Vietnam Helicopter Photographs
Thread Starter
Friend at home here was with them....took a bullet through his shoulder joint after being in country for a total of four months...ended his tenure in the Army and killed his flying....plays real heck with his golf game too.
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I don't have a picture to share, but when I was instructing in 2005, a man brought his dad (a Viet Nam helicopter pilot) in for a ride in a 300. I was
lucky enough to be the one to "ride along". He hadn't flown for 25 years and
asked me(!) to sign his log book he brought in. Never forget it.
lucky enough to be the one to "ride along". He hadn't flown for 25 years and
asked me(!) to sign his log book he brought in. Never forget it.
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LoLo...Sophia...Hope...Brown....
SAS,
Was into, (and very fortunately!) also outbound from LoLo that day. Was a very nasty and costly afternoon. As were all of those Lam Son LZs in point of fact. Very hard to describe just how inaccurate the term, 'mid-intensity' AAA fits the airspace and the 'terra-not-so-firma' in Laos in early 71. Something seems to have been lost in the translation for the subsequent generations, I fear? Is that picture not the cover from the VHPA annual which featured their worthy research on LS719?
I could say thanks for reminding me...but I have never really forgotten those weeks....stay well nontheless!
kevin
Was into, (and very fortunately!) also outbound from LoLo that day. Was a very nasty and costly afternoon. As were all of those Lam Son LZs in point of fact. Very hard to describe just how inaccurate the term, 'mid-intensity' AAA fits the airspace and the 'terra-not-so-firma' in Laos in early 71. Something seems to have been lost in the translation for the subsequent generations, I fear? Is that picture not the cover from the VHPA annual which featured their worthy research on LS719?
I could say thanks for reminding me...but I have never really forgotten those weeks....stay well nontheless!
kevin
Thread Starter
Kevin,
That photo is from the cover of the VHPA Annual.
They did provide a very good account of Lam Son 719.
It should be noted that one operation resulted in the loss of one heck of a lot of guys and helicopters....probably the most intense action of the war especially for the numbers of people and aircraft involved.
That is a story that needs telling especially for those that wish to compare Malaya to Vietnam as has been done so often in the past.
This link has data on the losses and some excellent audio of radio chatter....very sobering to listen to.
Lam Son 719
Another account of downed aircrews....with a Mayday call being recorded.
174 AHC Unit History, Witch Doctor shoot-down
Welcome Home Kev!
That photo is from the cover of the VHPA Annual.
They did provide a very good account of Lam Son 719.
It should be noted that one operation resulted in the loss of one heck of a lot of guys and helicopters....probably the most intense action of the war especially for the numbers of people and aircraft involved.
That is a story that needs telling especially for those that wish to compare Malaya to Vietnam as has been done so often in the past.
This link has data on the losses and some excellent audio of radio chatter....very sobering to listen to.
Lam Son 719
Another account of downed aircrews....with a Mayday call being recorded.
174 AHC Unit History, Witch Doctor shoot-down
Welcome Home Kev!
Last edited by SASless; 25th Mar 2009 at 16:31.
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The oddest part....
SAS,
Thanks mate and the very same to you.....it's our party as they used to say!
The most striking thing about having listened to that audio, which is excellent btw, is that it was like waking inside a personal timecapsule. I could clearly recall hearing it all on those very days in 1971. The NVA did a smashing job of electronic jamming of all sorts of freqs over the fence, but as we were all tenuously balancing three radios between our eardrums....most of those calls were heard by all the crews in the air over Laos.
It is strange also to note that the 'incursion' as it was known changed US military heli-assualt tactics for years to come, (including currently) as it was determined, though never publically debated that helos could not effectively function beyond the FEBA in an environment beyond the "low" category, (laughably used to describe the AAA with the RVN those days!).
The only written work on the topic, other than some credible bios, ("Price of Exit"-Marshall) comes to mind) is Nolan's "Into Laos" which reads and works as if it were taken exclusively from the 101st Unit histories and Command logs. It manages to amazingly ignore virtually ALL of the 1st Avn Bde units which bore the brunt of the ARVN assaults all along the escarpment south of Rte 9 both going into Laos and more tragically on the way out as well. Ahhh.....regardless....it is dry and lacks any real feel of what the aircrews were experiencing during the op.
You are correct.....the tale is yet untold!
The material available through VHPA and the AHC websites are the best and nearly the only primary sources worth mentioning.
Take the best of care Old Guy, (from another 'Old guy')
k
Thanks mate and the very same to you.....it's our party as they used to say!
The most striking thing about having listened to that audio, which is excellent btw, is that it was like waking inside a personal timecapsule. I could clearly recall hearing it all on those very days in 1971. The NVA did a smashing job of electronic jamming of all sorts of freqs over the fence, but as we were all tenuously balancing three radios between our eardrums....most of those calls were heard by all the crews in the air over Laos.
It is strange also to note that the 'incursion' as it was known changed US military heli-assualt tactics for years to come, (including currently) as it was determined, though never publically debated that helos could not effectively function beyond the FEBA in an environment beyond the "low" category, (laughably used to describe the AAA with the RVN those days!).
