I think I can make it back! was his last message as the aircraft caught fire, rolled inverted and crashed in flames, killing all on board. Their stories are extremely compelling. . Jurez y 18 de Marzo Col. Centro, C.P 96360 Nanchital, Ver. All of these, however, are better than extraction by Medavac, even if it is technically, a form of flying. members without the express consent of the member. They were utterly selfless and courageous warriors on our behalf. information contained in this publication shall not be distributed to non-VHPA [VHPA databases], Army AH-1G's totaled more than 1,166,344 flight hours in Vietnam. The most common ethnicity of helicopter pilots is White (82.0%), followed by Hispanic or Latino (6.8%), Unknown (5.5%) and Asian (2.7%). This included Basic Combat Training and Flight Training. l.. Please call HQ on 800-505-VHPA (8472) to sign up to be a life x.. Medals are OK, but having your body and all your friends in one piece at the end of the day is better. By the end of the war half of them had been lost. He was an instructor pilot at Downing Army Airfield at Ft. Wolters, Texas, in May of 1968. In fact, not at all, since we usually flew with the doors open, even at night. . He dropped to the deck a couple miles out and then screamed up the hill at 120 knots and tree top level, trying to sneak in past the enemy. With the patient finally on board, the Radio Operator with the ground unit Rogered our departure message with a Thanks a HELL of a lot, Dustoff!. Scientific research has shown that dioxin degrades in sunlight after 48 to 72 hours; therefore, troops exposure to dioxin was infinitesimal. historical reference directories, CD-ROMs and DVDs. by | Jun 5, 2022 | curtain suppliers in dubai | riverside cafe medicine park, ok menu | Jun 5, 2022 | curtain suppliers in dubai | riverside cafe medicine park, ok menu DID after the U.S. Congress cut off funding. The total of non-pilot crewmembers killed was 2,704, according to records of the Vietnam Helicopter Pilots' Association. The Indonesians threw the Soviets out in 1966 because of America's commitment in Vietnam. . Thanks for posting the memories. [1996 Information Please Almanac], There were almost twice as many casualties in Southeast Asia (primarily Cambodia) the first two years after the fall of Saigon in 1975 then there were during the ten years the U.S. was involved in Vietnam. UH-1 Huey Gunship Vs NVA/VC Forces Vietnam 1962-75 is published by Osprey and is available to order here. Topics cover the entire spectrum from Vietnam to . The VC knew the points in an assault where the helicopter was most vulnerable, so thorough prepping by gunships and strike aircraft was essential. The most incredible, dangerous, high pucker factor, exhilarating thing a man can do with a helicopter is to pull an insecure hoist mission, day or night. We especially were concerned about the troops we were there to support. I logged 205 hours in Flight Training. VHPA Aviator (big file). Age 60 to 64 --------$350.00 h.. They were the ones who flew the troops into and out of battle. Only a few privileged people, other than the crew members themselves, know an obscure fact that there were actually three seats in the cockpit of a Dustoff helicopter, rather than two seats, as mounted in all other Hueys. (So I guess that makes three Young and Stupids. As he entered the crowded car, he said, Ballroom, please.. Keeping with the VHPAs tradition that the History Sections theme becomes the theme for that years Membership Directory, the 2023 Membership Directory (D2023) will be a history of U.S. Air Force helicopters in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War (1961 thru 1975).Read more about the planned U.S. Air Force helicopter Vietnam War history sections. While there are still officially more than 2,200 cases, there now are only 55 incidents of American servicemen who were last seen alive but aren't accounted for. Correspondence relating to commercial purposes or solicitations shall only be Federal Aviation Administration. 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. The Vietnam War was the turning point for Communism. directory for dues current members. s.. You will meet and hear the stories of three U.S. Army helicopter pilots who flew missions in Vietnam in this video. Add to that, it is also the most unforgiving mission flown in a helicopter. VHPA and encourage all eligible individuals to become members. am.. Do not fear the enemy, for your enemy can only take your life. Is that AM or FM? No American had involvement in this incident near Trang Bang that burned Phan Thi Kim Phuc. It was NOT the U.S. Embassy. I have got to pass this on to an Aussie friend of mine, Ian. The Vietnamese pilot who dropped the napalm in error is currently living in the United States. The biggest responsibility of a helicopter pilot was to fly that helicopter in such a manner as to provide support for the men on the ground. As an elevator at the reunion hotel was transporting me and other attendees to the Saturday night banquet, another Dustoff pilot stepped on from his floor. In all, a very scary time for our country. [Burkett]. [People]. The Weapons Team. Mine were draped over the back of my seat, along with my M-16 rifle. bombers and were always exposed to hostile fire even in their base camps. Five Thousand pilots and crews lost their lives and 3,258 Hueys alone were lost during the war. View complete answer on zippia.com 66 founding members. I made a pedal turn (U-turn) about 200 feet in the air, probably over some bad guys, and hovered back in over the trees. Would love to chat with Bruce Huffman. You can only download this statistic as a Premium user. [Nixon] No More Vietnams by Richard Nixon. 