I was given a cot, nothing else (still no weapon) and told
where the Mess Hall was. I found a
nice battalion sized Mess in a wooden building with nice art work inside.
I had an excellent meal.
 | \IMG SRC="mess.jpg"> |
 |
At least I would eat well
while in garrison. Things were looking up although I still had not been
issued combat gear. On the way
back from Mess Hall I smelled a terrible odor. I looked around and saw black smoke
billowing up from across the road.
I asked a warrant near me what that was. He told me they were not allowed to
dig latrines and that we went in a 55 gal barrel that was cut off at the
first ring and they burned it with Jet fuel. He said I would get used to it. Two tours and I never did get
used to it.
Went to the "O" Club (Officers club) to see if I knew any
of the pilots assigned to the battalion. Met several I knew.
Day three: 4 June
66
Things settled down, I was issued flight gear, combat
gear and an old .38 revolver. I
asked for a .45, was told Officers did not get .45s. I found a guy in supply that knew
where a .45 was. We struck a
deal. I put the .38 in my
toilet article bag and strapped on the .45. A .45 Auto is twice the weapon the
.38 is. Shoots farther, faster, MORE
POWERFULL, and carries more bullets.
I was given a tour of the company area and then assigned to fly with
and an experienced pilot the next day.
He was to show me the area.
I went to PX and bought an air mattress, poncho liner, some Snacks
and some Tide as we did our own laundry. No civilians were allowed on this
compound. At least I would not
get my throat slit at night.
Wrote my wife to send a good pillow and some sheets.
One of our crew chief's earned a
Purple Heart today. He was loading VC prisoners on the Chinook and a VC bit
him pretty bad on the thumb.
Day 4
5 Jun 66
After a good breakfast I found the old CW4 that was to
give me my orientation flight.
He was to
show me the area and let me get used to the Chinook because within the next
two days I would be given a check ride. I told him I was already a Chinook
Instructor Pilot. He said it
does not matter; I would be given a check ride. I figured I could probably
pass it. I noticed that besides
the one "chicken plate" (a ceramic bullet stopper like police men's vest) we
all wore, he carried three more.
He put one in the chin bubble below his feet, one in the lower window
to his left and fastened one to the middle console to his right. I found out later this was his last
flight before going home and that he was just being careful. I guess that is
why my orientation flight was at about 10,000 feet Of course he could show
me the whole area from that altitude so maybe he was not paranoid. At least it was cool up there. After we got up to about 7,000 feet
he told me to take the controls and gave me directions. He allowed I would not have much
trouble passing the check ride as I had more tandem rotor time than the
Company IP. We flew about an
hour then he took the controls and showed me what they called a "Hot"
approach. It amounted to a
Power on autorotation.
I was fresh from Rucker so I knew the Emergency
procedures by heart and the performance charts were a piece of cake so I
studied the after action reports in the Company Operations trying to figure
what the check ride would be about.
I did not sleep very well that night because the Artillery was still
going off and I now knew some of it was incoming as well as outgoing and I
was worried about flunking the check ride. I did not want a pink slip on my
first combat ride. I went to
bed after going through the entire CH47 manual (about 3 inches thick).
Charlie threw eight mortar rounds into our area between
2200 hrs & midnight. So much for good nights sleeps
before a check ride. I still
was not used to the artillery going off every few minutes and the C-130s and Helicopters coming and
going. Now Charlie was adding
to my insomnia.
Day 5
6 June 66
No Instructor available. I went down to flight line and
talked to a Maintenance Officer and some Flight Engineers. Asked about check ride, they all
said forget it, If I knew how to fly, I would pass. I went over a preflight and run up
with a Flight Engineer (FE). He
said I would have no trouble.
OH well, maybe I can sleep tonight.
Day 6 7
June
Fairly good nights sleep
and a good breakfast.
The check ride consisted of picking up a sling load
moving it 100 feet setting it down then a normal take off and doing a single
engine approach. I was told I
would be a "turtle" that is to
fly with an older pilot (not older in age but more time in area) a few weeks
and when he thought I was ready he would put me up for an Aircraft Commander
Check ride.
