Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Book by a chopper pilot in 'Nam

I flew with some Viet Nam guys in the National Guard. They would kid about how overloaded the Huey's were and how they had to skid down the runway to get enough transitional speed to go from pure lift to something replicating traditional rotary wing flight. It was usually followed by the words "we did some stupid stuff".

kwg

I also recommend Chickenhawk by Robert Mason. I need to re-read it.

68-69

Yes and yes! Read like 3 of his books, even the drug bust one was interesting.

any estimate of the amount of helicopters that were shot down in Vietnam?

When I started working offshore most of the helicopter pilots flew in Veit Nam. They were good guys that were fearless. They would come and pick us up in any weather. I have boarded a helicopter in 80 mph winds. Front wheel was a foot and a half off the deck.

According to VHPA (Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association) 11,846 helicopters were shot down or crashed during the war, resulting in nearly 5,000 American pilots and crew killed. This includes Army, Navy, Air Force, and Air America aircraft and crews from the US; not sure of their crew losses but helicopter losses of Australia, South Vietnam, and Thailand are included in the above total.

Seems like I read that book in paperback 20+ years ago. If I find it while cleaning out boxes of books and magazines, I'll put that one on the keep list.

No, not nice!

I know this is an old thread, but today I had a conversation with a VN War veteran, and he told me the best sound in the world was a chopper arriving to load troops up and take them back to base camp after a fire fight. He also said he felt the worse anxiety he ever had when the chopper was lifting off with everyone aboard and fearing that a VC rocket would come out of somewhere.

Very cool that you will have read the book and be able to discuss some of the experiences he had over there. I wish I had spent more time doing that with my Pop and my uncles. But, they're all gone now. Do it while you can before their time runs out.

https://www.amazon.com/Limit-Air-Huey-Pilot-Vietnam/dp/0451222180

https://starnewsgaonline.com/2024/03/21/thomas-tom-aubrey-johnson/

I Have a signed copy of this book.

A very humble man may he R.I.P.


Mike

I salute anybody who can willingly summon up those memories and write about them without subjecting themselves to the midnight screaming meemies.
RB

When I lived in L.A., I became friends with another screenwriter named Dennis Foley. He later became a novelist, writing about his several tours in Vietnam as an Airborne Ranger and LRP. Wounded twice. His book, Special Men, is on my book shelf. Very interesting. We used to shoot together at the Beverly Hills Gun Club. He now lives in Montana. Foley volunteered for the Army and went in as a private. Stayed for twenty years and came out as a Lt. Col.

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=dennis+foley+books&i=stripbooks&crid=2SZ0AV70VQTZX&sprefix=Dennis+Foley%2Cstripbooks%2C178&ref=nb_sb_ss_fb_1_12

Take a look.

L.W.

I drink coffee most mornings with a group of Vietnam vets, one was a helicopter pilot and one a Navy pilot who flew missions over the North every day. Lotsa interesting stories. Another member of the group is the former Commanding General of the 101st Airborne who rode a helicopter down after taking hostile fire. There are former members of the Army, Navy, Marines and the Air Force, enlisted men and officers, several with Purple Hearts and other service commendations.

About Face by David H Hackworth.

RB, it actually was the writing of the books that got me out of the screaming meemies - or PTSD - or whatever you want to call it.

I was pretty messed up, self destructive, and short-tempered for more than 10 years after 'Nam. It kept getting worse until I got fired from three jobs in a row. My wife saw something about a fiction writing contest and signed me up for it, then said to write about 'Nam. The contest was to write at least a 50,000-word novella in 30 days. Once I started, the words came out of me like bad basement beer. I wrote 65,000 words in 15 days. That was how Baggy Zero Four came about.

That helped me so much that I then started on Mike Five Eight (which is much less fictional than Baggy) and that seems to have cured me. I haven't felt those PTSD symptoms since.

I have not read the others but I highly reccomend Rocky's books. miles

I relate to what Rocky said. Regurgitating the experience here on the Campfire settled my brain quite a bit.

Perspective: In country less that 2 weeks and I had my Purple Heart. A week or so later my platoon had one OH6 left. I was quite certain I would not survive my tour so I put on my Barbarian Hat and said "What the Hell..." We had an authorized strength of 10 choppers in the platoon. We had that many in inventory once during my tour, for about a week. Lost 42 that year, but only had 2 crewmen killed. One by gunshot, the other from a crash that burned. Only 2 burned that year. Two went swimming, nobody drowned. They don't float even if the fuel tank is empty.

There are no chopper crewmen down in Hell.

Worth a post....


What former CG of the 101st was shot down in a helicopter during the Vietnam War?

That Question would be on every Soldier of the month board
Every soldier of the Quarter board
Every soldier of the year board.
In every unit from the 101 asked by every CSM and 1sg at battalion level, up to Bde and Div CSM,s at division level boards.
And asked at every E5 and E6 promotion board in every battalion from Combat Support to Combat Arms in the 101st.
And would most def be mentioned in the Veitnam section at Pratt museum on post.

Military history kinda stuff.....


Kinda funny.... I did 3 tours in the 101st from 1990 to 2004
Never heard of this " obscure factoid"
Ever.....
Nor have I ever heard it from anyone ever in any unit I was assigned to in the 101st


You word this like this former 101 CG that got shot down in a bird over vietnam that you sip coffee with is still a 02 consumer.



List of CG,s of the 101st from 65 to 72 while the unit was in veitnam and the year they stopped being O2 users..
Powell 11
Stenberg 04
Barsanti 73
Zias 81
Wright 14
Hennesey 01
Tarpley 86
Cushman 17

So which Weekend at Bernies former CG of the 101st that rode a bird down in Vietnam after taking hostile fire are you drinking coffee with????


You know it, it seems.
Let the rest of us know it please.
Just to clear this up...
I will own this if I am mistaken, feel free to enlighten me and others that served in the 101 on here.

Oh....
My bad...
Add NCO boards to match all those soldier boards that go on also...
👍🏻


Oh...

Another little known factoid.

Cameroon beat Argentina 1 - 0 in some fuuking world cup soccer game in 1990.

Homie got a 198 out of 200 on his e6 board in June of 90 2nd time in Korea.
Then arrived at the 101 for his 1st time in July of 90.

Current events question I bombed on my E6 board.....
Just some example of schit you don't forget no matter how obscure.....
🤦‍♂️ soccer......