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!. come forward just a little . There is an explanation Over the ten years of the war, Operation Ranch Hand sprayed about eleven million gallons of Agent Orange on the South Vietnamese landscape. 4.7 average based on 3 product ratings. My opinion is that he was as afraid that he could not complete the mission, as much as he was afraid to die. 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. it will be forwarded to the appropriate VHPA representative. Candidates later tackled the difficult arts of landing in small areas, night, and instrument flying crucial skills for their operational work in Southeast Asia. Age 59 and below --$450.00. There were no Americans involved in any capacity. Burkett and Glenna Whitley, Verity Press, Inc., Dallas, TX, 1998. 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. The most common ethnicity of helicopter pilots is White (86.8%), followed by Hispanic or Latino (6.8%) and Unknown (2.4%). With a hot mike, everything that was said, every noise, every round fired, every grunt and groan was amplified and transmitted into everyones headset without touching any buttons. I wonder how many grunts would have gotten on the hoist had they known that. To retrieve the data click on 2020 Active Civil Airmen Statistics. See an example of our magazine, The .j.. I remember my very first primary flight instructor pointing at him as I listened intently to his every word. As a result, less than one percent of all Americans wounded who survived the first 24 hours died. 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. an.. A grunt is the true reason for the existence of the helicopter. [1996 Information Please Almanac], POW-MIA Issue (unaccounted-for versus missing in action), Politics & People, On Vietnam, Clinton Should Follow a Hero's Advice, Traditions: The VHPA has developed some traditions over the Helicopters needed far more hands on piloting than fixed wing types. Myth: The United States lost the war in Vietnam. Steve DaCosta, Cavalier15, June67-June68. When I read the quickly handwritten sheet for this particular mission, I knew before we left that it was going to be an insecure hoist. Average age of 58,148 killed in Vietnam was 23.11 years. Thanks for the memories. The fall of Saigon happened 30 April 1975, two years AFTER the American military left Vietnam. That was us giving you covering fire! he replied. He fell right through the rotor blades. [CACF] (Combat Area Casualty File) November 1993. Whatd he say? Hell, I dont know. What is important is what you are doing-NOW-to solve our problem. . Decisions made by someone above you in the chain-of-command will seldom be in your best interest. Most 18 year olds only think about girls and what they can get from them. Myth: Agent Orange poisoned millions of Vietnam veterans. Background [ edit ] On 11 December 1961, the USS Core (T-AKV-41) docked in Saigon with 32 U.S. Army Piasecki H-21 helicopters and 400 crewmen of the 8th Transportation Company (Light Helicopter) and the 57th . Flag, John A. Jelich, Wisconsin, Cecelia Jelich Frost, Killed in Action, Rosary, KIA, Gold Star Family, Gold Star Wife. As soon as this statistic is updated, you will immediately be notified via e-mail. "Average age of active pilots in the United States from 2002 to 2020, by category*." They explained the trajectory of the weapons fired from an aircraft, especially when firing in a turn., Fort Rucker trained 120 aviators on its gunship aerial weapons course for the UH-1B in 1965. He was an Air Cav pilot, delivering and evacuating troops into and out of battlefields. Book review. The VHPA publishes six Put some fire in that bunker! I yelled to Private Whats-His-Name. q.. Having all your body parts intact and functioning at the end of the day beats the alternative. rules. We fought to an agreed stalemate. I then realized that ole PP back there was just sitting in the hell hole taking it all in, not doing a thing! A MiG-21 of the VPAF which became the primary fighter-interceptor against USAF and USN aircraft. I can personally remember one time when we were pinned down due to superior enemy fire from a tree line and a weapons platoon helicopter (Cobra) sat just off to our right and lit up the tree line with such superior fire that the enemy was destroyed. 