There was an adrenaline high, too, and a tremendous sense of accomplishment that I have yet to experience since flying my last mission in Vietnam. http://www.air-america.org. As well as prepping an LZ ahead of the slicks, gunship pilots could also warn crews flying troop carriers of threat areas, and advise them of enemy guns to avoid as they lifted out of the LZ. At least, I believe that is how I would have felt had it been me. We lost a lot of Pilots but we also lost a lot of Crew Chiefs and Door Gunners. its on the ground . A dead man, meaning, he should never have made it back because Dustoff aircraft were unarmed MedEvac helicopters with red and white targets (crosses) painted all over them and flew single-ship missions. Whether they took hits at this time or not is speculation, but he tried another tactic. [Houk]. Two high ranking We fought to an agreed stalemate. . Helicopters needed far more hands on piloting than fixed wing types. Then I did another Young & Stupid thing. Five minutes or more seemed like hours while we sat in the air over the ground troops, taxing every bit of professionalism we hadand the reader better believe we had the utmost professionalism. 5.5% of all helicopter pilots are women, while 94.5% are men. z.. Pucker Factor is the formal name of the equation that states the more hairy the situation is, the more of the seat cushion will be sucked up your ass. November 14th, 2013 at 5:45 pm Dave Shannon (crewmember, 92nd AHC) Says: I always liked the subdued look of combat zone attire, as opposed to anything shiny or glittery. Any combination of these can be deadly. The second pilot you will meet is retired CWO2 Allan Potter. Flying is better than walking. bombers during World War II most often flew missions lasting many hours with They could often see what we could not and helped keep the enemy off of us and to even the odds for us, so to speak. It was NOT the U.S. Embassy. I cannot talk about how tough flight school was, nor can I state what the washout rate was because I did not go myself. applies to subscribers): Age 80 and above ---$75.00 . I knew that if Don got in trouble on the approach, I could not be of much help because of the gunshot wound in my left arm, but we were Young and Stupid and we made it. [McCaffrey], The oldest man killed was 62 years old (TAYLOR, KENNA CLYDE). As explained by Peter E. Davies in his book UH-1 Huey Gunship Vs NVA/VC Forces Vietnam 1962-75, many US Army pilots volunteered for combat simply because they wanted to fly the UH-1. designed as a helipad. It is far better that you fear the media, for they will steal your HONOR. The average age (according to General William C. Westmoreland before the Third Annual Reunion of the Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association (VHPA) at the Washington, DC Hilton Hotel on July 5th, 1986) was 26 The average man who fought in World War II was 26 years of age. Later, the crew became a two-man pilot team. While it may be possible to ward off this natural event some of the time, it cannot, despite the best efforts of the crew, always be prevented. it will be forwarded to the appropriate VHPA representative. I remember my very first primary flight instructor pointing at him as I listened intently to his every word. After that initial post-service period, Vietnam veterans were no more likely to die from suicide than non-Vietnam veterans. Americans who deliberately killed civilians received prison sentences while Communists who did so received commendations. solicitation purposes, or any correspondence related thereto. There were many of the Warrant Officers that were in their 18,19, and 20s. bombers and were always exposed to hostile fire even in their base camps. . By 1967, 600 pilots were being graduated per month. Isolated atrocities committed by American soldiers produced torrents of outrage from antiwar critics and the news media while Communist atrocities were so common that they received hardly any attention at all. Recent reports in the news media that an American commander ordered the air strike that burned Kim Phuc are incorrect. ah.. Nobody cares what you did yesterday or what you are going to do tomorrow. dont care. With a fair amount of apprehension, it was now the moment of truth. Could we really do what we had been trained to do, without letting anyone down? As a group, we helicopter pilots did what we had to do and then some. 58,169 were killed and 304,000 wounded out of 2.59 million who served. Funds are paid by Greater Good Charities to benefiting organizations as a grant. As a Premium user you get access to background information and details about the release of this statistic. The Vietnam War was the turning point for Communism. The Indonesians threw the Soviets out in 1966 because of America's commitment in Vietnam. s.. The American military did not lose a battle of any consequence. There is an explanation The fall of Saigon happened 30 April 1975, two years AFTER the American military left Vietnam. In action, gunships sometimes left their lights on for night missions, for according to another Huey pilot, We had a doctrine that wed rather have the enemy shoot at the gunship than at the lesser armed slicks.. A constant line of chatter was transmitted from the medic and the Crew Chief to the pilots, who were both on the flight controls in case either was violently incapable of continuing to fly the aircraft. They were immensely important to the troops on the ground as aerial fire power. Thank you. The great majority of these efforts have erroneously portrayed many myths about the Vietnam War as being facts. The Wall), Center for Electronic Records, National Archives, Washington, DC, [All That We Can Be] All That We Can Be by Charles C. Moskos and John Sibley Butler, [Westmoreland] Speech by General William C. Westmoreland before the Third Annual Reunion of the Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association (VHPA) at the Washington, DC Hilton Hotel on July 5th, 1986 (reproduced in a Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association Historical Reference Directory Volume 2A). 