Flight Log: 7 Jun
66 " Training"
5 landings
1.5hrs Pilot Day VFR(Clear Weather)
8 June 66 (My 29th birthday) would
I live to see my 30th?
There were no open seats, so I improved my living area,
built myself a "hot" closet out of rocket boxes. A "hot" closet keeps stuff from
mildewing and guns from rusting in that hot humid climate.![]()
HOT BOX It had two
100 watt bulbs in it for heat. I dug a new clean bunker by my tent.
![]()
DIGGING BUNKER
Went out to Green Line (the outer perimeter of base camp) and practiced
with my new .45.
9 June
No seats, cleaned and practiced with my .45 again. At least ammo is plentiful in a
Combat Zone. Ordered a Bill
Jordan type holster from a Stateside dealer. Double stitched leather is much
better than the issue holster.
Located and
introduced myself to (Browned nosed) the Mess Sgt. Many times a Pilot misses regular
meals, if the Mess Sgt knows you; there will be food when you get in. I did
not fall off the turnip wagon yesterday.
10 Jun
66
I was assigned to fly a re-supply mission to the Bong Son
area. It had quite a
reputation.
I took a load of food and ammo into LZ (Landing Zone)
X-ray and brought a damaged OH-13 back to Pleiku... (LZ X-Ray is the one the
movie "We were Soldiers" is about)
![]()
LZ X
Flight Log:
CS (combat support) 18 landings Pilot (P) 3.8 hrs Day VFR (Day Visual
Flight Rules) Clear weather.
Nothing remarkable happened the next few weeks. It was a
routine of re-supply, haul
artillery, re-supply, recover downed aircraft and re-supply. We hauled everything
every where. For the first
time in History, because of the Chinook (Hook) artillery could be set up
ontop of
the hills and put direct fire on the enemy. We could move an entire
battery at once. We hauled
prisoners
out, moved entire villages, including chickens, pigs and a couple of
times water buffalo. The First Cavalry was spread all over the highlands and
as most re-supply was by Chinook, I soon learned where all the units
were:
1st Brigade elements around LZ Bird.
2nd Brigade around the Iron triangle
3rd Brigade in reserve at An Khe.
Letter Home 14
June 66;
Dear Dad:
Been here two weeks and already got an Air Medal.
Unable to purchase a Fathers Day Card in Pleiku so this
will have to do. Hope I am
where I can purchase you a card this time next year.
I have been
supporting the 101st near Dak To. It has probably been on the news.
Some Captain had to call the Napalm in on his own position to break contact
with the enemy.
The way we work it here is we take a fresh Chinook out to
a unit and stay with them for a given number of flight hours. I sleep most
nights in the Chinook. The
Chinooks have rigging for litters so I carry a folded up litter and my air
mattress along with my mosquito net.
It only takes a couple of minutes to set up and I sleep pretty
good. I rigged a coffee pot to
work on the Chinook voltage so I have fresh coffee every day, the crews seem
to like me (probably just because of the coffee).
Letter Home 24
June 66:
Hello All:
Just back at base camp for four hours, changing clothes
and aircraft then back to support position. Am supporting Operation "Nathan
Hale" near Tuy Hoa. The mail clerk noticed the Post Mark
on your last letter and told me he was from Higbee. Everything OK, back to the War.