The only written work on the topic, other than some credible bios, ("Price of Exit"-Marshall) comes to mind) is Nolan's "Into Laos" which reads and works as if it were taken exclusively from the 101st Unit histories and Command logs. It manages to amazingly ignore virtually ALL of the 1st Avn Bde units which bore the brunt of the ARVN assaults all along the escarpment south of Rte 9 both going into Laos and more tragically on the way out as well. Ahhh.....regardless....it is dry and lacks any real feel of what the aircrews were experiencing during the op.
You are correct.....the tale is yet untold!
The material available through VHPA and the AHC websites are the best and nearly the only primary sources worth mentioning.
Take the best of care Old Guy, (from another 'Old guy')
k
Thread Starter
I ran across this article quite by accident today and see it as a wonderfully written recounting of the experience of a Vietnam Helicopter Pilot. At the risk of imposing on the writer's good will and modesty.....as proven by previous contacts with him in the past....I hope he will not object to others reading his article done back in 1995.
He recently returned to Vietnam with his family and I would hope in time to see a similar account of that "tour" in Vietnam to go along with this one.
Talking to him over the phone now days you would never guess he was anything but an Aussie!
index.html
Web site with list of Air Crew from the 229th Killed In Action and accounts of their loss.
229th-KIA's
He recently returned to Vietnam with his family and I would hope in time to see a similar account of that "tour" in Vietnam to go along with this one.
Talking to him over the phone now days you would never guess he was anything but an Aussie!
index.html
Web site with list of Air Crew from the 229th Killed In Action and accounts of their loss.
229th-KIA's
What an Era,how innocent we were
Thanks Sass old chap.
She was a wonderful lady and full of class.
Grey 14: More appreciated your memories on JH than you know, most like me just enjoyed them. So for those that did and do not post here, thanks mate.
Have a great safe day all:
She was a wonderful lady and full of class.
Grey 14: More appreciated your memories on JH than you know, most like me just enjoyed them. So for those that did and do not post here, thanks mate.
Have a great safe day all:
Thread Starter
She was indeed!
The "Young" Lady in Vietnam.....1966 was it?
The Soldier named "Richard" and Ann-Margaret.
The "Young" Lady in Vietnam.....1966 was it?
The Soldier named "Richard" and Ann-Margaret.
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Due for DEROS
I was a "30-day loss" when the opns officer came to me and said I had a mission with the 11th BGD the next day. I had already "stood down" so refused the mission. Generally when you had less than 30 days remaining on your tour, you were not scheduled for combat missions.
A short time later my CO, Major Moore advised me that if I did not want the mossion, he would assign it to another crew and I would be posted a slot on the Flight to Quang Tri with the rest of the First Flight Platoon!!!
My reply to him was " Who is this that you want me to report to in the 11th BGD tomorrow??"
I took the mission and thus avoided the Lam Song venture.
Mind, Our unit (176th AHC) suffered a fair amount of KIAs and MIAs on that operation.
My feelings to this day are that, at that time, I was a senior AC and may have been able to prevent some of our losses. However, after the fact, those that went said the results had absoultly nothing to do with experience....just the luck of the draw.
Anyway, it was a full combat tour with the Americal and ll23 hrs of Combat in 12 calendar months.
Proud but not vain.
Stan Gray.
A short time later my CO, Major Moore advised me that if I did not want the mossion, he would assign it to another crew and I would be posted a slot on the Flight to Quang Tri with the rest of the First Flight Platoon!!!
My reply to him was " Who is this that you want me to report to in the 11th BGD tomorrow??"
I took the mission and thus avoided the Lam Song venture.
Mind, Our unit (176th AHC) suffered a fair amount of KIAs and MIAs on that operation.
My feelings to this day are that, at that time, I was a senior AC and may have been able to prevent some of our losses. However, after the fact, those that went said the results had absoultly nothing to do with experience....just the luck of the draw.
Anyway, it was a full combat tour with the Americal and ll23 hrs of Combat in 12 calendar months.
Proud but not vain.
Stan Gray.
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Ed Freeman
I received a chain email this morning which I believe to be worthy of sharing with the right people. I have absolutely no doubt that many posters and readers of this thread displayed the same bravery as Ed, and you all contributed immensely to the helicopter industry we enjoy today. For that, you all get my respect.
Tam Macklin - a visiting Jock.
Here is the email -
You're a 19 year old kid. You're critically wounded, and dying in the jungle in the Ia Drang Valley , 11-14-1965, LZ X-ray, Vietnam . Your infantry unit is outnumbered 8 - 1, and the enemy fire is so intense, from 100 or 200 yards away, that your own Infantry Commander has ordered the MediVac helicopters to stop coming in.
You're lying there, listening to the enemy machine guns, and you know you're not getting out. Your family is half-way around the world, 12,000 miles away, and you'll never see them again.. As the world starts to fade in and out, you know this is the day. Then, over the machine gun noise, you faintly hear that sound of a helicopter, and you look up to see an un-armed Huey, but it doesn't seem real, because no Medi-Vac markings are on it.