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. . Three of the five newest democracies are former Soviet republics: Belarus (where elections were first held in November 1995), Armenia (July 1995) and Kyrgyzstan (February 1995). However, these same 18-year-old young men attended flight school and were given responsibility to operate a multi million dollar helicopter. These new battalions eventually formed a sort of modern-day cavalry for the Army. A Scout team consisted of a pilot, a Door Gunner and an observer. On the ground, the troops would look up at Hueys flying over. It is a bad thing to run out of airspeed, altitude, and ideas all at the same time. First of all, there was landing on the Navy Hospital ships, USS Repose and USS Sanctuary, in the South China Sea, very near the Demilitarized Zone. As a group, we helicopter pilots did what we had to do and then some. Most Agent Orange contained .0002 of 1 percent of dioxin. Without the helicopter it would have taken three times as many troops to secure the 800 mile border with Cambodia and Laos (the politicians thought the Geneva Conventions of 1954 and the Geneva Accords or 1962 would secure the border) [Westmoreland], Approximately 12,000 helicopters saw action in Vietnam (all services). To seek out, using whatever means available, individuals who piloted rotary wing They also acted as the means of supply of ammunitions, equipment and food. Based on the data, more than 30% of the current for-hire pilots fall within the age range of 50 to 64. [CACF]. I had no idea of the satisfaction, pride, sense of accomplishment, and even elation that I would feel in the next six months. . To all of the brave Pilots and their crews, I can say but three things. v.. A free fire zone has nothing to do with economics. Statista. They were heavily armed with mini-guns, machine guns, and various kinds of rockets. A few were even awarded. of fuel, ammunition and other supplies because of a lack of support from Yet undoubtedly every plane in Laos carried opium at some time, unknown to the pilot and his superiors. Nighttime was even worse. U.S. active certificated pilots - number 1990-2020, Worldwide aircraft fleet age by region 2020-2030, Air traffic - passenger growth rates forecast 2019-2040. 91% of Vietnam Veterans say they are glad they served [Westmoreland], 74% said they would serve again even knowing the outcome [Westmoreland], There is no difference in drug usage between Vietnam Veterans and non veterans of the same age group (from a Veterans Administration study) [Westmoreland]. From 1965, around 99 percent of each completed class of students were sent to Vietnam. As MedEvac helicopter pilots, we flew the only Army Hueys equipped with the electric hoist/winch. When we, as students, first began training in Hueys at Ft. Rucker, Alabama, our Instructor Pilots (IPs) were required to fill out a Department of the Army (DA) form if our testicles were too big to fit comfortably in the standard front seat of a Huey. They were Kim's cousins not her brothers. Life member rates based on age are as follows (also 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? . Dustoff pilots with their unique seating arrangement is where that statement originated. When we were on short final approach over the landing zone, I heard small arms fire and my brand-new Crew Chief yelled Were taking fire!, I pulled power into the rotor system to get out of there as quickly as I could, when the radio operator on the ground called out Dustoff, where are you going?. The Vietnam has no political agenda as is our brother organization, The Vietnam Helicopter . 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. Myth: The war was fought largely by the poor and uneducated. In September of 68 1LT Bruce Huffman had his crew disembark fron his ship and had it loaded with ammo, C-rations and batteries for the radio. [McCaffrey] Speech by Lt. Gen. Barry R. McCaffrey, (reproduced in the Pentagram, June 4, 1993) assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to Vietnam veterans and visitors gathered at "The Wall", Memorial Day 1993. You will get a clear sense of what they were up against and how they conducted themselves. bombers during World War II most often flew missions lasting many hours with Phil Marshall, DMZ Dustoff 711, 237th Medical Detachment (Helicopter Ambulance) Camp Evans and Quang Tri, Vietnam 1969. The crewmen I flew with on hoist missions (like me, in their teens and early 20s) were absolutely the best, and I wish I could shake every one of their hands and hug them today. I have posted your reply to Steve on here so he will be able to read it. The Vietnam War was shortly after China got involved in the Korean war, the time of the Cuban missile crisis, Soviet aggression in Eastern Europe and the proliferation of nuclear bombs. The cables going out . The UH-1 evolved from a 1955 US Army competition for a new utility helicopter. Hello. No this is Pat Bieneman I am the owner of this site. [People], The person who can be seen aiding the refugees was CIA operations officer, Mr. O.B. rotary wing aircrews that flew in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam Era. We will