Flight Log end of June 66:
Aircraft Ch47A Pilot (P) time
51hrs Day
VFR(DVFR) 48hrs
night VFR (NVFR)3 Copilot
9
Day VFR
177 combat support sorties
Flight
Records signed by Gwyn L. Tyner, Major
July 1966
4 July (Independence Day) got my second Air Medal
7 July signed off as safe ?? To haul passengers
End of Month:
CH47A Pilot
50hrs + 2 hrs C0-pilot DAY VFR 44 NIGHT VFR 4 WEATHER (WX){flying in clouds by the
use of instruments}2 N WX 2
256 Sorties
Means I flew 52 hours, 44 day, 2 hrs on instruments, 8
hours night, 2 hours on instruments
Flight Record signed by Edward E. Adams, Major
Aug 66:
On 2 August, Operation "PAUL REVERE II" was commenced for
the primary purpose of denying rice to the hungry VC. We sprayed every rice field that was
not near a friendly village with "Agent Orange" or diesel fuel. The first
significant contact with the enemy came at LZ Juliett on 8 August as a
reinforced enemy battalion came at the Company A 1st Battalion,
7th Cavalry. In less than three hours I hauled 11 loads of
supplies in and took wounded and dead out. Each load is from 5 to 8 thousand
pounds.
6 &n
bsp; Aug (both Mom & Dads
birthday)
Air Medal (4th Oak
Leaf cluster)
Flew long hours the next few days as several units were
in contact with the enemy.
On 15 Aug
66 Paul Revere ended and the Division posted this score: 861 enemy confirmed dead and several
tons of food and equipment captured.
The 2nd of the 7th Cav opened
Highway one, so we could now run trucks from Saigon
to Phan Thiet.
Letter Home 16
Aug 66:
Well I am sitting up here in
Highlands with a broken aircraft. Have been doing a lot of night and
weather flying, Most of the Old warrants will not fly at night and certainly
not in weather. I feel we
should, we have the aircraft and training, so we should support the Men on
the ground the best we can.
It is
pretty obvious that THE US POWERS TO BE are NOT trying to win this war. No
clear goals or objectives, we patrol an area in day time then leave it at
night. No front lines, just isolated islands of US personnel. We are not
allowed to shoot Charlie in Rubber plantations or across the border in
Ca mbodia
even when we see them clearly.
We each have a map with NO FIRE zones, like game sanctuaries in US,
We can not fire on Charlie NO matter what in these Zones. So I am going to occupy my time by improving my
flying skills, have fun, teach new pilots to fly in weather safely and
willingly and come home in one piece.
Letter Home 29
Aug 66:
Have been assigned to a Gun company for 60-90 days, now I
can shoot back at Charlie.
OH YES!!!
Some jerk in the "States" gets a perverse satisfaction
from sending wives and parent's telegrams saying that their husband or son
has been killed. If you get a
telegram and a uniformed serviceman does not come within 24 hours, take
telegram to FBI.
On hill 534 in Pleiku
Province, the
Cav found a tunnel complex with over 600 VC in it. It had a Mess Hall,
Dispensary, sleeping quarters and a communications center. I told them how to smoke them
out, like we used to do groundhogs only on a somewhat bigger scale. We got eight 500 gallon Blivets (rubber
tanks) 4 filled with Gasoline. 2 with Diesel and 2 with Aviation Fuel and
dropped them from a thousand feet on the hill, we were going to let it soak
in for 10 minutes then fire a rocket into it to set it off, but after about
three minutes the whole top came off the hill, evidently some one was
smoking or had a fire going.
The Infantry later told me they did not receive another shot from
that hill for more than three days.
"A" company
of our Battalion was on a training mission just outside our wire, training
some new men; it turned into the real thing. They had landed on a VC platoon
sized patrol that was scouting our perimeter.
Another battalion sized unit (5/7) has joined us from
Ft.
Carson. That was my old outfit.
Charlie learned a lesson the hard way last week near Bong
Son. A couple of VC companies
were surrounded by Cav units, but on the East side there were no Infantry,
just our 155 Artillery batteries. Charlie decided he could
over run them so he tried; he was introduced to "Bee hive" rounds, our new
type of "grape shot" thousands of 8 penny nails with fins on them where a
regular nail has a head, are fired with one round. The whole battery lowered
their muzzles level with ground and fired at once. Charlie was litteraly
"nailed".
BEEHIVE
CH47A P
61 DVFR 1.3 WX 3.2 N 14.7 CP 14.6 DVFR
Flight record signed by: Phillip E. Daves, Major
29 Aug
66 I was assigned TDY (Temporary Duty) to "D" 227th
flying Huey guns. My Call sign
"Devil 35".
