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Joined: Sep 2014
Posts: 21,735
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Sep 2014
Posts: 21,735 |
Thanks Dan.
Someone linked your old thread telling your story.
It popos up once in awhile, I usually read it all.
Did you ever write a book?
Know Rocky has, have bought and read both.
Parents who say they have good kids..Usually don't!
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Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 4,216
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 4,216 |
I have a buddy that probably wished for helos many a time. He was part of the brown water navy. Taxi service for units going places. None of those places were on the list of where we supposedly went. Funny thing , years ago his records were "burned up" in a warehouse fire at St Louis, MO. He never said much about choppers. Lots about PBRs. Them being blown up and he was in fair shape because he was in the gun tub, armored, shooting back with the Browning M2. I revere you guys that were there and "done that". DD, and Rocky, and all the rest. And if any of you guys think fixed wing is gay read Rocky Raab's books, if they can still be found. Mine won't go anywhere but in my modest library, remarked by the author. Did I mention I revere you guys that answered the call. I signed up for the draft in late '69. Was #181 in a small county and decided I wasn't called because I was an only son. Life swept me up and I never went. Be Well, RZ.
Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy. Its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery. Winston Churchill.
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Joined: May 2004
Posts: 56,037
Campfire Kahuna
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Campfire Kahuna
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 56,037 |
Dillonbuck, I didn't write a book in the conventional fashion, but do have something added to the short story put us here awhile back. PM me an email and I'll send it your way.
DD
I am..........disturbed.
Concerning the difference between man and the jackass: some observers hold that there isn't any. But this wrongs the jackass. -Twain
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Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 4,177
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Oct 2004
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John Cooley R.I.P.
Survived Viet Nam, killed flying for BPA.
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Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 1,948
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 1,948 |
Rusty, your comments evoke two thoughts in response: 1) The "brown water" Navy had HAL3 - the Seawolves - who were just as good, just as crazy, and just as kick-ass as any of us Army guys, I assure you. Same goes for the AIr Force Green Hornets (who Rocky can personally vouch for). Helicopters in VN were not just an Army institution. 2) I think that very few helicopter pilots thought less of fixed-wing pilots - most of the interchange between us was friendly banter and truth be known, most of it from the helicopter crowd was from the perspective of jealous envy. Rotory wing pilots were always looking to transition to fixed wing - but very few fixed wing guys wanted to transition to rotary wing. As to Rocky specifically, you have to be nuts to fly single-pilot, single airplane over Laos at night with no way to get picked up if you went down. It takes Mucho balls to pull that off. I doubt if he had to ever buy his own drinks in any "water holes' around Ban Me Thuot 
AKA The P-Man If you cherish your memories with kids, be a good role model . . . . so the RIGHT memories of you mean something to them.
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Joined: Aug 2014
Posts: 4,991
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Aug 2014
Posts: 4,991 |
I have known and flown with several working offshore. Our main crew change pilot for years was a stud. He wasn't scared. He came out in a hurricane once when we thought we were stuck. When he landed on a small heliport winds were 80.
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Joined: Aug 2016
Posts: 425
Campfire Member
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Campfire Member
Joined: Aug 2016
Posts: 425 |
I have a ton of respect for those guys. One of my most memorable experiences was going up for a Huey ride at an air show. I highly recommend it. Can’t imagine what they all went through over hostile territory. Good on Alaska for recognizing them.