never forget you, or the sound of your rotor blades off in the distance, coming to our aid. But as the Army would have it, during Friday night formation of the middle weekend of gun school, 24 of us, including 12 in the gun school, received orders to attend MedEvac school at Ft. Sam Houston, Texas, immediately after graduation. We still got there in a hurry, but once there, we hovered over the trees like a target at the County Fair 25-cent target-shooting booth. The tactical situation is such that the ground troops cannot get the dead or wounded to a secure open area for evacuation. a colleague is looking for a helicopter pilot nicknamed chicken man, who spent some time around Solid Anchor in about 1971. looking good. Myth: The fighting in Vietnam was not as intense as in World War II. May 18, 2021. Required fields are marked *. dont care. 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. reunion. About 12,000 U.S. military helicopters spent 7.5 million hours above Vietnam, flying 2 million missions. [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. It was a small price to pay for the successful completion of our daily rescues. The death squads focused on leaders at the village level and on anyone who improved the lives of the peasants such as medical personnel, social workers, and schoolteachers. Restraining the military in Vietnam in hindsight probably prevented a nuclear war with China or Russia. No matter what the make up of the team was they flew in helicopters that were made with the intention of dispensing a superior amount of fire power on the enemy. We took no hits on that mission, and as we lifted out of the landing zone, the fact that we cheated death again left me with all the exciting feelings I mentioned at the beginning of this article. [Houk]. a.. Once you are in the fight, it is way too late to wonder if this is a good idea. Oh, were we Young and Stupid on hoist missions, too; the second Y & S thing we did! If we had been shot down on virtually any hoist mission, our high hover would not have allowed us to make a safe landing, and many would surely have died. Your email address will not be published. Being scared in the sense of risking ones life for others, for sure, but also a sense of being scared that you will not be up to the standards of your fellow pilots. magazines, a membership directory and a calendar each year and periodically publishes 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. In the last decade, 69 nations have held multi-party elections for the first time in their histories. The platform is the top of the elevator shaft for the building and was not The domino theory was accurate. the following purposes: To enhance and accredit the cohesiveness, esprit de corps, and traditions of valor of The Vietnam Helicopter Flight Crew Network (VHFCN) is a non profit veterans organization dedicated to the fulfillment of the following purposes: To provide a forum for recreational communications amongst a fraternity of aircrew members who served in Vietnam during the period 1961-75. They were involved in every aspect of that war fighting, from medevac, to ammo, troop and supply delivery, to aerial fire support. All through flight school, we were taught by gun pilots, slick drivers, scout pilots (although not as many of the scout pilots, they had a high loss ratio), and oh, yes, ONE Dustoff pilot. Don S. the last (in-country) Masher33, 1971, It is not easy to read this stuff. By the end of the war half of them had been lost. Although many of them had experience of fixed wing aircraft, very different challenges lay ahead when it came to learning the sophisticated, coordinated control techniques required for rotary wing flying. Information contained herein shall not be used for commercial Maybe it was only three miles . The rest of the mission went as expected with no more surprises. 20002023 The Veterans Site and GreaterGood. This famous picture is the property of UPI Corbus-Bettman Photo Agency. When they saw one flying balls out, they knew it was a Dustoff on an urgent mission. I told my roommate, This is it. Is this the Steve DaCosta who was friend of my brother W.O. The average infantryman in Vietnam saw about 240 days of combat in one year thanks to the mobility of the helicopter Warrant Officer Shelly Berryman flew Huey helicopters in Vietnam War But it also exposed American servicemen and women to a chemical that now has them dying on average 13 years earlier than their counterparts who did not serve in . 