Sep 66
During the late evening hours (22:00) "Charlie"
sent several Mortar rounds into the golf course. He got three of our Gun
ships and two ch47-s from the 228th. He wounded two guards on the B 228
flight Line. Night
attack
Do not fly near as many hours with guns as
with Chinooks, we only average about 1 hour a day, mostly just stand-by, but
when we do fly we are normally eye ball to eye ball with Charlie. It's fast and furious.
12 September
2000 hrs (8:00 PM) we
assaulted the Crows Foot area with more than two Brigades. (Crow's foot named
for a river junction that looks like a crows foot). It is near Phu Cat and Bong
Son. Both VC strong holds.
I did not get to fly much , so I mostly worked on the aircraft radios,
they have no signal Officer and they can hardly communicate with each other,
much less the people on the ground.
I know a little about radios so will try to get them fixed up in my spare
time.
18 September
We broke up an
ambush that Charlie had set up for B/228th. A Chinook was down and
Charlie knew they would come back for it, so he set up a horse shoe shaped
ambush around the Chinook and held their fire until the recovery crew was making
their approach. When they opened
fire the Maintenance Officer called for help, we were in the area so we
responded with two C Gunships. I was flying a "HOG" 40 mm cannon on nose We flew at extremely low level and took
out most of the VC. One machine gun
was in a church steeple and the LT with me said we cannot shoot temples. I told
him he was right but I did not see a temple all I saw was a machine gun nest and
if he did not want to see a temple shot up to look out his side window for about
30 seconds. I waxed the temple
(machine gun nest). On the next pass we ran out of Ammo but the Chinook crew was
still on the ground. I told them we were out of ammo but would make one more
pass with our landing light and side arms; they had better get that Hook out of
there. I made a low level high speed pass,
flashing the landing light while the co pilot fired both of our pistols out his
windows and the door gunners emptied their machine guns with one hand and their
M-16s with the other. The Hook made
it out but I took a hit in the tail rotor and had to make a running landing at
the nearest dirt strip. The 228th crew tried to put me in for a Medal of Honor
but the Brigade Commander said: " Warrants do not get Medals of Honor in this
division". END OF DISCUSSION.
Footnote: Some company that makes models of aircraft used me & this
incident for their Model gun ship:
To see it: click on this URL. Use your
back button to return here
Corgi
I got an Air
Medal (fifth Oak Leaf Cluster)..with "V" device.
19 Sep
66, flew three hours in support of the 2 of the 8th who
made contact with two VC Companies.
21 Sep
Flew 9 hours today, 1 hr of WX. Logged 30
sorties, definitely my longest day in a gun ship.
We were in support of the
2nd of the 5th CAv, who was pretty heavily engaged near LZ Hammonds
OP Map
Flight Log P 48
DVFR
P8 NVFR WX
2 CP38 DVFR CP 4 NVFR
Missions: 137
Flight Record signed by: Phillip E. Daves, Major
Statistics for the Division:
110,000 flight hours, sorties=250,000, troops and
passengers=375,000, Cargo transported=30,000 tons,
Comparing with Air Force our Div alone flew 3 times as many
hours, 8 times as many sorties, 3 times as many troops and passengers; we
carried slightly less cargo, and flew 10 times the sorties the entire Air Force
in Na m did in
September 66. MY OLD Chinook unit
alone hauled 1830 troops in one day at Soc Trang. Not bad when you consider 33
American or 66 Arvin troops in one load. We call the Arvn troops little people
among other things. There is no way they could win the war, no heart, no desire,
no discipline.
Oct 66
First 5 days I flew with guns a GO GO (CH 47s fixed up with guns.5 .50
cal.MG's, two rocket pods, 2 20mm cannons and a 40 mm"chunker")
1 Oct 66
I flew as extra crew member. Standing up in passage way showing them the
AO. They found out I was Ch47
Qualified so I got to fly left seat a couple of days.
