implies. Those brief and simple heartfelt words meant more to me that night than anything else ever said to me during my entire tour. Myth: The war was fought largely by the poor and uneducated. He was an assault helicopter pilot, in other words a gunship pilot. Event date is used instead of declared dead date for some of those who were listed as missing in action). The Naval Air Training Command, located at Pensacola, Florida, could not train enough Marine helicopter pilots to bring the units in Vietnam up to strength.
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