| Preparation Phase | Prior to Jan 29, 1971 |
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| Phase I | 29 Jan - 8 Feb, 1971 |
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| Phase II | 8 Feb - 6 Mar, 1971 |
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| Afterwards | ||||||||||||
| Glossary | Info Links |
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Most published histories divide Lam Son 719 into four phases with the first starting on 29 January when U.S. Army ground units would begin reopening and securing Route 9 and reoccuping Khe Sanh as a forward supply base. The "Preparation Phase" section of this VHPA history attempts to describe the preparation and relocation activities of the helicopter units that supported this operation.
As outlined in Into Laos, the planning for Dewey Canyon II and Lam Son 719 was a carefully guarded secret and only a few individuals knew what was really being planned. VHPA member Ed Strazzini provides a description of how the planning was carried out:
From July 1970 through July 1971, I flew CH-54As, the Flying Crane, for the 478th Aviation Company (Heavy Helicopter). The company headquarters was located in Camp Viking at Red Beach just north of DaNang. Our aviation maintenance platoon was located several miles away at a site called Freedom Hill. At this time we were attached to the 159th Assault Support Helicopter Battalion, headquartered at Phu Bai, which was part of the 101st Airborne Division (Airmobile). We supported units of the 101st and any other I Corps Army, Air Force, Marine, Navy, and ARVN unit as coordinated through XXIV Corps headquarters at Camp Love near China Beach. One morning in mid-January, while serving as the Operations Officer for the 478th, I was contacted by COL John Mason, the XXIV Corps Engineer Officer, who asked me to meet with him and the CO of the 45th Engineer Brigade as soon as I could. We met that afternoon in the brigade CO's office which had recently located into the former Seabee compound adjacent to Camp Viking. For about an hour I briefed them on the capabilities of our Flying Cranes. Specifically they appeared to be interested in our ability to airlift and position steel bridge sections. One such section I recall weighed about 12,000 pounds and spanned about 30 feet. Their questions also focused on our capability to hover and lower a bridge section along roadways and trails adjacent to steeply rising terrain. At the conclusion of the briefing, COL Mason accompanied me to my jeep. As I had been his pilot in the 24th Engineer Group in Germany, I took the opportunity to inquire as to when we might expect to fly such a bridge lift mission. "You know the Vietnamese New Year is coming up soon," he replied, "and historically this has been a time of expanded hostilities; we just want to be prepared; we don't have anything in particular in mind at this time." Nothing extraordinary happened involving bridges during Tet of 1971. However, three weeks after visiting with COL Mason, I, along with four other CH-54 ACs and a large number of 159th ASHB pilots, were in a Phu Bai briefing room learning how we would participate in an operation named Dewey Canyon II.
LTC Bob Molinelli was the CO of the 101st Airborne's Air Cavalry Squadron, the 2/17th CAV, and would be responsible for all Air Cavalry operations during Dewey Canyon II and Lam Son 719. Sadly, he passed away several years ago but VHPA member Steve Powers describes the man and some of the things they did:
Flying with the 2/17 CAV, Headquarters Troop I often flew with the C.O., LTC Bob Molinelli, on his "C&C" missions. He didn't always remember he was C&C and frequently reverted to "Little Bird" to do the scouting. Not being a little bird we took numerous hits, and on two occasions a few too many. Funny, but it seemed to please him for he really was leading his troops and this was his proof. The A Shau Valley was part of our A.O., and in the valley there were elk and pigs. Being from Montana, COL. Molinelli was a hunter and he wanted a pig but we could never herd one into the open. The elk were easy, a few concussion grenades and they would be out of the foliage and into the clear where the gunner would down him with his 60. Sitting there while the crew chief tied the elk to the skid all I could think of was a spider hole opening up and the making of another war story for the other side. Then we would fly back lopsided, these are some large animals and if anybody had done a lateral C.G. in those days we sure would have been way out. Hovering at Saber the chief would cut the trophy off the skid, load it on a mule and take it to the TOC where the colonel would hand it on the squadron sign post and skin it himself. The elk was good for a number of meals for the troop and a few "Cav nights" at the "Club". Hunting elk in the Valley was only one of a number of "non standard maneuvers" he practiced. Another was mounting rocket pods on his C&C ship so he could find and mark his own targets; WP on one side, nails on the other. On occasion finding and marking was not good enough. He also would sling mogas, drop it on bunkers, then swing around and light it with the WP. These practices seem off the wall, but Col. Molinelli was one of those guys that truly DID what he asked of his people. You owe a colonel respect for his rank, Col. Molinelli paid for his on most every flight he made in the AO. A few years back the big C&C called in "Cheyenne Phantom", but he'll still be around in war stories that will only get better the older we get. (Col. Molinelli's call sign "Cheyenne Phantom" came from his test flight days in the Cheyenne Helicopter program.) Speaking of war stories - my first day in the Cav should have been a hint as to what was to come. I showed up on Scabbard Pad at Camp Eagle late on a Sunday afternoon about as green as they come. Nothing but the TOC was open, I couldn't even sign into the unit. WO Frank Beckham showed up and gave me the new guy tour of the troop area. At some point he must have mentioned he was flying stand-by nighthawk that night it didn't mean anything to me until he got scrambled. His co-pilot was drunk. He also had all his flight gear on the club's ready board, including his extra, extra small helmet and something called a "chicken plate". New guys don't know anything. Right now I was the new nighthawk co-pilot. (I still hate night flights.) Co-pilot? Maybe right seat ballast would be more accurate. Well here we go, she's all run up with no checklist, pulling pitch with no conversation and me still trying to fit into this thimble of a helmet. Who could possibly listen to all three of those radios and where the Hell are some lights or orientation? OH - That's what instruments are for! And me with a TAC ticket, I can barely spell VOR.... We found the right area and now there were lights all over the place, our search light, the mini guns almost animated snaking streams of light reaching for the ground, another first for me, and little bits of light coming our way! More first. Now I wasn't just a bystander, I had completed my transition into a scared participant and stayed that way for the rest of the year. When the night's events in the A.O. let up and we went "home" I was in for more firsts. We found some "good size" holes in the ship and I was informed that my "cherry had been busted". At the club the tradition was to drink Flaming Mother f%#&ers to celebrate this first. Since I had not signed into the unit yet and it being my first mission a few thought it appropriate to christen me "the whore". Thinking back there were many more firsts to come, Elephant Valley, A Shau Valley, Khe Sanh, Lam Son 719 and Laos. Late in '70 I flew a photo mission into Laos along a highway to a city named Chepone. Little did I know it was part of the planning of Lam Son 719. The movie camera was mounted like a minigun, when locked in it would take pictures of whatever we flew over. When we found something, the camera operator would unlock the camera and photo it as we held a pattern around it. As Lam Son became bogged down and we started to finish up, I noted we never did make it to that city - maybe it wasn't an objective, but then again we didn't stop the flow of troops or supplies either.
As part of the build-up to support this large operation, the 1st Avn Bde did not want too many of its assets transferred to the 101st Abn Div for several reasons. Two of its aviation battalions (the 14th and the 223rd) were preparing to stand-down. While the 14th Bn was an operating CAB, the 223rd was a fixed wing unit that needed a quick convertion to a CAB. Other 1st Avn Bde assets sent small detachments to Dong Ha with helicopter S-3 and S-4 experience to rebuild the 223rd. C Troop 7/17th Cav moved to Quang Tri and was attached to the 223rd Avn Bn as part of the 1st Avn Bde's contribution to this operation. At least two weeks prior to the move, C Troop had been given a warning order that they could be moving from Lane AAF near Qui Nhon.
VHPA Members Don Purser provides detailed about C/7/17th Cav:
C Troop had known for some time we would be moving our operations and maintenance bases from Lane for a temporary, but none the less extended, period of time. We were even told what to take and how to pack. Finally the orders came down and we moved to Quang Tri using both ground and air convoys. I remember putting our duffel bags in the LOHs plus our weapons but very little ammo. We were assigned a partially constructed children's hospital to live in. There was a heliopad for this hospital just off the airfield at Quang Tri. Our flight line and maintenance area was on the airfield, within walking distance from this hospital. The concrete floors, the half walls on the exterior and the wooden roof were finished but not much else. Over the next few days, C Troop would rig up a lighting system with power supplied by a generator outside, move in some cots and a little furniture, and use a water buffalo parked out front for water. It wasn't heaven, but it was better than at Khe Sanh!
19 Jan - The Department of the Army authorized the detailed plans for Operation Dewey Canyon II / Lam Son 719.
20 Jan -XXIV and I Corps completed the draft of the operations order.
21 Jan - XXIV and I Corps revised and finalized the operations order.
23 Jan - The 14th CAB's ORLL for the period ending 30 April 1971 states:
On 23 January 1971, the Battalion was notified that two assault companies and one assault support company would be redeployed in support of a tactical operation. Due to strict security measures, minimal information was made available during the planning stages, as to where, who, and for how long, these unites would be detached from the Battalion. Two days prior to the departure date, which until this time was unknown, the Company Commanders of the 71st, 174th AHC, and the 132nd ASHC were informed of their destination.
25 Jan - The 1st Bde 5th Inf (Mech) would play a key role in Dewey Canyon II. It was reinforced with a full tank battalion, an Infantry battalion and an armored cav sqdn because it was the vanguard for the push through Khe Sanh to the boarder. Into Laos gives this brigade and its Commander, BG John Hill, a VHPA member, very high marks. VHPA member Pappy Cowan provides some additional information:
I was a CW2 flight instructor at Ft. Wolters when I first met COL John Hill. He was one of my four student pilots. We often trained senior officers for the Army, indeed all services except the Air Force. John was a great person and a great soldier, easy to like. We respected each other a lot. I saw him again while he was at Rucker and I was going to CH-47 transition. He was promoted to BG and given command of the 1st Bde 5th Mech in Vietnam when I arrived at the Cam Rang Replacement Bn on my second tour. I later learned he had known I was enroute to Vietnam and had asked that I be assigned to his Bde. I didn't know this and was simply sent to this strange unit at Quang Tri. I wasn't in a very good mood. I certainly didn't want to fly chinooks and I had no idea why I was waiting in this Infantry unit's TOC. Then I heard John's voice down the hall. He came up to me and said he wanted me to be his pilot - well that changed everything and was fine with me. I remembered Quang Tri from my first tour with the 1st Cav but was shocked when I saw it again in 1970. It was a huge base - at least 2 1/2 by 2 miles! The Bde's Aviation Detachment had four Hueys and six 58s. The 58s were mostly used as couriers and liaison ships; rarely for recon. Most of the time they'd be sent to get a Bn CO for a conference. The Hueys were C&C birds. Ours had seven extra radios in the back. His aide and the CSMG always flew in the back and manned radios. John was a pilot and a real combat man. My job was to keep us from crashing into any mountains and to make certain we didn't get shot down by the artillery. We survived the artillery but did get blown away by a claymore mine once on take off after landing on QL1. It was a brand new Huey, only had 6 hours on it!! John was forever landing at strange places to look at something or talk to a tanker or whatever. He talked me into things I would never have done otherwise. Things were always exciting with John!! I had one rule - that we would never shut down in the weeds. Often he would land. He, his aide, and the CSMG would get out, then I'd go orbit and wait for his call. I remember two months before Dewey Canyon II we spent a lot of time low leveling QL9 which was serious Indian Country as far as I was concerned. I was very familiar with all this area having flown it during Tet '68 with the 229th in the 1st Cav. I remembered a lot of bad spots and here I was again landing in the same ones. Needless to say but I felt a thousand eyes on me and a hundred AK47s pointed at me. Once he landed on an old bridge. It was so tight that we could hardly open the pilot doors. Naturally, he had access to Intel that I didn't. When he gets back in the ship, he says - "Don't worry Pappy, they aren't here yet!" Many folks will tell you they were the first to open Khe Sanh. I always let them tell their story first, then I tell mine. John had taken us out to Khe Sanh early in the game. We had picked out an old revetment area and landed with a mine sweeper team. After they cleared an area, the crew and I set up the 60s as a perimeter and tarps to sleep under. We were there five nights before the armor units arrived! Into Laos mentions that John would often spend the night with one of his units. This is certainly true. Many times we'd land to a flashlight in a wide spot in the road to leave him off with a ruck and a 16. About mid-morning the next day I'd pick him up someplace else down the road. I got a lot of Huey single pilot time during that tour. After Khe Sanh was officially reoccupied I borrowed a bull dozer and dug us a proper bunker. Then I used some of my 1st Cav "training" (if you needed it and it wasn't guarded or nailed down and it would fit in a Huey; it was yours) to outfit this bunker deluxe. Once John called for the Huey and I said I'd be right there. When I landed we had to off load two 12X12 by 30 foot bridge timbers before we could go where he wanted to. He just shook his head and smiled; never said anything. John turned out to be a hell of a good Huey pilot in addition to being a top flight Brigade CO.