Left seat fires the 40 MM grenade launcher "chunker". Right
seat, Pilot fires the 20's and rockets. There is a G.I. on each 50 cal MG).
2 Oct ACH-47A CP 6 hrs DVFR 8 sorties
3 Oct UH1 B Guns directing GO-GO in support of C 1/12 and C
1/5 that were driving the VC South toward A & B of the 12th Cav.
We provided the east wall of the box.
I logged over 4 flight hours that day, expended over a ton of
rockets. Had just finished supper and was getting ready for some much needed
sleep when I was sent back out.
4 Oct
ACH-47A ( Assault Cargo
Helicopter-47 A model) CP 6.8 hrs
DVFR
5 Oct. logged 4.8 in UH1B "Guns" (Huey)mostly chasing VC
survivors from yesterday. We caught
some in open so our door gunners had a "turkey shoot". I found some bunkers and as I had been
calling for artillery fire from a
Battery at LZ Up Lift I called for some 175 or some 8 inch stuff to bust the
bunkers. They told me to move back
a little and then I saw the biggest shock wave I had ever seen. I asked them what it was and they told
me it was the Navy with a volley
of 5 inch guns, needless to say we destroyed the bunkers in the next few
minutes.
7 Oct
66
Scorcher, rain stopped, sun out HOT AND HUMID
Starting Operation Irving II
13 Oct
66
Most of the
Division is in field so; I am back at base camp with two gun ships on stand-by
in case Charlie hits the Camp.
Ran into an old buddy today. (Remember Al Smith) He heard me
call the tower for landing and called on the radio" Devil 35 are your initials
Ernie Greening", I said yes and he met me at the aircraft revetment. He was a flight class mate as well as on
the first assignment in Ko
rea with me. Glad to see him. He gave me an
experimental 3 shot grenade launcher to carry and try out. I have been carrying
a Police Special shot gun; holds eight 12 gauge shells. I use number one
buck. Makes a tighter shot group than 00 buck.
Al Smith can
help me with my radio problem as he sends damaged aircraft back to the
US for rebuild,
He can pull the parts I need off them before he sends them back.
23 Oct
Re-assigned back to "B"
228th
Because most of the division is in the field we have to sleep
in our birds with clothes on so if Charlie hits base camp we can get a rapid
take off and disperse the birds. We
do not even have a co-pilot; the Flight Engineer (FE) sits in left seat. We have all switches in go position
except Master Switch, We can be airborne
in less than two minutes if both engines cooperate. Flight Engineer
starts the cranking procedure while I strap in, then I take over and by the time
he straps in we are normally going to Flight. Kind of fun…
31 Oct Operation Paul Revere IV was launched by a re-enforced
3rd Brigade.
Rest of Oct logged 17 hrs P DVFR 4 CP DVFR CP NWX 1
Flight Record
signed by: Clarence E. Gabbord,
CW3
Nov 66:
Did a lot of defoliate spraying missions, both around base
camp "Green Line" and out in the field, mostly to deny rice to the VC. ![]()
Spraying Agent Orange
During one of these spray missions Roger Gould and
I had our door gunner shoot a deer for "fresh camp meat". When I got back to
camp a LT. Colonel asked me if I had a Vie
tnam hunting license. I told him no, but at
the time the deer appeared hostile, I had to shoot him in self defense. That night he was second in line for the
fresh meat. So much for hunting licenses. On two other occasions I liberated
young water buffalo for camp meat.
![]()
Camp meat
24 Nov
66
Got a nice letter of
Appreciation Through channels from 227th battalion commander for
fixing their aircraft radios.
Almost every trooper in first Cav got a hot
Tu rkey dinner
on Thanksgiving thanks to our Chinooks.
The troops are all over Na
m, but we got them hot chow. Some of them ate
while shooting at Charlie. Probably the LAST meal for some of them too.
27 Nov
66
Big storm, high winds, heavy rain. No fly. Need the
sleep.