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! One out of every 10 Americans who served in Vietnam was a casualty. or down. Myth: A disproportionate number of blacks were killed in the Vietnam War. Values are as of December 31 each year. $99) To contact the magazine editor aviator@vhpa.org. And the answer is: There IS none! Sure, we had a compass and an Automatic Direction Finder, but in the event of an engine failure on the way to the hospital ship, this would have probably been my emergency call. [Westmoreland] Source: http://www.vhfcn.org/stat.html As a Premium user you get access to the detailed source references and background information about this statistic. (the herbicide was called "orange" in Vietnam, not Agent Orange. survive the 365 days in Southeast Asia was to be a gunship pilot, blazing my way back to the states, defending myself with mini-guns, rockets, and grenade launchers. Please support The Veterans Site by adding us to your ad blockers whitelist ads help us to provide food and supplies to veterans. [McCaffrey], Vietnam veterans have a lower unemployment rate than our non-vet age group. There is only one rule in war: When you win, you get to make up the In my mind, the only way I would. Never have the consequences of their misunderstanding been so tragic." Mortality studies show that 9,000 is a better estimate. This statistic is not included in your account. You will come away from this video with a real sense of the quality of heroism that every one of our Vietnam War helicopter pilots displayed on a daily basis. After that initial post-service period, Vietnam veterans were no more likely to die from suicide than non-Vietnam veterans. Learn how your comment data is processed. When called upon, a Pilot did not wait for approval from his crew, becuse he knew his crew would never say No. Myth: The domino theory was proved false. . Register in seconds and access exclusive features. The average age of an employed helicopter pilot is 45 years old. It was a rare breed of man whobecame a Scout Pilot. Mayday, Mayday, Mayday, Dustoff 7-1-1, were going down over the sea. (CACF and Westmoreland), Sociologists Charles C. Moskos and John Sibley Butler, in their recently published book "All That We Can Be," said they analyzed the claim that blacks were used like cannon fodder during Vietnam "and can report definitely that this charge is untrue. Many men volunteered for the draft so even some of the draftees were actually 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. The Vietnam Helicopters Memorial Tree was dedicated in 2015 and honors the helicopter pilots and crew members who died while serving in Southeast Asia from 1961 to 1975. . Since I first heard the phrase that is the title of this article, it struck me that those words were exactly what we did as kids flying helicopters in Vietnam. Tactics such as pinnacle landing on top of steep hills, slopes, and karst outcrops amid destabilizing downdraughts to deliver heavy supplies to US Army firebases and outposts while under enemy fire were also tackled. If everything is as clear as a bell, and everything is going exactly as planned, youre about to be surprised. It can be expressed in its mathematical formula of S (suction) + H (height) above ground) + I (interest in staying alive) + T (# of tracers coming your way). I think that some of us changed for the better, but some of us did not. By contrast, there still are 78,000 unaccounted-for Americans from World War II and 8,100 from the Korean conflict. 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. Many times when either our troopers on the ground or another unit was facing enemy fire these brave men would come in with weapons blazing either destroying the enemy or allowing the ground troops to attain and then maintain superior fire power. In June of 1967, Marine officers destined to become fixed-wing pilots began reporting to Air Force bases for flight training. You need a Statista Account for unlimited access. One point I want to make is the the Crew Chiefs and Door Gunners were the and are still the best as well. [Burkett] Stolen Valor: How the Vietnam Generation was Robbed of its Heroes and its History by B.G. Myth: The American military was running for their lives during the fall of Saigon in April 1975. The Veterans Site honors the helicopter pilots and crews who fought so hard for us on the ground throughout the Vietnam War. It was an average age for most of the other Army helicopter pilots I flew with in the 237th Medical Detachment in northern I Corps near the DMZ. We HAD no survival radios in those aircraft. hostile fire exposure versus battle area exposure. Trainees (known as candidates) then commenced the nine month long US Army Primary Helicopter School course at Fort Wolters, Texas, where they endured some extremely robust Preflight training as potential warrant officers. on VHFCN (http://www.vhfcn.org) , Heli-Vets and FaceBook also another FaceBook site. Here are some facts to clear up that poor job of reporting by the news media. They gave us classes on what altitudes to fly to avoid certain types of enemy fire small arms or 0.51 cal. I never forgot the reverence with which that statement was made, as I began to form a survival plan of action in my mind. . applies to subscribers): Age 80 and above ---$75.00 Search: Average Age Of Vietnam Helicopter Pilot. This form number DA- 4733-DSC (Dustoff-Sized Cajones), was used to determine which pilots would obtain MedEvac training at Ft. Sam Houston, Texas, upon completion of training at Mother Rucker. I dont think so.
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