27 Jan - The 14th CAB's ORLL report states:
On 27 January 1971, word was received to plan to move the Battalion Headquarters and Headquarters Company. This created problems of transportation requirements, obtaining equipment that were on authorized turn in, plus coordinating the transfer of operational control of the two remaining assault companies and one assault support company over to the 123rd Aviation Battalion.
29 Jan - D day for Dewey Canyon II was 0400 hours on the 29th when armored units for the 1st Bde 5th Mech left Quang Tri for Dong Ha then turned on Route 9 to move to Vandegrift. See The Road to Khe Sanh chapter in Into Laos for details.
The 14th CAB's ORLL report states:
The morning of the 29th the Battalion Headquarters, Headquarters Company, 71st AHC, and 132nd ASHC were prepared to depart, with the 174th enroute to Chu Lai from Duc Pho. At approximately 1935 hours, the convoy departed Chu Lai, without overhead cover due to weather, and without communications for security reasons. The trip, which lasted approximately 20 hours, was made in cold raining weather. On 30 January 1971 the convoy and aircraft closed at Quang Tri. Upon arrival, the task of setting up was underway with no permanent shelter, electricity or water facilities available. The 132nd ASHC was OPCON to the 159th ASHB, 101st Airborne Division at Phu Bai.
30 Jan -The aviation units were busy supporting the infantry insertions on the flanks of the armored advance down Route 9 and with helping over the road again. VHPA member Ed Strazzini, who flew CH-54As for the 478th, continues:
The day after the briefing for the 159th ASHB ACs in Phu Bai, we flew into the logistics support site at Mai Loc to begin our mission. Eleven of the bridge sections described by COL Mason lay in parallel among tons and tons of other materials. Each one was rigged and ready for the flying cranes to airlift and emplace at the direction of engineer teams at eleven road cuts along a 17 Km segment of QL9 past Vandergrif. That morning I lifted the first bridge from Mai Loc up over the high ridge due west tracking along the Song Quang Tri river valley and put it into place at the eastern most road cut. As each section demanded precise positioning, engineers manipulated tag lines while we hovered with the load only inches off the ground and with our rotor blades only a few scant feet from the steeply rising slopes on the northern edge of the roadway. The FEs in each aircraft's aft pilot station provided the precise verbal guidance to their pilots as well as timely hoist control which enabled accurate and quick placement of these ungainly loads. When we lifted clear of a secured section, the forward elements of a seemingly endless convoy which stretched all the way back to Quang Tri, lurched forward toward Khe Sanh. Just ahead of this procession one more CH-54 settled into a hover over the next road cut while sand blasted soldiers struggled to position another section until all eleven were completed. I recall that the whole job took less two hours. The road to Khe Sanh was then open and this incredible convoy proceeded unimpeded. The three Skycranes then joined up with the other two airlifting high priority cargo from Mai Loc, Dong Ha, and Quang Tri into Kilo Sierra as it became known.
31 Jan - At 1130, Route 9 was declared open to tracked vehicles all the way to Khe Sanh. The 48th AHC moved over 300 miles to Dong Ha from Ninh Hoa in II Corps. The 14th CAB (-) became tactically operational at Quang Tri. VHPA member Cliff Whiting was TRAPS 39 during this operation and remembers:
The 48th had supported the 9th Korean Division from Ninh Hoa for a long time, so we were really new to I Corps. In the beginning it was cool, rainy, wet, and sometimes cold at Dong Ha, our new home near the DMZ. In the excitement of finding and landing at Dong Ha, two of our aircraft almost had a mid-air. Fortunately it didn't happen. The lesson was learned to always keep your eyes open - stay alert. The first night there we slep in our aircraft. Several of us borrowed ARVN bulldozers to move and dislodge soil to level areas for our tents and the construction of bunkers. The bunkers were built quickly and in haste because on the second night at Dong Ha we had five double deuce (122mm) rockets land in our compound. No one slept that night! Fear of being in a direct hit made us feel we were extremely vulnerable to disaster and death. The first week was a test of "getting ready" - tents up, sand bagging, eating C- rations, in a wall of mud. There were no showers and no latrines. However, I dug a wide ditch with a bulldozer, laid a piece of PSP across it, and everyone just did their business into one big hole. The unit did build a better latrine and a cold shower facility in the weeks to come. Everything had to be done quickly at first for immediate usage, then again for quality. Between the sand bagging in the mud, incoming mortars, and constantly building and bettering of our quarters; there was little time to relax. Even when we had a sit down minute, there was that constant harassment and fear of being hit by incoming. My basic diet for the entire Lam Son operation was warm Fanta orange sodas, C- rations, and mosquitoes. My favorite meal in those days was chicken in water. It was the only one I could eat that was decent, the rest were like dogfood.
VHPA member Dale McClure, also in the 48th AHC, remembers:
I had just returned from the states to report in to my new assignment with the 48th Assault Company. When I arrived back in country, fellow aviators would have somber faces when I expressed that I was in route to the 48th to finish out my remaining four months of tour. I had little faith in Army rumors, but upon reporting in I noted that the entire Company was packing and Major Bunting, "We need a lot of pilots like you where we are going." In the camp the rumors were rampant. Jesse Dize was confident we were going to stage a major attempt to free prisoners out of North Vietnam. Others were sure of an all out attack of the North. No one had any idea of how big or exactly what we were going to do. That evening the Major had a meeting to explain that we were headed to Dong Ha, a deserted Marine base just south of the DMZ. When you previously had been flying in the Central Highlands around Ban Me Thout, this abbreviation was not the location you desire. Usually the Army valued their $250,000 choppers and wanted them in a secure area at night. The next day we took off to the north with frequent stops to refuel the hungry Hueys (115 gallons per hour). As we stopped many other flights requested permission to refuel using the last digits of their tail number. We were instructed to use no call signs. The high command felt Charlie might get an advantage if he new where all the aviation equipment had come from. Upon hearing and seeing all the helicopters we began to realize the scope of this operation. None of us realized that the Army had this many Slicks. Gunships, Chinooks, and Cranes in country. I remember Warrant Officer Childs saying he felt this was the start of WWIII. We still had not been told exactly what we were going to do. That night we pitched a 30 x 40 Army tent and slept on the ground. Hey, we were pilots and we were supposed to have decent quarters! We continued to set up camp the next day when we were finally briefed on the invasion into Laos or Lam Son 719. Since I had just reported in, I did not fly the first day into enemy territory, but the fellow pilots that did said you can tell right where the border is as the NVA fired immediately. Needless to say the Company quickly gave me a check ride so that I could join in the fun.
1 Feb - VHPA member Ed Newton, a maintenance officer in the 48th AHC, remembers:
I received my orders to join the 48th (Bluestars / Jokers) in September, 1970. Since I was an Aviation Maintenance Officer Course (AMOC 70-21) graduate, I was assigned to the Maintenance Platoon (Hanger Rats). My responsibilities were maintenance quality control officer and maintenance test pilot. At a company formation on Jan 24, our CO MAJ Willis Bunting briefed us on a large military operation which was to take place in northern I Corps. He couldn't give us details but told us to be prepared to move to an undisclosed location for a two to three month stay. Immediately following the formation, the maintenance officers held our own meeting. We had been advised at the beginning of the month to transfer three of our best UH-1Hs to the VNAF. Additionally we were to downsize our parts inventory as the 48th was scheduled to stand down within six to eight months. CPT Winston Moore, the Service Platoon Leader, and CPT Thomas Cole, the Maintenance Platoon Leader, began to assign duties to CW2 Steve Dixon, CW2 John Wallace and myself. CPT Moore had to get all the vehicles in the motor pool into top shape for the long trek up Highway 1. He and CPT Cole also had to coordinate an airlift of some of our equipment by C-130s out of Nha Trang. We knew the operation was going to be big when we received top priority to requisition almost any equipment we needed from a huge stockyard in Nha Trang. Some of this equipment was tents, portable generators, flood lights, immersion heaters, conexes, electric and commo wire.
In the company area, we were packing our maintenance and parts manuals, spare parts, tools and even a couple of refrigerators. All the helicopters were given a quick inspection and every part that showed any wear was replaced. Some helicopters, which were near their 100 hour PE inspections, were pulled onto the ramps and the inspection was completed early. Three helicopters were assigned to the 48th from other units to replace the ones we gave to the VNAF. This gave us a total of 21 UH-1Hs (ten per flight platoon and 1 maintenance) and eight UH-1Cs. We worked hard and were ready. The move took place in three phases. The trucks left first. They were carrying the heavy equipment, avionics, tools, parts and manuals. Each truck had two or three EM riding "shot gun", armed with M16s, M60s, and M79s, wearing helmets and flak jackets. Two light fire teams from the Jokers were assigned to fly gun cover for the convoy. I recall hearing that they came under attack with small arms and RPGs at they went thru a pass north of Da Nang. The Jokers took care of the attackers. The second group left Jan 31st with half the helicopters loaded with company personnel and their TA 50 gear. The third group left the next day with the remaining helicopters and personnel. I was with the last group. It was my responsibility to make sure all the helicopters were up and flyable, repair any that broke enroute and above all leave nothing of value behind. We took off at 8 a.m., flew north along the coast in loose trail and make a number of fuel stops enroute. The trip was uneventful until the last leg. We had refueled at Quang Tri and tightened up the formation so we would look good landing at our new home, Dong Ha. Just when everything was looking good, a call came on guard "Flight of Hueys north-bound on Highway 1, make an immediate turn - you're about to enter the DMZ!"
Well flight lead, who's name will not be spoken here but who was our unit IP, made a hard right turn out over the coast. He finally found Route 9 and led us to Dong Ha. The 48th found itself in the middle of a South Vietnamese staging base for the 1st ARVN Division. The USAF had built a new aluminum plank runway and set up a GCA. It seemed C130s were landing and taking off every couple of minutes day and night. They were off loading cargo and troops for the ARVNs as well as supplies for the 48th and our new sister company on the north side of the field, the 173rd (Robinhoods / Crossbows). We were finally briefed on our mission. The 48th and a number of other helicopter companies were going to airlift the 1st ARVN Division into Laos to interdict the Ho Chi Minh trail as far west as Tcexepone. The new call sign for the slicks was "Senior Traps". The guns were also assigned a new call sign but they still called themselves the "Jokers". We set up our maintenance area near an old round concrete bunker. It rained almost every day the first week and the temps were down in the 40s. The ground turned muddy and we had to lay PSP down to set up our shops and work areas. The shops (electric, sheet metal, engine, avionics and armament) were set up in tents and conexes. Due to the hard work and ingenuity of the Maintenance Platoon EM, we were up and ready to go. Within four days, we were doing a 100 hr PE inspection on one of the UH-1Cs that flew gun cover for the truck convoy.