CH47A_ IP 7
P 114 WX
3 NVFR 12 NWX 3
Flight Record
signed by: Clarence E. Gabbord, CW3
1 – 9 Dec 66..Spent some time on the beach of Phan
Thiet supporting Task Force
South, 101st Airborne in the Song Moa Forest, Was with Roger Gould an old
friend.(Attachment #4) we
tried fishing and caught some UUGGGLY fish. They were so ugly we threw them
back.
10 Dec
66 – 17 Dec
66 Time off for R
& R in Hawaii.
26 Dec hauled Bob Hope show from An Khe to Quin Nhon then out
to an aircraft carrier.
My
approach to the Aircraft Carrier
After I returned, I was supposed to get two days off as the
powers that be had arranged a Christmas truce.
During this truce the VC moved three NVA Battalions into
position around LZ Bird.
Then attacked in force.
Due to weather, most of our guns and the Air Force could not
get to them; Charlie got into camp, killed several G.I.s and blew up several big
guns. The LZ needed re supply bad.
As I had an
instrument ticket and was willing to use it, I was elected. I told Operations Officer that I had
drank two mixed drinks since morning as I was not scheduled to fly. I asked him to clear it with commander.
I felt I could do it but every regulation in the world says 24 hours "bottle to
throttle". Commander came and checked me out. He said it was up to me, that I
was the only pilot immediately available that could fly sling loads in bad
weather and the Grunts were getting their butts kicked. I told him to get an all volunteer crew
and I told them I had had two drinks that I could make it but it was up to them.
They said lets go. I told the
co-pilot to watch me like a hawk and if something bothered him to speak up; my
feelings would not be hurt. We made
it ok. I never took another
drink while in a combat zone again that tour or the next. Instrument flying, especially with a
sling load takes ALL your skill.
The next 4 days I never got to take my boots off, LZ Bird
was near Bong Son. I flew
day and night, logged 56 Combat
support sorties, hauled over 140 tons of ammo & supplies in, did not
keep track of wounded I hauled out, logged 30 flight hours on 5 different
Chinooks, over 7 hours of night
weather.
I would do a sortie, refuel, get a fresh co-pilot, sometimes
a fresh bird, fresh thermos of coffee and go back up. The way I did it was fly VFR on top, have radar line me up with
the valley, let down on instruments, the Black Hat (air control) would listen
for my engines, talk me down, I would release my load, pick up wounded, climb
back on top and do it all over again. After a couple of trips, radar marked my
descent point with a grease pencil, so I was in same spot every time I started
let down, made things easier.
Several weeks
later I got a Bronze Star for this action.
Got 6 hours sleep then had to fly another 6 sorties out
there.
DEC 66
IP 9 P
152 WX 3 NVFR 16 NWX 8.5
Flight Record signed by: Wayne T. Boles, Major
7 &n
bsp; Jan 67 NO fly No note in Log as to why no fly.
8 &n
bsp; Jan 67
I cut down a big tree for Major Adams today. (Another
Story).
Rains ever day
27 Jan 67: The Two Front Brigades were
operating in the same area near Bong Son and heavily engaged. We were hauling
rockets to several Assault companies, D-227, D-229, 1-9th and hauling artillery
to LZ Hammond.
Jan 67 IP
5 P 125 WX1 NVFR
4
Signed: Wayne T.
Boles, Major
Feb 67
Cannot remember the date or occasion, but Roger Gould and I
did something for the Navy and they gave us more fresh lobster than we could
eat.
One other time the Navy told me they had a supply ship off
the coast that had some kind of trouble and was headed back to the Philippines
for repair and that if I had a way of getting out to them they would have a
Sling load of tenderloin and
lobster as well as other fresh meat and vegetables. It did not take me long to get the
permission I needed from CO to make that trip. Needless to say our unit ate well for a week.
