4.7 average based on 3 product ratings. The platform is the top of the elevator shaft for the building and was not Thank you for your Service and Insight! I have posted your reply to Steve on here so he will be able to read it. through mini-reunions (local get togethers) throughout the year and through the Internet In Vietnam, pilots frequently encountered fog and monsoon rain, which severely tested their blind flying skills. I think that some of us changed for the better, but some of us did not. Age 75 to 79 --------$100.00 EVERYTHING I NEEDED TO KNOW IN LIFE I LEARNED AS A HELICOPTER PILOT IN VIETNAM. Vietnam seldom flew above 1,500 feet which is traffic pattern altitude for In retrospect, I think that is what happened to one of the pilots in our unit a few months after I left. The average infantryman in the South Pacific during World War II saw about 40 days of combat in four years. The domino theory was accurate. After the first of the two injured soldiers was hoisted on board, the din of the covering fire began to register in my head. [People]. d.. . VHPA and encourage all eligible individuals to become members. designed as a helipad. It would instantly cut the cable should any part of the lift apparatus get snagged in the trees or in any other emergency situation. Translation: There are bad guys all around, weve got wounded, get in here NOW before they die or we have more wounded, and you have to come back again. Phil Marshall, DMZ Dustoff 711, 237th Medical Detachment (Helicopter Ambulance) Camp Evans and Quang Tri, Vietnam 1969. So, too, can the ones addressed To Whom It May Concern. By the end of the war half of them had been lost. "The problem is that those who think the Vietnamese haven't cooperated sufficiently think there is some central repository with answers to all the lingering questions," notes Gen. John Vessey, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Reagan and Bush administration's designated representative in MIA negotiations. of what you can do online at https://www.vhpa.org/memhelp.htm#ODA, To preserve the legacy of all Vietnam Helicopter Pilots, an endowment Caicos Islands, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Vatican . webmaster@vhpa.org You will get a sense of what that was like from listening to his stories. [VHPA databases], Army UH-1's totaled more than 10,693,902 flight hours in Vietnam between October 1966 and the end of 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. The further you fly into the mountains, the louder the strange engine noises become. These men never refused to fly into harms way. Copyright 1995 - 2018 Gary B. Roush, 242 ASHC Muleskinners, May 1968 - May . You will meet and hear the stories of three U.S. Army helicopter pilots who flew missions in Vietnam in this video. That was the unforgiving part. A paid subscription is required for full access. It does not have to be war related. The third pilot is retired Col. David Rainey U.S. Army. Categories . Many times when either our troopers on the ground or another unit was facing enemy fire these brave men would come in with weapons blazing either destroying the enemy or allowing the ground troops to attain and then maintain superior fire power. In the movie We Were Soldiers and Young the Lift Pilot was portrayed by Snake and To Tall. Candidates later tackled the difficult arts of landing in small areas, night, and instrument flying crucial skills for their operational work in Southeast Asia. I suppose that is what kept most of us going in the daily risk of flying helicopters in combat in Vietnam. trina daughter instagram 97887 65581; music city drum corps staff saiservicecentre2020@gmail.com The rest of the mission went as expected with no more surprises. See also The History of the Ranch Hand Epidemiologic Investigation. al.. [All That We Can Be]. Wainwright Station Steve DaCosta, Cavalier15, June67-June68. As a group, we helicopter pilots did what we had to do and then some. Online membership $36/year subscription. It was called "shell shock" and other names in previous wars. The gunships that were escorting him told Al to put it on the ground right away because of the serious leak. [VHPA databases], Army AH-1G's totaled more than 1,166,344 flight hours in Vietnam. Average age of 58,148 killed in Vietnam was 23.11 years. 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. Hello. 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. Over the course of the war, some 12,000 helicopters of various kinds saw service in Vietnam. survive the 365 days in Southeast Asia was to be a gunship pilot, blazing my way back to the states, defending myself with mini-guns, rockets, and grenade launchers. Your email address will not be published. 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. Never have the consequences of their misunderstanding been so tragic." The UH-1 evolved from a 1955 US Army competition for a new utility helicopter. Is this the Steve DaCosta who was friend of my brother W.O. When I returned to the states later and applied for my military drivers license so I could drive the. Myth: A disproportionate number of blacks were killed in the Vietnam War. I asked to take a different test and was able to pass that one! The radioman on the ship would tell them Cleared for a port quarter approach. The silence on the radio was the proverbial pregnant pause, and I could imagine the conversation inside the Huey cockpit. No American had involvement in this incident near Trang Bang that burned Phan Thi Kim Phuc. Southeast Asia during the Vietnam era (1961-1975). The VC were surprised and soundly defeated. If we had been shot down on virtually any hoist mission, our high hover would not have allowed us to make a safe landing, and many would surely have died. But as the Army would have it, during Friday night formation of the middle weekend of gun school, 24 of us, including 12 in the gun school, received orders to attend MedEvac school at Ft. Sam Houston, Texas, immediately after graduation. We HAD no survival radios in those aircraft. One point I want to make is the the Crew Chiefs and Door Gunners were the and are still the best as well. Here are some facts to clear up that poor job of reporting by the news media. 01/09/2013. The DA-4733-DSC should not be confused with the much more common DA-4734-GSTT (Gunship Sized Tiny Testicles), where other pilots made up for their lack of size with big guns and big wrist watches. I think I can make it back! was his last message as the aircraft caught fire, rolled inverted and crashed in flames, killing all on board. In fact, not at all, since we usually flew with the doors open, even at night. 