2 Feb - The American and ARVN units continued to move more and more equipment and troops to Khe Sanh and on past it to several large lager areas on the border.
3 Feb -VHPA member Don Purser provides the following about C/7/17th Cav:
Once the Khe Sanh base was re-established, C Troop was assigned a small area on the very northern edge of the perimeter. It was right off the active runway - only a few feet separated our aircraft parking area from the main fixed wing runway. When we got there, they had just finished clearing that section of mines and unexploded ordnance. I doubt the runway was unusable because there were many holes in it. There was wreckage and junk everywhere! It was a scary place!! Wendell Moore and I were assigned a sorry two man bunker. We put some wood from rocket boxes down to keep us off the mud, set up our cots and slept there in our sleeping bags. We were part of the perimeter defense - another scary thought! No one was happy with these living conditions so I joined several other Scouts to dig a new six man bunker. We didn't have much more space per person, but we were able to get our cots in there. I especially remember the rats that lived under the pallets on the floor - they were big as house cats!! We sandbagged our bunker walls to keep the mud in place. At night we'd "borrow" some of the asphalt covered aluminum panels from the runway for the floor and the roof. In the next day or so the engineers would replace the ones we'd "borrowed" and we couldn't get it through normal supply channels, so what the heck. We put the aluminum panels on the sandbagged walls, then a tent to keep the rain out and finally lots of sandbags. By morning we hoped no one could find those panels if they came looking for them. The weather was bad much of the time and it was cold there. From my point of view, I'd say most of C Troop's missions were traditional VRs on the Vietnamese side around Lan Vieng, Khe Sanh and back to Dong Ha or along the two main roads used to support these bases. We occasionally saw AA fire and even flak in Vietnam. Naturally we were trying to keep the NVA away and looked for their rocket units. Whenever we'd find something interesting, it received an Arc Light or something appropriate. I have several pictures taken from atop our bunker of a line of B-52 delivered bombs. After the third day of operations in Laos, the 6s weren't used there much anymore. That is a long story by itself - how the higher arrived at that decision and who paid for it. Anyway, that was fine with me. I know our Guns provided considerable support in Laos but I don't have any details of that. Oh, yes, while at Khe Sanh I had just lifted off on an ash & trash mission when I lost the tail rotor. I put the aircraft down just outside the perimeter, in a mine field; but luckily no one was hurt. I really liked being a Scout and loved flying the 6. I was known as "Shaky" because I was always nervous in the morning. I couldn't eat breakfast on the mornings I would fly - it just didn't stay down. Funny, though, when I got to the aircraft and started the preflight, I settled right down and felt fine again. I would fly Scout for 10 months total.
4 Feb -The story of how the ATC facilities were reestablished at Khe Sanh is retold on pages 90 through 93 of Into Laos. Many, many VHPAers and VHCMAers are live because of the assistance the 125th ATC Company provided. This history could certainly use some input from the ATC folk.
5 Feb - D/3/5 Cav lost AH-1G #66-15340 at XD865443 and crew (WO1 James L Paul and WO1 Carl M. Wood) while supporting the 1st Bde 5th Inf (Mech). According to Into Laos they were the first casualties of the operation. Weather was a factor because they flew into the side of a cliff northwest of Khe Sanh. Their bodies were never recovered. Details should be reported to the VHPA.
6 Feb - The story of a Navy jet fighter accidently bombing an ARVN armored unit near Lang Vie at 1920 hours is retold on pages 97 through 99 of Into Laos. Without any doubt these events kept the DUSTOFF units busy for most of the evening.
The 178th ASHC lost CH-47B #67-18493 and a crew of six but this aircraft's mission does not appear to be related to Dewey Canyon II.
7 Feb - The 14th CAB's ORLL reports that from 1 February to 7 February, the Battalion (-) was involved in support of Operation Dewey Canyon II, with 50% in general support of the 101st Airborne Division and XXIV Corps.
Background Information - The following paragraphs attempt to outline relationships, mission assignments, policies, and practices that were "business as usually" or that happened during Lam Son 719 either by design or by accident. This background information should help the reader get more meaning for the remaining material.
As a general rule, an Assault Helicopter Battalion was placed in direct suport of each major ARVN command. For example, the 223d CAB was in direct support of the 1st ARVN Inf Div. Thus all airmobile assaults conducted by the 1st ARVN Inf Dive were controlled by the 223d CAB and all general support aircraft (Huey) required by the 1st ARVN Inf Div were provided by the 223d CAB. The 158th AHB was in direct support of the 1st ARVN Airborne Div and the 1st ARVN Ranger Group. The 14th CAB was in direct support of the VNMC Div.
The 159th ASHB had the responsibility for coordinating and performing all heavy lift missions. As a general rule, the Army crains from the 478th Avn Co provided heavy lift north of Route 9 while the Marine Corps HMH-463 covered the area south of Route 9.
The 2d Sqdn 17th Cav had the responsibility for coordinating and performing all air cavalry missions. As a general rule, C/2/17 Cav and C/7/17 Cav supported the Ranger, Airborne and Armored units astride and to the north of Route 9 while A/2/17 Cav and B/7/1 Cav supported the 1st ARVN Inf Div and the VNMC units south of Route 9. The 2/17th Cav received missions directly from the ARVN 1st Corps. Many senior commanders were very interested in knowing when the NVA reinforcements would arrive from North Vietnam. As a result many Air Cav missions were flown far north of Route 9 to "find" these new units. The Air Cav units did make very impressive "finds" of tank and truck parks, fuel and ammunition storage areas, petroleum pipe lines, etc. They, and the "fast movers" they called in, certainly destroyed a great deal of NVA material during these operations. None of these troops had US Infantry in their aero-rifle platoons, rather the HAC BAO Company from the 1st ARVN Inf Div was used for security and / or extraction of downed aircraft and crews in Laos. Not long after the battle intensified, many Troops generally stopped flying their OH-6As into Laos. Instead, the AH-1G became an armed scout aircraft and an air cavalry reconnaisance team was generally made up of three AH-1Gs plus a single UH-1H in a C&C and rescue role.
8 Feb - The 1st Armored Bde crossed into Laos at 1000 hours and advanced 9Ks west on Route 9. The 101st Div's ORLL reports that three battalions of the 3d Regt, 1st ARVN Inf Div air assaulted into FBs HOTEL and BLUE south of Route 9. Two battalions of the 1st ARVN Abn Div air assaulted into LZ 30 and LZ 31 north of Route 9. One ARVN Ranger battalion air assaulted into LZ RANGER SOUTH. 105mm batteries were landed on LZs HOTEL, 30, and 31. The 14th CAB's ORLL reports:
On the 7th, a Battalion Forward was established at Khe Sanh. This alleviated problems that had arisen because of a lack of coordination with the forward units. It also made available flight following for all aircraft within the Battalion, which up to that time was limited due to distance. Problems did arise, due to the lack of available communications equipment. The need for UHF radios was immediately apparent and both the forward and rear established UHF capabilities. On the 8th, in support of Operation Lam Son 719, the Battalion (-) was involved in the initial insertion into Laos. The 174th supported this combat assault, under direct control of the 223rd Combat Aviation Battalion, into LZ Hotel (XD725344), moving 265 ARVN troops for a total of 1000 troops. The assault force encountered numerous anti-aircraft positions and intensive hostile fire which resulted in one aircraft receiving hits in which the aircraft commander was killed. (Editor's note: WO Robert B. Gentry of the 174th AHC died while departing LZ HOTEL when the cockpit was hit by machine gun fire.) During the remainder of the month, the Battalion (-) was involved with combat assaults for the 1/5 Mech and continued general support for the 101st Airborne Division and XXIV Corps, with minor support to the 1st ARVN Division, ARVN Rangers and the ARVN Marines.
C/158 Avn lost UH-1H #68-16307 at XD582368 and crew (CW2 Paul C. Stewart, AC, WO1 Thomas P. Doody, pilot, SP4 Charles G. Bobo, CE, PFC John E. Robertson, gunner) with an ARVN solder. The MIA synopsis reports:
The helicopter was operating about 10 miles west of Lao Bao on an insertion mission. Stewart radioed the flight leader that his aircraft had sustained damage to the tail rotor by ground fire, and that he was returning to the PZ, which was about five miles inside Vietnam. While the aircraft was in route, Stewart radioed that he had inverted and was going in, and nothing further was heard. The flight leader then observed a column of smoke coming from the crash site. The Cobra team accompanying the operation was dispatched immediately, but detected no signs of survivors in the area of the wreckage. Several burned remains were seen around the wreckage. It was determined that the aircraft had crashed, exploded on impact, and burned. The remains were identified as Doody, Bobo and Robertson. A fourth body was determined to be that of an ARVN on board the aircraft. No trace of Stewart was found. It could not be determined whether he burned in the crash or was thrown clear of the aircraft as it impacted.
B/7/1 CAV lost their C&C UH-1H and part of the crew (CPT David N. Fox, co-pilot, and the door gunner (name as yet unknown) died while SGT John Seaman, the CE, and CPT Joe Beardon, pilot, were injuried but rescued). VHPA member Lyle Borders was flying a Cobra that day and remembers:
It was about noon and my team was returning from the AO to refuel. We had been screening for the 1st ARVN but hadn't found much. A few minutes after the replacement team passed us they started calling that they were taking fire at 4,000 feet and that the C&C ship was going down on fire.
VHPA member Cliff Whiting, Traps 39 with the 48th AHC, remembers:
Time permitting I would dash off a letter to my wife. All my letters were dated and numbers in sequence. She saved every one. For the first time in 22 years, we both reread the 300 plus letters last year. Quoting from my letter #231 dated Feb 9, 1971, 10:15 a.m.: "Bright and early yesterday morning at 7:15, Monday, February 8, we took off for Khe Sanh from Dong Ha. We refueled in LZ Stud (Vandegrift) and got to Khe Sanh around 8:00 a.m. At 10:00 a.m. sharp, our ten slicks plus ten others from another company, crossed over into Laos loaded with 1st ARVN Division troops. I was Chalk 4 in the formation. All total, I made 15 sorties (landings) into Laos during the day. I guess I am real lucky because in our company we had two aircraft shot down and four more shot up. That afternoon the Blue Stars (Traps) had only three aircraft still in the air, of the original ten that started the day. I was one of the three. Major Bunting and Danny Grossman were the lead aircraft until they were shot down, then the Major took my peter pilots seat. I was lead ship for the remainder of the day. The Major worked the radios and I did the flying. Flew a total of eight hours. Higher ups wanted us to stay in Khe Sanh for the night, but we got to go back to Dong Ha. (Now I'm inside my tent at 6 p.m. Haven't had a shower now for 11 days. Today, low clouds, heavy rain, and fog preventing us from flying back into Laos."