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Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 13,935
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 13,935 |
I have a buddy that probably wished for helos many a time. He was part of the brown water navy. Taxi service for units going places. None of those places were on the list of where we supposedly went. Funny thing , years ago his records were "burned up" in a warehouse fire at St Louis, MO. He never said much about choppers. Lots about PBRs. Them being blown up and he was in fair shape because he was in the gun tub, armored, shooting back with the Browning M2. I revere you guys that were there and "done that". DD, and Rocky, and all the rest. And if any of you guys think fixed wing is gay read Rocky Raab's books, if they can still be found. Mine won't go anywhere but in my modest library, remarked by the author. Did I mention I revere you guys that answered the call. I signed up for the draft in late '69. Was #181 in a small county and decided I wasn't called because I was an only son. Life swept me up and I never went. Be Well, RZ. Chalk that up to luck or your number simply didn't come up because just being an 'only son' wasn't an authorized deferment from being drafted into military or serving in combat during the Vietnam war, and to my understanding, still isn't nowadays. There was a sole surviving son / daughter exemption but it applied only when siblings or a parent died while serving in the military and may still be an optional exemption from service.
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Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 42,697
Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 42,697 |
After Vietnam was over, I flew on a Huey Med Evac Crew for 2 years, and ALL our pilots were Vietnam Vets.
I think they could do things with those Hueys that the engineers who designed them, would never have thought possible.
I swear, I thought those guys could flew that Huey thru the eye of a Needle, upside down and backwards....
I've certainly have been on board quite a few times, when they would fly them thru the tops of trees, just to show they could do it,
or to give the first time passenger, a ride to freak them out enough they would crap their underwear....
God Bless each and every one of those guys....
"Minus the killings, Washington has one of the lowest crime rates in the Country" Marion Barry, Mayor of Wash DC
“Owning guns is not a right. If it were a right, it would be in the Constitution.” ~Alexandria Ocasio Cortez
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Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 42,697
Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 42,697 |
These stories bring back a lot of memories.. my brother was in the 101st in Vietnam attached to the 1st Cav in 66/67 and he talks about the Hueys pretty religiously and I fully expect him to bow his head when he does- which doesn't surprise me at all. When my turn came in 72 I signed up for 4 years of infantry and started basic at Fort Ord in Sep 72... halfway through basic I guess they were running short of helo pilots so they offered to send me to helo pilot school . Like a fool I turned it down because I had a commitment to go to Europe and wanted to travel- not to mention all the helo pilots getting killed at the end. Thing was, the last man was sent in January of 73 just a couple days before we were due to be sent over so I would "probably" never have seen combat but hard to tell. The last man didn't come back until 75 so I've always regretted my decision in that one and many other opportunities I had while in the Army...
We used to train with the helo pilots loading and unloading in hot LZ's and it was a real experience. We would fly at tree top levels literally- sitting on the floor of the Hueys and letting out feet sit on the skids while they flew as fast as the bird would travel. When we got to the appointed area, the experienced pilots and usually Vietnam vets would probably slow down to about 5-10 mph and kick us out about 5 feet off the ground and were gone before we could stand up. Always had to pick tree limbs and fir needles out of our shoe laces at the end of the day from following the tree top contours so closely with the skids. Met a lot of the guys coming back from Nam when I was in AIT and later at my assignment units... to this day I am not afraid of too many guys no matter how big they are after seeing that mile long stare some of those guys had after their experience. Nobody in my life will be as spooky as those guys and not nearly as tough... some of their experiences were tough to listen to, but I learned a lot hearing their stories while they were still fresh from the killing fields... those helo pilots I met were some crazy and brave mf'ers, but every vet I met went through more than a guy should have to bear... Great post.....
"Minus the killings, Washington has one of the lowest crime rates in the Country" Marion Barry, Mayor of Wash DC
“Owning guns is not a right. If it were a right, it would be in the Constitution.” ~Alexandria Ocasio Cortez
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Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 5,664
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 5,664 |
Rusty, your comments evoke two thoughts in response:
1) The "brown water" Navy had HAL3 - the Seawolves - who were just as good, just as crazy, and just as kick-ass as any of us Army guys, I assure you. I had a really good friend who flew with HAL-3 and was with 251. Super great guy. I was with HMM-165 (1-72 through 10-72). Great group. Lost some good fellows during the Easter offensive. Semper Fi brothers. Jim
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