5 Stars . American involvement in February 1973. It turned out to be the best thing that happened to me, even though I was wounded before the year was out and sent home before my tour was over. [VHPA Databases] Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association Databases. Terry Clark? They were Kim's cousins not her brothers. herriman high school soccer roster. Correspondence relating to commercial purposes or solicitations shall only be (EC), [Home] [ReunionInformation] [Donations] [OurLegacy] [MembershipServices] [RelatedWebSites], This He fell right through the rotor blades. . volunteers. I enlisted in the (WOFT) Warrant Officer Flight Training. Required fields are marked *. magazines, a membership directory and a calendar each year and periodically publishes If you ask people who live in these countries that won the war in Vietnam, they have a different opinion from the American news media. I was okay to fly helicopters in the Army, but not to drive a jeep! [Home] [ReunionInformation] [Donations] [OurLegacy] [MembershipServices] [RelatedWebSites] Member Login. One guy was 19, while the oldest (not counting our Commanding Officer) was the 28-year-old XO, Army slang for the second in command, Executive Officer. I suppose that is what kept most of us going in the daily risk of flying helicopters in combat in Vietnam. Helicopter Pilots Association (VHPA) is a non-profit war veterans organization filed under Vietnam Veterans are less likely to be in prison - only 1/2 of one percent of Vietnam Veterans have been jailed for crimes. [Houk] Testimony by Dr. Houk, Oversight on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, 14 July 1988 page 17, Hearing before the Committee on Veterans' Affairs United States Senate one hundredth Congress second session. (the herbicide was called "orange" in Vietnam, not Agent Orange. solicitation purposes, or any correspondence related thereto. only 10 to 20 minutes of that time exposed to hostile fire. The Pilots of 1st of the 9th Cav were and yes still are the best. We put him in the back of the cargo compartment with his M-16 and a helmet, hooked him up to the intercom, and we were off. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for NEW 2008 HASBRO GI Joe Helicopter Pilot Wild Bill 25th Anniversary FREE SHIPPING at the best online prices at eBay! The average time lapse between wounding to hospitalization was less than one hour. Read more about the planned U.S. Air Force helicopter Vietnam War history sections. theyre on the penetrator . Here is an example done at the 2005 You can only download this statistic as a Premium user. VHPA Aviator (big file). advertising and other information. o.. Even though I had yet to fly my first hour of combat, I had already done many incredible things that my high school and college friends could not even dream of. History of the founding of the VHPA written by [2]:3, This operation heralded a new era of air mobility for the U.S. Army, which had been slowly growing as a concept since the Army formed twelve helicopter battalions in 1952 as a result of the Korean War. Uh, thats a can opener for those of you who arent military. Myth: Most Vietnam veterans were drafted. A Scout team consisted of a pilot, a Door Gunner and an observer. I had no idea of the satisfaction, pride, sense of accomplishment, and even elation that I would feel in the next six months. [Burkett] Stolen Valor: How the Vietnam Generation was Robbed of its Heroes and its History by B.G. Myth: The fighting in Vietnam was not as intense as in World War II. Rarely have so many people been so wrong about so much. [VHPA 1993] Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association 1993 Membership Directory page 130. average age of vietnam helicopter pilot - nanchital.gob.mx Black fatalities amounted to 12 percent of all Americans killed in Southeast Asia - a figure proportional to the number of blacks in the U.S. population at the time and slightly lower than the proportion of blacks in the Army at the close of the war." Information contained herein shall not be used for commercial Even more demanding was formation flying at night, with navigation lights off, using the glow from the leaders cockpit instruments for station keeping. [McCaffrey], MEDEVAC helicopters flew nearly 500,000 missions. There were no Americans involved in any capacity. through mini-reunions (local get togethers) throughout the year and through the Internet We risked much in a totally dark valley that night, and there was no doubt that someone appreciated us. . Dario Leone is an aviation, defense and military writer. For the latter, a specially equipped H-13 had optional blanked out external vision. . I found a can of olive drab (OD) spray paint and . It is dedicated to the fulfillment of looking good. ab.. Thousands of Vietnam Veterans earned medals for bravery every day. All of these, however, are better than extraction by Medavac, even if it is technically, a form of flying. If you lose you There is a reason why these medevac pilots were called our angels in the sky. We who fought the enemy face to face on the ground, whether infantry or recon, knew that if we were wounded, these guys would do anything necessary, face any danger the enemy could present, to get us out of hell and back to the care we needed. ao.. In June of 1967, Marine officers destined to become fixed-wing pilots began reporting to Air Force bases for flight training. If we didnt do it, the next guy would, and we would have been found to be personally lacking what it took to complete the mission. After training, they entered transport or gunship platoons referred to simply as slicks or guns. Most would complete at least two combat tours. We grabbed some unsuspecting Schmuck and told him to get his weapon and some ammo and run with us to the aircraft. As they entered a one year combat tour, many pilots heard the ominous rumor that the average life expectancy of a US Army Aviator helicopter pilot in combat was only 19 minutes. Age 65 to 69 --------$250.00 It took all of our skill and luck to avoid flying into the valley walls as we stuck our heads out the windows to find our way to the LZ without balling up the helicopter. . The first time I tried to land on the ship at night, I terminated at a 30-foot hover over the deck instead of on the deck, and the Aircraft Commander had to take over and hover us down to the ship. "Average age of active pilots in the United States from 2002 to 2020, by category*." Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. They were utterly selfless and courageous warriors on our behalf. The night I was wounded, my new co-pilot Don Study put us right on the deck, but all the while I had visions of my first 30-foot hover when I was a Funny New Guyan FNG. who is now retired in Arizona. Click here to view the US Army educational video, "A Day in the Life of a Helicopter Pilot," circa 1967. Average Vietnam Of Helicopter Age Pilot [ROCFI4] 2/3 of the men who served in World War II were drafted. about halfway down . One of those is the missing man table at the banquet at each Even then, there could be no guarantee that the slicks would be able to land and then depart without being targeted by enemy fire. [The Wall Street Journal]. Harnage, Did you know the average life expectancy of a US Army Huey pilot in Those brief and simple heartfelt words meant more to me that night than anything else ever said to me during my entire tour. Are you interested in testing our business solutions? Your email address will not be published. That knocked the rotor blades off and the TH-55 went in., Successful candidates then progressed to the Contact Phase at Knox Army Heliport, Fort Rucker, for specific training on the UH-1B, C, and D, followed by the Tactics Phase at nearby Lowe Army Helioport, which prepared them for realistic combat conditions. The last American troops departed in their entirety 29 March 1973. story building where the CIA station chief and many of his officers lived, located at 22 Ly Tu Trong St. Overview and forecasts on trending topics, Industry and market insights and forecasts, Key figures and rankings about companies and products, Consumer and brand insights and preferences in various industries, Detailed information about political and social topics, All key figures about countries and regions, Market forecast and expert KPIs for 600+ segments in 150+ countries, Insights on consumer attitudes and behavior worldwide, Business information on 60m+ public and private companies, Detailed information for 35,000+ online stores and marketplaces. Published by on October 31, 2021. The planes doing the bombing near the village were VNAF (Vietnam Air Force) and were being flown by Vietnamese pilots in support of South Vietnamese troops on the ground. Vietnam Helicopter Memorial: Veterans Fight Bureaucracy | Time . Okay, so the Hueys were extremely reliable, and I still love those incredible machines, but for the moment let us discuss navigation equipment on a Huey. plaque made from the mold for the AH-1G prototype collective grip. Myth: Kim Phuc, the little nine year old Vietnamese girl running naked from the napalm strike near Trang Bang on 8 June 1972, was burned by Americans bombing Trang Bang. The pilots who were flying this helicopter, average age of vietnam helicopter pilot - cbeconsulting.net The first one you will meet is retired Army Col. Douglas Moore, a medevac pilot in Vietnam. San Antonio, Texas 78208-0091, Copyright 2023 DUSTOFF Association | Powered by Barefoot Pixel, USAAAD conducts life-saving rescue of two civilians near Mount Adams. The picture of a Huey helicopter evacuating people from the top of what was billed as being the U.S. Embassy in Saigon during the last week of April 1975 during the fall of Saigon helped to establish this myth. More Scout Teams were lost because of this than any other helicopter team. Yet undoubtedly every plane in Laos carried opium at some time, unknown to the pilot and his superiors. The Pilots of Charlie Troop 1st Squadron 9th Cavalry Regiment 1st Cavalry Division (AM) were the best Pilots of the Vietnam War and today they are the best men America has to offer. [VHPA 1993], The helicopter provided unprecedented mobility. About 12,000 U.S. military helicopters spent 7.5 million hours above Vietnam, flying 2 million missions. [VHPA databases]. Damn Navy talk! The hospital ship would then radio to the helicopter again, Just come in from the left and land to the back of the boat. It always got an immediate Roger!. I wont make it back.. I graduated from Flight Training 2 day short of a year. There walks a dead man. Directly accessible data for 170 industries from 50 countries and over 1 million facts: Get quick analyses with our professional research service. [All That We Can Be]. After the first of the two injured soldiers was hoisted on board, the din of the covering fire began to register in my head. We especially were concerned about the troops we were there to support. The additional weight of patients on the end of the hoist as they were lifted off the ground further complicated the stability of the aircraft. All rights reserved. [1] "Vietnam helicopter pilots describe the war from the cockpit," YouTube video, posted by "Military Times," April 18th, 2018. 01/09/2013. In fact, not at all, since we usually flew with the doors open, even at night. fund has been established at the Vietnam Center and Archives at Texas Tech Even the AP photographer, Nick Ut, who took the picture was Vietnamese. Provide food and supplies to veterans at The Veterans Site for free! When sprayed on dense jungle foliage, less that 6 percent ever reached the ground. We sacrificed our youth and innocence; we achieved above and beyond the call of duty on a daily basis. His writing has appeared in The National Interest and other news media. I could not have been more proud of myself and my flight school classmates for having come this far.
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