VHPA member Jesse Dize, also with the 48th AHC, recalls:
Before Lam Son 719, I had not been in a crunch situation in the Old Dog with the new engine. (See Jesse's comments on 11 Mar for some background information about his aircraft named the "Old Dog" and its crew chief, SP4 Mike Sather.) Previously, when the stuff-hit-the-fan, I would pulled power until, bleeding off main rotor RPM, the RPM Warning sounded. Then I would reduced power ever-so-slightly, look at the RPM guage to ensure 6200 or more RPM, and hold that power until we were safe. This system didn't work with the new engine. I don't know if the RPM would have ever bled-off in the "new" Old Dog. I had been wounded near Pleiku while five 48th ships had been OPCONed to the 57th. I had flown as a gunner with the Jokers (WO1 Fred Cristman was a good friend, classmate, and hooch-mate let me fly on his ship) during our "get-acquanted to I Corps" CAs. That was until Major Bunting "relieved" as a gunner, but my leg had healed by then so I went back to flying AC with the slicks. My first CA was into HOTEL or HOTEL ONE. WO1 Ed Newton was my co-pilot. Normally Ed was one of our maintenance pukes. I still don't know why he was with we me out there west-of-the-border. (Editor's note: Ed explains why in his comments on 19 Feb.) HOTEL was "hot," very "hot." The radio traffic was horrendous. Everyone was taking fire. As our last pack unassed the aircraft someone yelled mortars! and I pulled power. Ed said something to the effect, "do you think 54 pounds (of torque) is enough!" ED was cool, real cool, and he was a maintenance puke. I looked over at the gauges, no Main Rotor bleed off, RPM stable at 6600, but, by now, the torque was at 56 pounds. We made it out of there without a hit. My technique worked.
The next day it was Ed's turn. I think it was into LZ BRAVO this time. He copied my technique and again it worked again -- no hits. However, we were relegated to ash-and trash on the third day and the sins of our past caught up with us. The 42 gear box chip light illuminated. We then went throught the drill of landing ASAP, and then draining, flushing and refilling the gear box. A couple of hours later another chip light on the 42 and a repeat of the same drill. Then we had a chip light on the 90 and another flush and fill drill. Before it was over, Ed had to change out the 42 and 90 gear boxes. On our third assault we practiced good torque management and did not exceed any limitations. Apparently our early technique was more effective, at least for going into "hot" LZs. We had a hole, running left to right, in our left skid this time. Ed had lost his cherry. Ed went back to full time maintenance after that. It was not because he was scared or a quitter. No, Ed was cool under fire. At least he wasn't like me. If I was on the controls when the things started to happen, usually indicated by green streaks of light and/or funny little noises, my right index finger would involuntarily squeeze the commo trigger to death and everyone in the world could hear me talking, or more, truthfully, screaming. Ed never did this. Aircraft were going wanting for test flights and MOCs and other such things. So, Major Bunding ordered Ed to get back to work fixing helicopters and stop having so much fun over in Laos. The Old Dog was the only aircraft in the company that was wired for a rescue hoist. Some how, a hoist was obtained and installed complete with Jungle Penetrator. From that point on I flew trail. My job was to follow any aircraft that went down and recover the crew. I never got to perform that job.
VHPA member Tom Marshall wrote Woodstock One-Three which covers his year in Vietnam. The following was extracted from his narrative:
I had flown with the Phoenix until 20 Jan when I joined the 163rd Aviation Company at Camp Eagle. At that time the 163rd had 12 UH-1Hs and 10 OH-58s. I flew Hueys for a while then transitioned into the Loach and I really enjoyed flying that bird. Soon after I joined them, we were informed that our "Roadrunner" call sign would have to change. That night, we watched the movie, "Woodstock", showing the bands, "group Love-Ins", and other activities underway at the 1969 Woodstock Festival in New York. After the movie we were in the club and people were proposing call signs. Finally Jim Patterson, we called him "Baby Sahn", came up with the idea, "Hey, you guys read Peanuts, the cartoon strip with Charlie Brown? What's the name of that little, yellow bird?" For a minute, nobody could think of the name of the bird. And then, everybody started cracking up and cursing, and all of a sudden, someone remembered, "Woodstock!". At that point, after having just seen the movie, the call sign "Woodstook" referring to the little bird in the cartoon was a perfect double entendre, which suited our declining attitudes regarding the war. From that day forward, I was "Woodstock One-Three". During normal times the 163rd was the general support aviation company for the 101st Airborne as part of its airmobile division configuration. It had two primary missions - providing C&C birds for the generals and their staffs. This often extended to senior officers in XXIV Corp and the ARVN I Corps. Our second mission was to provide courier ships for the major support commands within the division. For example, we would fly personnel with orders or other important instructions (like SIOs) to the firebases. Dewey Canyon II hadn't been under way long when our 58s were given the additional mission as "white teams" with scouting, reconnaissance, and convey escort roles. Today I was flying a Loach and picked up an Infantry Major at Vandergrift. Even this early in the game, NVA sappers, artillery, and mortars were working Vandergrift. The Infantry had started their "favorite game" - insert into an area where NVA gunners were suspected, then hump around the high ground to find them. The goal of this aggressive patrolling was to keep the NVA moving and to prevent him from setting up bases for permanent raids on us. Most of the time our "white teams" worked with an Air Force FAC and we had one that day. We circled all the hill tops to the east and west of Vandergrift and found a ridge with a suspected mortar location. I contacted the FAC and marked it. Soon he had a Marine A-4 Skyhawk that was returning from Laos with a full load of 37mm cannon. We watched from a half mile away as he absolutely ripped the top of the mountain from one end to the other. After that we put in our own mortar prep, then I dropped smoke for the Slicks taking in a two-platoon drop who would walk back to Vandergrift in an attempt to flush out any would-be attackers. With the smoke out, I backed off and climbed to 1,000 feet. I took movies of the combat assault. I still enjoy watching those movies. Boy, we did good work! Hueys coming in, one at a time, dropping their men, doing a vertical departure with a 180 degree turn. It was a helicopter ballet with the timing down to only a few seconds between aircraft. The insertion was cold and the troops returned without making contact. I really enjoyed working with ground units from the loach.
9 Feb - All air moves were canceled due to adverse weather. The 1st Armored Bde moved 2Ks west on Route 9. CPT Stephen L. Whisenant and CW2 James F. Collins of D/101 AVN 101 ABN died in a UH-1C at XD901433. Details about this incident are not known. The A/101st AHB's ORLL reports:
On the night of 8 and 9 Feb, the Comancheros RON at Khe Sanh. Unable to depart when released at 090800 due to weather, the aircraft await the return to the company area. By 1500 hours, weather breaks and CPT Federovich begins to call the flight out one at a time. Four Cobra gunships of D/101st elect to depart Khe Sanh following the slicks. Hawk 14 is shot down in bad weather 3 kilometers NE of Khe Sanh at 1630 hours.
VHPA member Bob Bearer was VARSITY 14 flying CH-47s for B/159 ASHB. He recalls:
I joined B/159 on May 15, 1970 while they were still at Camp Eagle and was part of the move in September to Phu Bai. With this move, the entire battalion was now located at Phu Bai. I remember we were assigned several old two story former Marine barracks. They needed lots of help so we went to Da Nang and landed inside a logistics compound that had all sorts of lumber and electrical items. We negotiated with the NCOIC but weren't getting too far. It was getting late in the day and the NCO kept talking about locking up and going home. We decided to try to trick him with the broken Chinook routine. We pretended to leave ourselves. We started the aircraft then suddenly shut it down, ran outside and started opening up panels. A Chinook has more than enough panels so we could make it look pretty sorry in a hurry. The NCO came out and asked what was wrong. We told him something and said it would take some time to fix. He complained that he had to lock up and leave. We said - fine, we'd just work on our ship. Naturally when he was gone we loaded up with what we needed and flew over his locked gate. But that was prior to Lam Son 719. The first we knew about the operation was when most of the ACs flew to Eagle one might for a big secret briefing. We were told we would move to Khe Sanh within three days and that we'd be there without any bunkers for awhile. We were all delighted to hear this! Someone in the higher command must have changed his mind but for three days we flew our missions with all our stuff in the back expecting to stay the night at Khe Sanh. Our Battalion CO at the time was LTC George Newton. Most of the time he coordinated our activities from an OH-6A, sometimes from a Huey. During the early days of the operation, we'd brief at Khe Sanh then go to Vandergiff to pick up bridging and culverts to insert on the road to Laos. We helped restore the road all the way to the border but I don't remember helping the ARVN with the roads in Laos itself. The Battalion maintain an LNO at Khe Sanh. We'd check in with him or with the Battalion C&C for our missions during the day. The haze, smoke and dust were so bad I was surprised we didn't have lots of midairs.
VHPA Members Peter Smith and Bob Bearer, in separate conversations, provide an interesting Chinook story.
We were both ACs at the time and happened to fly together on this day in a C/159 PLAYTEX ship. Bob maintains that both he and Peter were "on the list" because of some dropped loads of late. They were told to pick up a Cobra. Peter says that someone had tried to make a running take off in the Cobra (like the Charlie Model guys had to do) but tripped on the PSP and the blade had hit the tail boom. When they arrived over the Cobra, Peter said that it didn't look right so they had it re-rigged. While this going on, someone called and asked how many cases of beer it would take for them to drop that Cobra over the ocean. Peter replied to whomever this was: "That is not my job." Both pilots maintain that a Cobra was really terrible to carry because it wouldn't naturally streamline. The big blade wanted to make the Cobra fly side ways. A drag chute was attached to the horizontal stabilizers to make them line up with the CH-47s centerline. Even so, the best a Chinook could do was 50 to 60 knots. On this mission, they just got over ocean when the chute broke loose and the blade became untied. Peter said the Cobra started turning as he worked to get it calmed down. Then the FE said: "There it goes!" and the pilots felt that the CH-47 was now unloaded. Peter rolled to one side and watched the Cobra twist and fall. The main blade cut the tail boom off before it fell into the water. Bob remembers thinking about how much more trouble they were going to be in now and was surprised when Peter keyed the radio to say that they had lost the Cobra. According to Bob, the Battalion CO was really upset and ordered them to land at his pad so he could personally inspect what was left of the rigging. They landed and the webbing appeared to have been cut half through at the break point, so the CO agreed that something was wrong, took the sling and let them go. Bob said everything was cool until a couple of days later when a Captain arrived in a jeep with cases of beer and asked: "Who were the guys that dropped the Cobra in the ocean the other day?" Needless to say, but the arrival of the beer got them in trouble again. Peter maintains he didn't know anything about a Captain in a jeep delivering beer but certainly remembers that a case of beer appeared near his bunk just a few days before he DEROSed on 15 Feb!
Even though I was a Senior AC, I enjoyed flying with Bob Bearer especially when the weather was bad. Bob had a special instrument ticket and was a good pilot. The Chinook was really nice to fly IFR because it presented a very stable platform at 40 knots. I remember several times when it was zero, zero working with the instrument landing crews on the ground. It was relatively easy to fly the glide path in a Chinook. I was always amazed when they'd say: "OK your wheels will be touching down in a second" and thump, we feel the wheels touch! I have one memory of my last week flying in Lam Son 719 that sticks out in my mind. All the guys in my company wore an American flag as a shoulder patch with the 101st Eagle on the other shoulder. We were standing around Khe Sanh or someplace talking and waiting when a General lands in his Huey. He came up to us and got upset because the American flag was unauthorized on our uniforms. I was short and I'd had more than enough anyway. I distinctly remember telling the General that we'd be glad to take that patch off when he got us out of this country. I turned and walked away. He yelled at me to come back but I didn't!