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%). It was a small price to pay for the successful completion of our daily rescues. 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. Even the AP photographer, Nick Ut, who took the picture was Vietnamese. 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. Larry Clark and Mike Law in 1990. In order to be Old and Wise, one must first be young and stupid. Overview and forecasts on trending topics, Industry and market insights and forecasts, Key figures and rankings about companies and products, Consumer and brand insights and preferences in various industries, Detailed information about political and social topics, All key figures about countries and regions, Market forecast and expert KPIs for 600+ segments in 150+ countries, Insights on consumer attitudes and behavior worldwide, Business information on 60m+ public and private companies, Detailed information for 35,000+ online stores and marketplaces. The VHPA publishes six on 29 April 1975 from UPI's offices on the top floor of the Saigon Hotel which Add to that, it is also the most unforgiving mission flown in a helicopter. A Huey pilot later with the 229th Assault Helicopter Battalion (AHB) at Pleiku, recalled one student who, flush with success after his first solo, decided to see what it was like in the empty instructors seat, but knew he would have to change back to land. That was us giving you covering fire! he replied. Myth: Most American soldiers were addicted to drugs, guilt-ridden about their role in the war, and deliberately used cruel and inhumane tactics. Then I did another Young & Stupid thing. The second pilot you will meet is retired CWO2 Allan Potter. historical reference directories, CD-ROMs and DVDs. History of the founding of the VHPA written by No Pilot that I know of ever went into a combat situation without both. $99) To contact the magazine editor aviator@vhpa.org. The cables going out . Drinking and how not to get caught. . Age 65 to 69 --------$250.00 no, seven! . And the answer is: There IS none! Sure, we had a compass and an Automatic Direction Finder, but in the event of an engine failure on the way to the hospital ship, this would have probably been my emergency call. There is a reason why these medevac pilots were called our angels in the sky. We who fought the enemy face to face on the ground, whether infantry or recon, knew that if we were wounded, these guys would do anything necessary, face any danger the enemy could present, to get us out of hell and back to the care we needed. Information contained herein shall not be used for commercial May 18, 2021. 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. Thank you for your service. Walking is better than running. Membership is open to all helicopter pilots who flew in volunteers. The terms Protective Armor and Helicopter are mutually exclusive. (So I guess that makes three Young and Stupids. Published by on October 31, 2021. We always at least tried to complete the mission and felt that we let someone down if we didnt. All through flight school, we were taught by gun pilots, slick drivers, scout pilots (although not as many of the scout pilots, they had a high loss ratio), and oh, yes, ONE Dustoff pilot. [Burkett]. The most common ethnicity of helicopter pilots is White (86.8%), followed by Hispanic or Latino (6.8%) and Unknown (2.4%). I have got to pass this on to an Aussie friend of mine, Ian. Flying is better than walking. . Over the ten years of the war, Operation Ranch Hand sprayed about eleven million gallons of Agent Orange on the South Vietnamese landscape. 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. 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. 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. I am so very proud to have served with them. They also acted as medical evacuation helicopter pilots when needed. Click here to view the US Army educational video, "A Day in the Life of a Helicopter Pilot," circa 1967. hostile fire exposure versus battle area exposure. From 1965, around 99 percent of each completed class of students were sent to Vietnam. How could we lose a war we had already stopped fighting? member. Access to this and all other statistics on 80,000 topics from, Show sources information Americans who deliberately killed civilians received prison sentences while Communists who did so received commendations. As an elevator at the reunion hotel was transporting me and other attendees to the Saturday night banquet, another Dustoff pilot stepped on from his floor. ), Once out to sea, landing on the ships was an interesting experience, especially when the decks were bouncing up and down like a fishing bobber with a carp under it. 2/3 of the men who served in Vietnam were volunteers. The average age of an employed helicopter pilot is 44 years old. [Online]. Required fields are marked *. Flag, John A. Jelich, Wisconsin, Cecelia Jelich Frost, Killed in Action, Rosary, KIA, Gold Star Family, Gold Star Wife. years. Use Ask Statista Research Service. But come look for us, will ya? 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. Damn Navy talk! The hospital ship would then radio to the helicopter again, Just come in from the left and land to the back of the boat. It always got an immediate Roger!. 5.5% of all helicopter pilots are women, while 94.5% are men. is passed from outgoing President to incoming President at each reunion. 20002023 The Veterans Site and GreaterGood. "The aviation units were the sole combat element of the U.S. Army that did not come. Isolated atrocities committed by American soldiers produced torrents of outrage from antiwar critics and the news media while Communist atrocities were so common that they received hardly any attention at all. Decisions made by someone above you in the chain-of-command will seldom be in your best interest. The Army employed it in various roles, including that of an armed escort or attack gunship in Vietnam. Congress while the North Vietnamese were very well supplied by China and the 66 founding members. There were no Americans involved in any capacity. It required every skill we had. confidential. to Europe and both have since died. 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