Ed Freeman is coming for you. He's not Medi-Vac, so it's not his job, but he's flying his Huey down into the machine gun fire, after the Medi- Vacs were ordered not to come. He's coming anyway. And he drops it in, and sits there in the machine gun fire, as they load 2 or 3 of you on board. Then he flies you up and out through the gunfire, to the Doctors and Nurses.
And, he kept coming back.... 13 more times..... And took about 30 of you and your buddies out, who would never have gotten out. Medal of Honor Recipient, Ed Freeman,died August 20,2008 at the age of 80, in Boise , ID ......May God rest his soul.....
I bet you didn't hear about this hero's passing, but we sure were told a whole bunch about some Hip-Hop Coward beating the crap out of his "girlfriend."
Medal of Honor Winner Ed Freeman!
Shame on the American Media. Let us remember him by forwarding this email.
Tam Macklin - a visiting Jock.
Here is the email -
You're a 19 year old kid. You're critically wounded, and dying in the jungle in the Ia Drang Valley , 11-14-1965, LZ X-ray, Vietnam . Your infantry unit is outnumbered 8 - 1, and the enemy fire is so intense, from 100 or 200 yards away, that your own Infantry Commander has ordered the MediVac helicopters to stop coming in.
You're lying there, listening to the enemy machine guns, and you know you're not getting out. Your family is half-way around the world, 12,000 miles away, and you'll never see them again.. As the world starts to fade in and out, you know this is the day. Then, over the machine gun noise, you faintly hear that sound of a helicopter, and you look up to see an un-armed Huey, but it doesn't seem real, because no Medi-Vac markings are on it.
Ed Freeman is coming for you. He's not Medi-Vac, so it's not his job, but he's flying his Huey down into the machine gun fire, after the Medi- Vacs were ordered not to come. He's coming anyway. And he drops it in, and sits there in the machine gun fire, as they load 2 or 3 of you on board. Then he flies you up and out through the gunfire, to the Doctors and Nurses.
And, he kept coming back.... 13 more times..... And took about 30 of you and your buddies out, who would never have gotten out. Medal of Honor Recipient, Ed Freeman,died August 20,2008 at the age of 80, in Boise , ID ......May God rest his soul.....
I bet you didn't hear about this hero's passing, but we sure were told a whole bunch about some Hip-Hop Coward beating the crap out of his "girlfriend."
Medal of Honor Winner Ed Freeman!
Shame on the American Media. Let us remember him by forwarding this email.
Thread Starter
A news article about Ed Freeman.
MEDAL OF HONOR: ED W. FREEMAN - The Daily Nightly - msnbc.com
The complete After Action Report written by LTC Hal Moore who was in command of the troops on the ground at LZ X-Ray during the Ia Drang Battle.
http://www.lzxray.com/documents/aar-xray.pdf
Three Medals of Honor were won during the battle, two Huey Pilots (Bruce Crandal and Ed Freeman) and a infantry Platoon leader (Marm).
Oddly enough....all three survived the action although Marm was severely wounded but went on to retire as a Colonel.
MEDAL OF HONOR: ED W. FREEMAN - The Daily Nightly - msnbc.com
The complete After Action Report written by LTC Hal Moore who was in command of the troops on the ground at LZ X-Ray during the Ia Drang Battle.
http://www.lzxray.com/documents/aar-xray.pdf
Three Medals of Honor were won during the battle, two Huey Pilots (Bruce Crandal and Ed Freeman) and a infantry Platoon leader (Marm).
Oddly enough....all three survived the action although Marm was severely wounded but went on to retire as a Colonel.
Last edited by SASless; 15th Apr 2009 at 15:44.
Gatvol
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Uhm, that looks like the King of Sweden?
Sasless lost his glasses, but he makes up a pretty good story.
She was also named the Swedish American of the Year and gave a royal command performance for the King and Queen of Sweden.
Thread Starter
Alright....a bad photo from a web site....but the story is true.
As we can tell by the award...she was a real class act!
As we can tell by the award...she was a real class act!
Thread Starter
Bert,
Snopes and the following site investigated the story and both confirmed it to be true.
Ann-Margret's tribute to American Vets-Truth!
As to owing beer.....I see no reason not to share a pint or two....but I will have to wear a brown paper sack over my head in case I should be seen in your company by other ppruners.
Snopes and the following site investigated the story and both confirmed it to be true.
Ann-Margret's tribute to American Vets-Truth!
As to owing beer.....I see no reason not to share a pint or two....but I will have to wear a brown paper sack over my head in case I should be seen in your company by other ppruners.
Gatvol
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Sasless Im sure the story is true, I was commenting on the phot which was not connected. Ann Margaret is still a class act and looking better than we do. I have some old photos of her with Bob Hope I took while I was doing R/R in da pilipines back in 19................, anyway I was a 17 year old kid in uniform.
You cant wear the paper bag in Vegas it belongs to :The Unknown Comic - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Nice guy, I met him through another friend www.gdavidhoward.com If your ever near Tampa I will hook you up with a Beer at his place.
You cant wear the paper bag in Vegas it belongs to :The Unknown Comic - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Nice guy, I met him through another friend www.gdavidhoward.com If your ever near Tampa I will hook you up with a Beer at his place.