10 Feb - A battalion from the 1st ARVN Abn Div air assaulted into LZ ALUOI and at 1555 hours the 1st Armored Bde linked up with the battalion. A battalion from the 1st ARVN Inf Div air assaulted into LZ DELTA. WO1 Mark J. Robertson of B/2/17 CAV 101 ABN died in OH-6A #66-17765 in activities that were related to Lam Son 719. SP4 Shelby G. Hensley of the 1st AVN BDE also died that day. It is not known if the events that lead to SP4 Hensley death were related to WO Robertson or to Lam Son 719. The book Into Laos does not present the story of the air ambulance support correctly. VHPA members Joel Dozhier and Tom Robinson, from DMZ DUSTOFF, provide these details:
The 237th and 571st MED Detachments had merged into a single operating unit by the time Lam Son 719 started. We both operated from Phu Bai. Historically the 237th's AO was everything north and west of Phu Bai which is why we were called DMZ DUSTOFF. The 571st used to cover everything south and west of the Phu Bai. Our mission that day clearly illustrates this merger because I was assigned to the 237th while Tom was from the 571st. Anyway, we were the third aircraft to try to pickup the crew of a downed Huey west of LZ BROWN. We learned that they had crashed near the base of the escarpment and the NVA had lots of folk along the face of the escarpment. Joel said they kept looking around for the C&C bird as they were briefed. Finally they asked: "Where are you?" Answer: "Your six o'clock, high." Joel maintains that the C&C must have been at 15,000 because it was just a dot in the sky and they were at 4,000! The C&C said they had several guns on hand (3 Cobras and 2 Charlies) and wanted the DUSTOFF ship to make a high overhead spiraling approach to the downed ship. When Joel said that they would rather come in low level, the C&C said that the two previous attempts had been low level and had failed. Both ships were forced to break off the mission because of battle damage. When we were ready to start our spiral approach, the guns prepped the side of the escarpment nearest our intended route and we started down at 3,000 feet per minute. Even though we were falling fast, we were still exposed to the NVA on the escarpment for short periods of time. We took some hits in the cargo area but they weren't serious. The plexiglas on Tom's side blew out from a hit and initially we thought Tom had been hit as well. But he was just showered with plex. The downed ship didn't have any smoke, so once we got to the bottom we moved around until they fired off a pen flare. The downed ship was laying on its side and the crew could stand on it. The trees were tall enough to prevent our landing to the ground but did not stop us from putting a skid on the Huey. The NVA were close at hand because the pilot was firing his pistol at them. Joel believes they got all four into their DUSTOFF bird rather quickly and remembers that the pilot emptied his pistol out the door just as they were pulling out. Joel said that he got a little distracted by the gravity of the situation and pulled too much pitch as they were leaving. The low RPM light came on and the CE would later remark that the rescued pilot's eyes were as big as saucers. Joel says that he guessed the pilot was worried that they might be on the ground again that afternoon! Tom and the EM got Silver Stars for the rescue, but Joel (who was the AC) is not aware if he received one for that action.
B/2/17 Cav lost OH-6A #66-17765 at YC257076 and crew (WO1 Mark J. Robertson, pilot, and SGT Joseph R. Pietrzak, observer). The MIA synopsis reports:
During a VR mission in Thua Thien Province, the helicopter was hit by heavy 51 caliber machine gun fire in the power compartment and fuel section. It burst into flames, fell vertically, and exploded on impact. Other helicopters in the area immediately attempted to land and search the area for survivors, but the crewmen reported that enemy fire and deteriorating weather conditions prevented them for doing so. None of the crews conducting visual searches saw survivors or bodies around the blazing helicopter. Radio frequencies were monitored for a period after that, with no results. Enemy activity in the area prevented further searchs in the loss are near the Laos border.
A VNAF Huey with reporter Larry Burrows was shot down in Laos. Their bodies were never recovered.
11 Feb - The 101st Div's ORLL reports that for the period 11 - 13 Feb:
The armoed TF consolidated its position around ALOUI. One ARVN Ranger battalion air assaulted into LZ RANGER NORTH. Two battalions of the 1st Regt, 1st ARVN Inf Div air assaulted into LZ DON and one on DELTA. Additional forces, artillery and supplies were air lifted into ALOUI and other established LZs.
D/3/5 Cav CW2 Kenneth A. Barger and PFC Raymond F. Carroll died in a AH-1G. Only sketchy details about this incident are known.
The official reports state the AH-1G was from the 5th Inf Div (Mech) but brigade's organic aviation only had OH-6As and UH-1Hs. D/3/5 Cav was attached to the 5th Mech at the time. They had Cobras. Most likely CW2 Barger was with D/3/5 Cav. The VHPA KIA database has the comment: "Shot down by a 51 cal trying to pick up a shot down scout one mile northwest of the Rockpile. Radioed OK then A/C rolled and burned trapping both." The coordinates are XD922540. No other pilot is listed as having died in this crash, so we have to assume that PFC Carroll was initially in the scout aircraft that was shot down and that Barger landed to Cobra to medevac Carroll. Please report any details about this matter to the VHPA.
12 Feb - One battalion of the 1st Regt, 1st ARVN Inf Div landed into LZ DELTA I (?). C/2/17 Cav 101 Abn lost AH-1G #68-17089 at XD676488 and crew (CPT Clyde D. Wilkinson AC and CW2 Arthur E. McLeod pilot). Details are as follows:
During an attack on a target, the Cobra was hit by enemy ground fire. They radioed that the engine oil bypass caution light was on and that they would attempt to return to Khe Sanh. The aircraft began to smoke and burn so the crew attempted to land. Just prior to touchdown, the aircraft exploded and crashed, followed by intense fire and ammunition detonation. After the aircraft had cooled, several passes were made overhead, but no survivors were detected. The aircraft had been almost completely consumed by the intense fire and explosions. The search continued by air but no sign of the crew was ever found. Enemy presence prohibited a ground search. Their bodies were not recovered.
13 Feb - The 101st Div's ORLL reports that an airborne battalion was inserted north of LZ 31 as the forces flanking the armor drive moved abreast of ALOUI.
14 Feb - The 101st Div's ORLL reports for the period 14 - 18 that with the armor column making no further progress to the west, the 1st ARVN inf Div turned south expanding its search for enemy supplies and facilities. Elements of the 3d Regt, 1st ARVN Inf Div and accompanying artillery moved to FSB HOTEL II. and LZ GRASS. Attempts to insert a battalion on LZ GREEN were broken off because of intense enemy fire. Forces in the vicinity of LZ GRASS made increasing contacts with the enemy.
VHPA member Ed Strazzini, who flew CH-54As for the 478th, provides these observations:
The CH-54 missions quickly fell into a routine. Ammo, guns (only the Crane or Marine Sea Stallion could lift the 155mm howitzers at this altitude), engineer equipment, vehicles and general supplies in bundles weighing from 10,000 to 17,000 pounds were shuttled from Khe Sanh west bound to ARVN sites which seemed to spring up each day as their troop pressed on. We were cautioned to avoid NVA anti-aircraft guns, some radar guided, spotted along the Co Roc escarpment, so we varied flight routes and altitudes as much as possible. Since our aircraft were without defensive weapons, AH-1G and UH-1C gunships escorted us in Laos. On one occasion while on long final to a fire base with 10,000 pounds of 155mm powder on the hook, I recall watching one of our escorting Cobras abeam us roll inverted and crash into the trees just outside the base. I alerted his wing-man on our other side and just a little ahead of us as to what I had seen and continued into the site where we delivered the goods. Seconds later we were climbing at 4,000 fpm to an appropriate altitude to return. An unloaded crane could climb faster than another other helicopter in this operation and we took advantage of this capability every time. During a post flight inspection that day, we found a large hole, 51 cal size, about mid-way along our tail boom. At the end of the day each CH-54 (and CH-47 I'd guess) was directed by the 159th ASHB C&C ship into the Kilo Sierra aircraft bone-yard where a damaged Huey or Cobra was rigged and waiting. We came to look upon these bent birds as our tickets back to Phu Bai where we hauled them for repair. We'd be up early the next day and off to rejoin the adventure arrive at Khe Sanh as the sun came up. One oddity I remember dealt with the decision that Lam Son 719 was to be a show of the success of Vietnamization of the war. Although American air support was everywhere, no Americans were supposed to be participating on the ground in Laos. At the end of each sorties we were expected to fill out, in flight, a form which was intended to attest to the purpose of that flight and would specify that no Americans had deplaned in Laos. Of course the CH-54 has no real space for passengers while doing external loads; and we never touched down, but only came to a hover long enough to release or pickup cargo.
15 Feb - C/159 ASHB lost CH-47C # 67-18506 and crew (2LT James H. Taylor, PIC, WO1 Marvin M. Leonard, pilot, WO1 Barry F. Fivelson, passenger, SP4 Donald E. Crone, SP4 John L. Powers, and SP4 Willis C. Crear). The MIA synopsis reports:
WO Marvin Leonard was the pilot of a CH-47C assigned the task of ferrying a load of gasoline into Laos. An observer plane reported that the helicopter overflew its destination by several miles, then either exploded or broke in half. An aerial search, according to information given to family members, failed to find evidence of a crash. A ground search was not possible because of hostile threat in the area. Note that Joint Casualty Center data remark indicates that a crash site was found and that no survivors were observed from the air.
VHPA member Jim Scott was PLAYTEX 11 and recalls:
I was flying that day but doing something different; so I did not witness this incident. 2LT Taylor was the PIC (Pilot In Charge). He had recently received a direct commission, had come to us from the 196th ASHC, the Flippers, and was not yet signed off an an A/C. W01 Leonard was the pilot. He was relatively new in the unit. WO1 Fivelson was just a kid, a new guy. We had used him as an LNO at Khe Sanh for some time. He was riding on this trip as an observer, getting his feet wet, taking pictures. As I understand it, for some reason they took a load to the wrong LZ. Their gunship escorts called and called them, even called on guard (which during Lam Son was a zoo anyway) but never got a reply. They definitely took fire. The load they were carrying may have exploded because they broke in half and went in. I have several general impressions about flying Chinooks in Lam Son. First, I was very impressed and grateful for the gunship support we received. It was super! There was a couple of ways it worked. Sometimes the gun outfits would have LNOs attend our evening briefings for the next day's missions but most of the time we would be flying toward the fence and the gunships would be in an orbit waiting for us. Either they would come up on our freq or we would call them. Linking up just wasn't a problem. Then we would proceed on with the mission. We had lots of Cobra escorts but my heart went out to the Charlie model guys. Even that ancient gunship provided yeoman service. Sometimes the Charlie model guys would have to ask us to slow down; but this wasn't a problem. We tried several different techniques to get the Chinook onto the ARVN base. We tried having the gunship only shoot when we drew fire; but the most popular tactic was to have the gunship prep our approach route to the base. Our loads were relatively small (thank God!) which left us with some flexibility. About the only way you could get in trouble was to land down wind. To stop a CH-47 with a heavy load in a down wind situation required a high nose up attitude. This attitude would partially negate the lift from the aft rotor which usually caused the aircrfat to fall through. Normally this meant planning an approach to the ground with your load as the machine would not be capable of hovering. As soon as the load touched down in these instances, we released it and hauled out of there for altitude.
These approaches had to be done carefully because if you misjudged and turned out short or long, there was no second try and in many instances, the power needed for a go-around was not available. Our normal approach was to come in high, 7,000 or 8,000 feet AGL, determine the wind direction and our final approach path. We'd tell the guns what we wanted to do and they would prep the area between the base out a quarter of a mile or so under our final approach path. This seemed to keep everyone's heads down. We'd corkscrew down from altitude and pull power at the bottom. Naturally the guns would be watching and ready to pounce on someone that fired at us. Resupply missions were the best because we were only over the base a short time and we were unloaded coming out. The only game in town when coming out was to get altitude as fast as possible. Once we were above 1,500 feet AGL it wasn't too bad. But our gun support was all I could ask for and more and we certainly did not take it for granted - we deeply appreciated it!! Second, we had to fly baby "C"s during Lam Son. Unfortunately for us, this was one of those periods when the Lycoming T-55 L-11 engine was grounded. There was no physical difference between a CH-47C small "C" or Super "C", just the power rating of the engines mounted in the ship. The L-11 was the powerful but troublesome engine used on the Super "C". It pumped out 3,750 shp and occasionally some of its own internal parts! It had a harmonic problem that caused the #2 engine to blow its power turbine section out the exhaust cone. This left you with a rather large and quite useless pure jet until you shut it down. Some of these failures were quite dramatic and catastrophic and mostly unpredictable. It was common for the turbine blades to sever some hydraulic lines and cause a fire. Even though the Super "C" was a little dangerous to fly, we all preferred to have the extra power. The Super "C" engines had a interesting rumbling sound when things were running smoothly. Getting back to Lam Son, the folks responsible for preparing and selecting the CH-47 loads did a pretty good job; because even though we were flying baby "C"s we still had enough power to get our job done. Third, initially they had planned to have the Chinooks remain at Khe Sanh over night. But everyone quickly learned that we were mortar magnets, so we went back to Quang Tri and Phu Bai each evening. I can honestly say that I don't remember a time when a Chinook returned from Khe Sanh for the evening that it did not have a Huey or a Cobra under it for the repair yards. Some times I'd make two trips late in the afternoon. And those ships were really shot to pieces! My heart was really with those Huey and Cobra guys!!
Fourth, many of the missions we flew in Lam Son required more than one CH-47 but we didn't really fly as a section. More like guys taking turns doing what had to be done. Naturally our C&Cs would coordinate multiple ships working on the same base. The most obvious single ship mission was aircraft recovery. I did two of them by myself in Laos. I remember one our company talked about for a while. CPT Sterling B Crawford was the A/C of a crew that recovered a rigged Huey and then the riggers' ship was shot down as it tried to leave. They rigged that one and we recovered it too! Not a bad day's work for the taxpayers. However, my most hairy mission was helping with the Ranger extraction from LZ 30. Those Rangers were some very glad looking guys when we took them out of Laos. I'd like to close by saying that you just haven't lived until you have been hot refueling at Khe Sahn when the tower announces "light to moderate incoming". The Hooks and Cranes would claw their way pretty much straight up. The Loaches buzzed off in every direction as did the lift ships. The "C" model guns, depending on how heavy with fuel and ordnance they were, would sometimes plop their way up onto the runway and dive off the cliff at the end to get going. This could sometimes be true for the AH-1Gs depending on how heavy they were. It was truly a sight to see and some how, we all missed each other in this rendition of "getting out of Dodge".
B/2/17 Cav 101 Abn lost UH-1H #68-16554 at YD948168 and crew (CW2 Richard N. Concannon, WO1 Joseph S. Burke, SGT James P. Cobb, and SP4 Zebulon M. Johnson). The sketchy details are as follows:
The aircraft was involved in a night MEDEVAC and sustained battle damage while retrieving the patient. The patient was attached to ropes hanging below the aircraft. They crashed about two miles out on a radar approach to Phu Bai.
One of the Chinook units in the 101st Abn lost CH-47C #68-15835 at YD891161 and crew (CPT Gerald P. Wick, CW2 William D. Sapp, SP6 Richard N. Bruso, CPL Larry F. Ott, and SFC Yoshio Takehara). The only thing we know about this event is that they crashed north of Phu Bai. Please report details to the VHPA.
16 Feb - As the operation continued, the realities of this type of warfare became obvious. VHPA member Cliff Whiting was TRAPS 39 with the 48th AHC and remembers:
Usually we put up ten slicks a day with support from our own gun platoon. Within weeks we lost the entire gun platoon due to ships shot up, shot down, or pilots being killed. 1LT Joe Marshall was the first 48th AHC casualty of Lam Son 719. He took a .51 cal in the head on Feb 18. Other KIA/MIA pilots from the 48th during Lam Son 719 included CPT May, CPT Bilbrey, CW2 Christman, WO1 Reid, and WO1 Sparks. The enemy fire was very intense, including flak. The "flight lead" duty rotated among three pilots - Keith Howell, Dan Grossman, and myself. The most disturbing problem I had as flight lead, was not being able to establish communications with all members of my flight of ten slicks early in the morning before takeoff from Dong Ha. Our radio technicians did the best with what they had - but communications was impossible even with three radios (VHF, UHF, and FM), I was at times not able to give commands to one, two or three aircraft in my flight. They just followed the aircraft to their front. The frustration and tragedy was when someone didn't hear the commands warning of enemy fire and consequently got hurt and/or shot down. Throughout the whole ordeal of Lam Son, there wasn't one aircraft commander in the 48th that had not been shot down at least once inside Laos. Those fortunate enough to be rescued are here to tell the story.
VHPA member P.J. Roths provides:
Being 24 and married with a college degree, I was sort of an "old man" for a new Warrant in Vietnam. When I arrived I was sort of a peace loving hippie that couldn't get assigned to a DUSTOFF unit. A combination of getting tired of being shot at, seeing too many of my friends get hurt, and being assigned to the gun platoon changed all that. For the first month or so I flew Slicks. I think the 174th lost six gunships during the first week after we started going into Laos. We hadn't changed our flying low level tactics. There were simply too many NVA with AKs pointed toward the sky. We only had a few guys killed but we lost ships and had a lot of wounded. Anyway, about 1 a.m. in February, the CO came into our tent and told me I'd be flying with the Sharks because they were so short handed. During that period I wrestled with telling my wife what was really going on or making up some story about a safe flying job in the rear. Some of the other married guys recommended I tell her the truth, which I did, and she was pretty scared for me. Hell - I was scared for me too!! Our company lived in an unfinished hospital building on Quang Tri. The EM were assigned to the building itself and the officers had tents around it. Over time we stole lumber to put in floors. We didn't receive too much incoming there. But if the hooch maids didn't show up for work in the morning, you knew it would be a good idea to stay near the bunkers. The food was terrible most of the time, so we ate Cs. A big deal for us was to get some LRRPs from the Navy. There was a hamburger joint at Eagle. It wasn't great but it was better than Cs and the mess hall. The logistical system for the area was strained to provide all the food, ammo, and fuel we needed. We went to the PX several times to buy beer - nothing. The sergeant who ran it said he really didn't have anything - but when we pressed him for "something", he mentioned that he had several cases of some French Champagne. We took 6 or 8 cases. That night we ate popcorn with this really great French Champagne in our tents! Those were the days!! The only club I can remember was at the hospital at Quang Tri. They seemed to have a pretty good supply of beer, so we spent some time there. I also remember once I'd flown a ten hour day and ended up back at Quang Tri. I was standing in the chow line when Operations came and picked a team for convoy cover. We ended up flying another six hours that evening. Near the end we were passing the controls back and forth to whomever was the most alert. We were lucky no one made a fatal mistake. I don't remember a problem with replacement aircraft. It seemed to me that within a day or two after loosing a ship, we'd be told to go someplace to pick up a replacement.
Once I went to Da Nang to pick up a freshly rebuilt UH-1C, number 242. This aircraft was painted and named "Easy Rider". It had lots of power and was my personal favorite. Everyone remembers the fog and terrible weather around Khe Sanh. Many times after we were done for the day, we either need to get back to Quang Tri or didn't want to spend the night there but the fog was a problem. More than once I can remember someone in the company literally diving off the cliff and hovering down the road. If they broke out, they'd call back and the rest of us would follow. I was leading once when I met a Jolly Green coming up the road to Khe Sanh! I alerted the rest of the company and everyone successfully passed each other. Just one more hairy experience! In closing I'd like to say a word about our CO, MAJ Dale Spratt. That guy flew lead everyday he flew and he flew a lot!! He still has my respect. I wouldn't have wanted to do that.
A/101st's ORLL reports that they operated a total committment to CCN of eight aircraft and that the first combat damage was received as Commanchero 33 and 29 were hit by shrapnel near the DMZ.
17 Feb - For those that remember the A Shau Valley and exciting places like Rendezvous and Ripcord, VHPA member Tom Marshall provides some interesting color in his book Woodstock One-Three:
Today I flew COL Rodolph (the 101st Abn Div Engineer) in a Loach on a tour of the A Shau. They are re-opening the road to the A Shau. The Big Valley is really beautiful. The former Firebase Rendezvous was located just below the eastern mountain ridge on the valley floor. As we flew in I thought of the infantrymen's poem or version of Psalm 23, "Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for I am the meanest guy (or words to that effect) in the valley, my M-16 is my rod and staff..." I looked at the poor guys furiously digging in at Rendezvous and couldn't believe they were going to spend the night out here. The COL had everybody working furiously. Bulldozers were digging deep bunkers, artillery registration was underway from Berchtesgarden on a mountain top overlooking them, along with the artillery bases to the north and east. Apparently there was going to be a major operation within the A Shau in the coming few days, or these guys were simply "bait". After finishing his business at Rendezvous, the COL wanted a quick tour of the valley floor. We flew up along the old Highway 548, which was still a two lane dirt road and apparently in heavy use. We observed culverts in place at small creek and drainage areas. I asked him why they were there and he said simply the NVA maintain them. We go out and blow them up now and then, but they continue rebuilding them. He then wanted to divert up to Firebase Ripcord. They had a bulldozer working on the mountain top there. I was surprised to see that because Ripcord had been closed since the preceding summer when it was evacuated. We got to Ripcord and I landed and let the COL off but kept the aircraft going at flight idle. He got out and spent several minutes talking to the people working there. They were clearing it of mines and preparing it for re-opening, should the need arise. I thought of Jim Saunders who was shot down on this very mountain six months earlier. It was an eerie feeling, sitting there fully exposed. The COL hopped back in and we departed. He pointed out a one- lane road with red clay that ran from Ripcord to the A Shau. I asked him when we had built that. He said, "We didn't build that. The NVA built that last summer and they still maintain it." That gave me a shock. Here I was in my little Loach, flying south of Ripcord, where the NVA are maintaining and occupying the land and being resupplied by truck. All this within 20 miles of Camp Eagle. Time to climb a little higher.
A/101st's ORLL reports that Commanchero 13, 11 and 33 were hit by small arms fire near the DMZ and that one aircraft was severly damaged.
18 Feb - This day would mark the beginning of the last act for RANGER NORTH. Late in the day Bureau Number 156667, a CH-53D, from HMH-463 exploded in the air and crashed northeast of Hue/Phu Bai while returning to Marble Mountain from support of Lam Son 719. The entire crew of five (MAJ Wayne R. Hyatt, 1LT Strather F. Wood, SGT Allen K. McElfresh, SGT William C. Odom Jr., and CPL Larry R. Hatter) plus three passengers (SSGT Richard T. Baker, SGT Richard A. Lillie, and SGT Gregory A. Sloat) died. Several official sources report that the aircraft had operated in Laos earlier in the day and had taken battle damage. The aircraft had landed at KILO where the battle damage was inspected and it was determined that the aircraft was safe enough to return to base. VHPA member Mike Wasko provides these details:
I was the OPSO for the squadron and remember being in our operations bunker at Marble Mountain waiting for all our birds to return. It was late at night and that aircraft was long overdue. We received word from Hue/Phu Bai that he was making a GCA when he disappeared of the glide slope but no transmissions were received. Wayne was our AMO and very qualified in the aircraft. Next morning after first light, Red Edwards, our XO, and I went up and landed near the wreckage. They had crashed into a rice paddy, so it was very difficult looking for the bodies with all the twisted metal and mud and muck. There was no fire. There is no question that they slung a blade. We found the main rotor head and all but one blade near the wreckage. After that we took off and flew all around the area looking for other parts that had come off the aircraft. You could see them from the air a lot easier than from the ground. I believe we may have found the missing blade as well.
The 237th Med Det sent a DMZ DUSTOFF to RANGER NORTH for an emergency medevac early in the morning. The crew consisted of the AC, CW2 Joseph Gordon Brown, known as Easter Bear, the other pilot was Darrel Monteith, the CE, SP5 Costello, the medic, SP5 Fujii, and a second medic, SP5 Simpco. This flight and the events that followed are mentioned on pages 128 through 136 in Into Laos and in Cook's DUSTOFF book. The following was taken from those sources:
Even though the medevac ship was escorted by two Cobras they began taking heavy ground fire about three klicks from RANGER NORTH. Apparantly CW2 Brown decided it was too hot, so he cancelled the mission. The Cobras had expended and left for Khe Sanh. Then Brown changed his mind and returned to the LZ. Fujii could easily see the NVA in the brush around the LZ and they received lots of AK and 12.7mm fire on the way in. They loaded the wounded and as they lifted off, a mortar round exploded on the LZ and they came crashing back to the ground. Brown was dead and the pilot, gravely injured from shrapnel, was temporarily paralyzed from the waist down. Both Fujii and Simpco had shrapnel wounds in their backs; only Costello was not injured. Fujii and Simpco found a bunker about a hundred years from the LZ and Costello soon joined them. The mortar attack continued as a rescue Huey landed not far from their medevac ship. Somehow the pilots were loaded into the rescue Huey. Fujii was the last to leave the bunker and an explosion knocked him down. Costell and Simpco made it to the Huey. In a daze, Fujii got to his feet and waved the pilot to leave - it was just too hot to stay any longer. He returned to the bunker and found a PRC25. He radioed for all aviators to stay clear of RANGER NORTH; the AA fire was just too strong. When the mortar attack stopped, he returned to his Huey, opened the fuel release value and salvaged what gear he could find.
VHPA member Howard "Mo" Modjeski, DUSTOFF 13, with the 498th Med Co remembers:
I can remember in late January 1971 watching formation after formation of helicopters headed North along the coast. We were all asking, "What's going on? We've got to get into this!" Originally the 498th was requested to detach and assign two aircraft to the operation up North which were to be rotated at some unspecified (or unremembered) interval. By the end of our participation in Lam Son 719 the 498th had four or more aircraft at Khe Sanh. I got to I Corps in early February to start my participation in Lam Son 719. I can not remember if we were the second ship sent North from the 498th, or the third ship to replace someone else, but I do remember John Rauen (Dustoff 30) had preceded me by several days and was at Khe Sanh when I arrived at the 571st Hq in Hue-Phu Bai. When we first arrived, ACs were given a local area orientation flight by either a 571st IP or AC and then an experienced copilot from the 571st or 237th to fly with for a few days until we became familiar with the area of operations. Meanwhile our copilots flew with experienced ACs from the 237th or 571st during a like period of time for their orientation. I had flown the AO from Phu Bai to Quang Tri to Khe Sanh and into Laos for several days by the time the action started at Ranger North. I remember monitoring Tac frequencies and hearing Joe Brown and Darrel Monteith getting shot down with Dennis Fujii and the first rescue attempt by Eagle Dustoff that extracted Brown, Monteith and Simcoe but left Fujii behind for four days.
C/2/17th Cav lost OH-6A #67-16528 at XD465415 and crew (WO1 Gregory S. Crandall, SGT Walter E. Lewellen, and SP4 Robert J. Engen). The sketchy details are as follows:
During a recon in Laos, the LOH was shot down, crashed and burned. The bodies were not recovered. The remains of the two EM were returned in 1991 and WO Crandall in 1993. He is now buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
1LT Joseph H. Marshall from the 48th AHC took a 51 cal in the head and died immediately during a mission in Laos.
A/101 Avn lost UH-1H #68-15255 at YC481785 and crew (WO1 George P. Berg, Commanchero 19 AC, WO1 Gerald E. Woods, pilot, SP4 Walter Demsey, CE, and SP4 Gary L. Johnson, gunner). The MIA synopsis reports:
This aircraft was dispatched as part of a flight of four on an emergency patrol extraction mission on the west side of the A Shau Valley in Thua Tin Province, Vietnam. The patrol to be rescued included CPT Ronald L. Watons, SFC Samual Hernandez, and SGT Allen R. Lloyd, part of SOG-CCN, 5th Special Forces Group. During the attempt to recover the patrol, Woods' helicopter came under heavy fire and had to leave the PZ with Lloyd, Watson, and Hernandez attached to the three-staple rig. While in flight, the rope broke, and Hernandez fell 30-40 feet, landing in double canopy jungle. He was rescued the following day. The helicopter continued a short distance, was hit by enemy anti-aircraft fire, crashed and burned. On 19 Feb, a Special Forces recovery team was inserted at the crash site to search the area. Woods and Berg were found dead in their seats. Johnson's body was found in a tree. One leg of Demsey, the burned CE, was found in the cargo compartment. All remains were prepared for extraction, and the team left to establish a night defensive position. En route, the team found the remains of Lloyd and Watson, still on their rope slings, in the trees on the edge of a cliff. Because of the rugged terrain and approaching darkness, the rescue team leader decided to wait until morning to recover these two remains. However, the following morning, the search team came under intense fire, and the team leader requested an emergency extraction, and in doing so, left all remains behind.
19 Feb - The NVA continued their mortar attack on RANGER NORTH and the 158th Avn Bn sent Ghostrider and C Co (Phoenix) ships to resupply it. SP5 Fujii (see 18 Feb for the beginning of this story) spent the day in the ARVN commo bunker. The land around RANGER NORTH was denuded of follage which offered the defenders a full view of the attacking NVA. Fujii called in the coordinates of any NVA fire to the USAF FACs and became everyone hero for keeping his cool in such a dangerous situation. The strikes Fujii help coordinate and direct were especially painful to the NVA. As night fell, the NVA infantry charged the LZ. Fujii directed Army gunship and Air Force jet strikes and even killed some NVA with an M-16. The battle continued throughout the night under the light of flares and more air strikes. The 101st's ORLL for the period 19 - 22 Feb reports that the northern flank of the penetration came under heavy attack with the enemy successively concentrating his forces on the RANGER LZs and airborne objectives. Resupply to these locations was limited by intense fire on the LZs. On the 20th the 39th Ranger Battalion positions on RANGER NORTH were penetrated by the NVA. Elements of the battalion were able to reach RANGER SOUTH the next day. RANGER SOUTH and objective 31 then came under increasing enemy pressure.
SP5 Leonard A. Monnett was killed in an OH-6A in Laos while serving with some 1st Avn Bde unit. This would have to be B/7/1 Cav or C/7/17 Cav. Please report any details to the VHPA. VHPA member Steve Powers often flew in the 2/17th Cav C&C ships with the Squadron CO during these times and offers these comments:
The unfolding of this operation left memories that will always be. I remember thinking the AA must have been like this when my father flew over Germany during W.W.II, only they had a lot more of it. You could tell what was shooting at you by the way it went off and the color of the tracer. The 37's seemed to cluster together as they climbed and go off together while the 54's would climb at you and go off by themselves, one at a time. I don't remember the colors anymore but every once in awhile the smells seem to make it back. These AA memories come from the night missions we flew to keep a crew company that had been shot down and holed up around LZ 30 or LZ 31. (The sharp details of this operation and so much of that year seem to give way to some sense of undefined urgency....). Urgency was what a gun pilot named Green from A Troop must have had on his mind when he landed in a hot LZ to pull out the crew of another Cobra that had been shot down. He flew them out on his rocket pods!!! How many nights since then do you think that flight took place again? How many recalled that details of that flight could draw sweat in an instant? And how many could they even tell a story like that to? Oh the lucky ones!
A/101st's ORLL reports that Comanchero 13 received quad 14.5 fire while enroute to a CCN location and was hit. Comanchero 27 overspeeds his rotor avoiding this fire and Comanchero 14 overtorques his aircraft.
20 Feb - The ARVN on RANGER NORTH formed a tight perimeter around the command bunker where SP5 Fujii and the ARVN Bn CO directed the defense (see 18 and 19 Feb for the beginning of this story). Ten C/158 Hueys executed an ammunition, food, water resupply and emergency extraction. They had Fujii removed his shirt so he would be easier to identify. With considerable difficulty MAJ Jim Lloyd and CPT David Nelson landed on the LZ. By the time Fujii got in their Huey was on fire. They nursed it 4Ks and crashed onto RANGER SOUTH. Two C/158 slicks made it into RANGER SOUTH and got everyone out except Fujii who volunteered to try to help this unit defend its LZ.
The 48th AHC lost UH-1C #66-700 at XD562198 and crew (CW3 John E. Reid, pilot, CPT David M. May, SFC Randolph L. Johnson, and SSG Robert J. Acalotta). The MIA synopsis reports:
The UH-1C was assigned to an emergency resupply mission in Laos. The aircraft was hit by 50 caliber ground fire. When the helicopter landed, it was upright on its skids, with the tail boom broken off and the right aft burning. Witnesses stated that it was certainly a "survivable crash". Witnesses further noted that the left pilot door was jettisoned and that both forward seats were empty. There were reports that the crew may have been taken captive, particularly the pilot, John E. Reid.
Late in the evening the 498th Med Co lost UH-1H #69-15273 and crew (WO1 John V. Rauen, AC, WO1 John M. Souther, pilot, SP4 Dennis E. Gilliland, CE, and SP4 John J. Levulis. medic) just off Khe Sanh. A summary of the accident report follows:
At approximately 2150 hours, WO1 John Rauen (DUSTOFF 30) and his crew were notified of an extended mission to the west of Khe Sanh. At this time, WO1 Rauen elected to refuel his aircraft, and the tower cleared him to reposition from B-MED to POL. The aircraft was flown to POL and refueled without incident. Khe Sanh tower was again contacted and DUSTOFF 30 was cleared from POL back to B-MED. The aircraft departed to the north, and after obtaining a height of 60-80 feet, turned to a south westerly heading. Upon reaching the approach end of runway 09, the aircraft was seen to enter a fog bank which partially obscured the running lights and rotating beacon. Witnesses stated that ground fog had been moving in and out of the area causing the horizontal visibility to vary from zero-zero to unlimited. Shortly after the aircraft entered the fog, a hard turn left was observed by witnesses standing on the approach end of runway 09. Witnesses further stated they saw the aircraft losing altitude during the steep turn. No power loss or malfunction of the engine was noted. As the aircraft neared the ground, the pilot apparently realized what was happening and flared the aircraft in an attempt to decrease his rate of descent. The aircraft impacted the ground (aft left skid), descending at a rate of 650 feet per minute, (both pilot and co-pilot VSI). The aircraft continued forward, flying approximately 45 feet then made ground contact a second time where the right skid made a furrow in the ground eight feet three inches long, two feet eight inches wide, and eight inches deep. As the right skid collapsed, the main rotor blade made contact with two 55 gallon drums. The aircraft continued forward in approximately a 30 degree right bank condition, and a nomex sleeve was torn off one of the crew members by a jagged edge from one of the two 55 gallon drums. Also at this point the head separated from the mast, and as the aircraft began to roll the tailboom separated from the main fuselage. The fuselage rolled another 250 feet leaving puddles of burning JP-4, and came to rest in the upright position facing north. The tailboom also continued forward coming to rest 90 feet northwest of the fuselage. The A/C (left seat) was completely engulfed in flames, and therefore was not removed until the first was at least partially extinguished. The pilot, WO1 John Souther, was extracted from the main fuselage with the use of a front loader. He died 26 Feb from 3rd degree burns of the head and shoulders. The Crew chief, SP4 DE Gilliland, was thrown clear of the main fuselage and landed near the tailboom, however, he died enroute from Khe Sanh to Quang Tri from 3rd degree burns over 90 percent of his body. The medic, SP4 John J. Levulis, was extracted from the right side of the cargo compartment critically burned, and died 21 Feb. The accident report seems to indicate that a Vietnamese officer was on this aircraft and that he was severally injured.
VHPA member Joel Dozhier provides some background information about the "extended mission to the west of Khe Sanh":
That evening we had been alerted for a five DUSTOFF ship mission to pick up about 100 wounded from RANGER NORTH. We were told that things were rather dire at RANGER NORTH so they planned a large horseshoe curtain of artillery to protect us. We had been flying all day and were too tired for something new and dangerous. Our suggestions that we wait until tomorrow were met with statements that there most likely wouldn't be a tomorrow for RANGER NORTH. So we planned to fly a specific sequence of headings to enter the mouth of the horseshoe. Once inside, they would move the horseshoe toward the ARVN base. When DUSTOFF 30 crashed, we dispatched another ship to carry them to coast. With only three ships remaining, MED CONTROL ordered up another replacement ship. About the time he arrived and was briefed, we were told that RANGER NORTH had been evacuated so the mission was canceled.
VHPA member Howard "Mo" Modjeski provides some additional information:
My recollection of the mission the night John Rauen was killed differs only slightly from Joel Dozhier's. The pick up site was not RANGER NORTH (where Dennis Fujii was still heroically "directing traffic") The pick up was about 30 klicks south of Highway 9 on a road that ran south from Highway 9 about half way between Khe Sanh and Xepon. They had all the Dustoff and gunship crews participating in the mission fly over to a TOC between Lang Vei and Bach Son for a mission briefing. Joel was otherwise correct, the situation was desperate, a joint Air Force/Army operation was planned to extract a surrounded ARVN element. The operation was to be replete with Air Force AC-130 flare and gunships, fast mover Tac Air support, helicopter gunships and five Dustoff aircraft flying a specific sequence of headings to enter the mouth of a horseshoe from the southeast to the northwest under covering fire to extract this ARVN element. When the briefing ended, we all flew to POL to topoff before the mission started. After refueling, all the Dustoff ships repositioned to the B-Med pad at the southwest side of Khe Sanh to unit brief and await the start of the mission. Low ceilings and scud had already started moving in and promised to make the evenings operations challenging for everyone. I had already refueled, repositioned to B-Med, and was shutting down the engine when there was a flash of light and a huge corona of light in the direction of the main runway. It looked like ground flares. The main rotor had almost stopped and I was about to turn off the radios when Khe Sanh tower called "Mayday, Dustoff has crashed on runway 09!"
Before we could get cranked and to operational RPM a Dustoff aircraft (Dustoff 507, my recollection is not clear) called short final to the crash. I recognized the voice, it was Dave Borrell one of the 498th copilots flying with one of the 571st ACs. I was very upset we at B-Med could not get to John soon enough. Dave told me later that they touched down seconds after John crashed and there was nothing we could have done. Dave and his 571st AC flew John Souther and John Levulis (copilot and medic) to Quang Tri. They died days later from burns. Contrary to the accident account, my recollection was Dennis Gilliland died on site with John Rauen. I had to identify the bodies. They had put out the fire by pushing earth over the burning wreckage with a front loader because there was not yet adequate fire equipment. Presumably it was the same front loader that extracted John Souther. John Rauen was still in the left seat, only charred remains, I could only tell it was him from the shape of his head in the helmet. John was a flight school class mate of mine and a good friend. I thought we found Gilliland partially buried in the cabin behind Rauen, I distinctly remember his round wire rim glasses. Burns and being killed outright were about the only injuries fast evacuation and the excellent surgeons could not save. I know what the accident report says but I had flown with John many, many times at night and in bad weather. I don't believe John got vertigo or anything like that. I believe there was something wrong with the aircraft. About two months later we got aircraft with crash worthy fuel cells. If John's ship would have been fitted with a crash worthy fuel cell, I think all four of the crew would have been alive today. I remember the mission finally being canceled due to deteriorating weather the majority of gunships were not equipped to fly in, and the reduced number of Dustoff aircraft available for the mission.
D/3/5 Cav lost an AH-1G at XD695494 and crew (1LT John C. Hunter, AC, and WO1 Carl Nacca, pilot). The sketchy details are as follows:
Hunter was Charlie Horse 42. They rolled in on a 14.5 AAA position after a scout aircraft received fire. The Cobra took hits and caught fire at 500 feet AGL. It crashed hard and burned. Please report details to the VHPA.
A/101st's ORLL reports that Comanchero 12 and 33 perform a tactical urgent extraction of a CCN team, that 33 receives RPG fire in the PZ, and his CE was WIA.
21 Feb - About 200 men from the 39th ARVN Rangers fought their way out of RANGER NORTH (leaving about 130 dead and 60 wounded) and moved to RANGER SOUTH. SP5 Fujii (see 18 - 20 Feb for the beginning of this story) was still on RANGER SOUTH directing strikes against the NVA. Again Hueys from the 158th Avn Bn conducted resupply/medevac operations. The 174 AHC lost UH-1C #66-15161 at XD583284. VHPA member Gary Harter remembers this with special clarity:
Charlie models had two well known problems that were magnified during Lam Son 719 - because of the high DA we could only carry about 45 minutes worth of fuel if we were fully loaded with ordnance and we flew slower than the Hotels and Snakes. While the majority of our missions were to cover our own lift ships, we often given short escort DUSTOFF missions. Most everyone talks about refueling at Khe Sanh but Charlie models habitually grabbed fuel at Lang Vei - we wouldn't make it to Khe Sanh. On this day Fred Thompson and I were flying together as wing for CPT Souder and WO Bruce Marshall in the lead Shark gunship. All Shark gunships were painted with wide set of teeth that started just aft of the pilot doors. I guess you could say that our CEs took nose art to the max! Each ship had a name; Souder and Marshall were flying "Surfer Girl" that day. We launched to provide escort for a single DUSTOFF ship that I later learned was flown by Howard "Mo" Modjeski. His mission was to go deep into Base Area 604 to get some ARVN wounded. He lead out because he knew exactly where we were going; then Souder and Bruce and finally our ship. We had just passed over a ridge south and east of FSBs BRICK and DON when we watched in amazement as the lead UH-1C took at least ten maybe fifteen hits. Bruce called out that they were taking fire from 3 o'clock, 6 o'clock, and 9 o'clock. We could easily see the big flashes hit the ship and pieces flying off. Souder radioed that Bruce was wounded and that they were going down. They made a forced landing in a grassy area adjacent to QL92, a narrow north-south road that departed QL9 just west of ALOUI. I alerted "Mo" who seemed to be flying away! We made several firing passes and orbits around the downed ship before we decided to land near them. I distinctly remember seeing a rusted truck on one side of the road and lots of spider holes along the road. Just before I landed in a bomb crater we blew the rocket pods because I knew we'd have a devil of a time getting out of that confined area. Fred and Bob Wilder, our CE, jumped out and started running toward the downed ship. I was on the radio calling for "Mo". He turned around and used FM homing to get back to us. Fred and Bob came back in a few minutes, the vegetation was just too thick for them to get to the other ship. We staggered out of that bomb crater and the most beautiful sight of all greeted us about a quarter mile ahead - the DUSTOFF ship!! In no time, they are over the downed ship. We must have looked ridiculous to the NVA, no rocket pods and our mini-guns just hanging on the sides by their ammo shuts! Fred and I were and still are best friends but we'd argue like mad with each other when we flew together. Maybe that kept us sharp and alive, I don't know. Anyway, that day Fred's taking pictures of the DUSTOFF over the downed Shark. The DUSTOFF guys picked up everyone. Bruce had been hit in both legs. His wounds were very serious and he was evaced back to the States. As we departed the area, I told the DUSTOFF that I was returning low level - I was just tired of being a target. He said "See Ya'" and climbed for altitude. During the next day or so there was some discussion about trying to recover "Surfer Girl". It was my opinion that it wasn't worth risking anyone to recover it because the battle damage had been extensive and for sure the NVA had been able to get to the aircraft. About two days later they put an Arch Light through that section which destroyed the aircraft.
VHPA member Howard "Mo" Modjeski remembers the mission this way:
Operations gave us the frequency and call sign of the Charlie model gunships assigned to the mission but I had no idea who it was until we made initial contact. You have to understand Fred Thompson was the original Southern California Surfer snatched off a surf board and thrown into flight school at a very tender age. He still talked like he was on the beach even in the middle of a war. To this day he still says, "Bitchin!" I recognized Fred's voice upon initial contact. I remember asking if it was Fred, he confirmed and I told him I was Mo. Bruce came on the air and we had a great little flight school reunion. I was blessed to fly most, if not all, of my time on Lam Son 719 with the crew of Mike Basler-Crew Chief and Mike Morris-Medic, on the "Iron Butterfly". I have forgotten the aircraft serial number. I am embarrassed to admit I cannot remember who our copilot was on this mission. Dave Borrell flew with us most of the time in Laos, but I know he was still flying with a 571st AC the night before. We probably still had a 571st copilot with us on this date but I do not remember his name. Mike Morris is one of the most gifted and dedicated Medics I ever had the privilege to fly with. I've seen Morris pick up a half dozen patients in the middle of the night, and in a ten minute ride back to an aid station, dress wounds on every patient, start three IV's in the dark in the back of a bouncing helicopter and give artificial respiration to one of the patients. If Morris did not become a doctor, society missed out on a real talent. Some may recognize the name Basler. Mike Basler's father founded a company called Basler Airlines of Osh Kosh, Wisc. The company rebuilds DC-3s and converts them to turbo prop power. Mike Basler must have learned quite a bit from his father because the Iron Butterfly was the oldest and seemingly weakest bird in the 498th. It always took four or five extra lbs. of torque to hover or cruise compared to other ships in the unit, hence the nose art and name Iron Butterfly. That was the bad news. The good news was Basler's magic insured the Iron Butterfly would always reach down and find some extra N1 to pull out a heavy load in high DA, and despite being shot at hourly in Laos we rarely took hits. In fact no one was ever injured crewing this ship during my tenure with the unit.
The mission was to pick up some urgently classified patients down in the same area as the canceled mission of the previous night. We led the flight of three and were about ten miles south of QL9 when Mike Morris announced on the intercom that we and the gunships were taking fire from six o'clock. We were in an empty H-Model and broke left so we could accomplish a high speed descent without building the rotor RPM. I remember as we broke Mike Morris came on the intercom again and said, "Protect the family jewels!". I turned around to look and Morris was shoving a padded quarter inch steel plate under his fanny for protection. I thought this was uproariously funny until a couple of minutes later. Bruce and Fred broke right in their loaded Charlie Models to keep the rotor RPM from decaying. About the time we got down on the deck, Fred came up on UHF-Guard and called Mayday, that Bruce had been shot down. I called Fred on UHF and asked him to give me a long count on the FM frequency. Fred complied and we proceeded to home to Fred with the FM homer and all the speed the old Iron Butterfly would give us. Just as Fred's long count was about to end we came over a hill where the 51 cals that shot up Bruce were located. They were shooting away from us at Bruce and Fred when we first came over the hill. When they finally heard us they tried to turn our way but just then we went by them. By the time they turned around again to track us we were down range and tracers went by but we took no hits. The Iron Butterfly protects those that fly her! Bruce went down in a little valley of bamboo east of the hill the 51 cals were. Fortunately there was a small knoll between the gun emplacements and the ravine where Bruce landed. This knoll prevented the 51 cals from a direct line of fire on Bruce.
I think air crews in general were exceptionally good at keeping their wits about them under fire. But I think we all have to admit when a fellow airmen went down there was a