11 Feb
Bad weather No fly
Just after dark the CO came in and asked me if I thought I
could make it to Bong Son as they were under attack and needed artillery
shells. I checked weather and
figured I could make it. One nice thing about being in a Combat division, Both
Aviation and Artillery has good weather forecasters. The CO climbed in with me
and said lets go, (turned out to be a pretty dangerous Mission for a
Commander). After we took off with
a load of bee hives and other supplies, things rapidly turned bad. We lost our Gyros. I told the CO I thought I could make it
on needle ball and airspeed and asked him if he was up to it. He said "Plow On,
we really should not drop these bee hives in open country where Charlie can get
it and the Grunts need this stuff".
I think the bee
hives were still "classified" at that time.
When we were almost there an engine light came on, indicating
possible engine failure. I briefed
him on single engine procedures very carefully because a lot of pilots shut down
the GOOD engine instead of the bad when an Emergency happened. I told him there was no hurry in
cleaning up a bad engine and to let me or the Flight Engineer confirm each move
before he did it. I would be busy flying the aircraft (remember what the Old
warrant told me at Clark)?... Always fly the bird first.
The bird will kill you just as quick as or quicker than Charlie.
Flying a sling load at night on needle, ball and airspeed
separates the men from the boys.
Any way we made it and as a Chinook flies great on one engine
when empty and low on fuel, we elected to return to base (secure) rather than
spend the night in an LZ under attack.
On the way back with one engine shut down the light came on the good
engine nose box. What next? I decided to crank up the bad engine to
take some of the load off that nose box.
Not sure this was the correct thing to do, but what the ____ we were
essentially writing the "Book" on the CH-47 every flight we made anyway, at the
time it seemed like the best thing to do. I am on basic instruments, bad
engine on one side, and bad nose box on the other. I called radar for a straight in
emergency running landing on the Main runway. That way I did not have to add any power
to land, in fact I would be reducing power all they way in. I told the crew to
stow all loose equipment, to dismount and stow the machine guns as we were not
going to need them unless we crashed, and to buckle in securely. We landed hot; wheel taxied to a clear
spot and called maintenance to bring tow for the bird. We later got DFC s
for this night.
IP 13.6 P
91
WX 7
NVFR 8.5 NWX
3.3
Signed: Thomas K. Phifer, CPT
Around The first of March we were at the "Turkey Farm" near
Pleiku waiting for the weather to clear up enough for a Battalion sized
assault. As the Bird was combat
ready and we were short of sleep, I told crew to get some shut eye and I would
stand watch.
A sparkly clean "Dog Robber" (Infantry Captain, Generals Aide) came by
and told me a General was headed my way, to get my crew
Up and LOOK BUSY.
I told him we were tired, had been in heavy combat and needed the rest,
that I would talk to the General.
He said" I am a captain and I am ordering you to get your crew up",
I told him I was the Aircraft Commander, therefore I outranked him
and that I was a MAD, TIRED Warrant, and to get off my turf...
About ten minutes later General Creighten Abramsshowed up with his usual
entourage and the Captain (with a smirk on his face).
I saluted the General and I wish you could have seen the Captains face
when the General Abrams stuck out his hand Said "Ernie,
I did not know you were in country, How you doing?"
I said "fine Sir".(we had been assigned together off & on since 1956.
While I was at the G3 in STRIKE Command we met several times and started playing
chess. we had played many a game of Chess when he was a Colonel and myself a
Staff Sgt. He was a second Lt. in the first Cav when I was born and told me the
Cav would still be riding Horses if some "OLD" Generals had their way.He was the
tank commander that broke through the Germnan lines and helped the 101stat
Bastogne. He often told me to "Speak my mind" not to tell him what he
necessarily wanted to hear but what he "NEEDED" to hear
He said" Ernie I have a problem and you are just the guy to help me. Captain go get me and the Chief a cup of
coffee while we talk." The problem was that the Air Force would not come down to
low level on bad weather days to support us. He asked me what I thought. I told him about an idea I had for a
Chinook Bomber. He asked what I needed. I told him, just his support because I
would be harassed by both the Air Force and Army.
"Paradigm"
.
Reluctant to change.
In fact the cavalry would still be on horses except
some one was vocal enough to get trucks and later helicopters into the
inventory. I asked him if I could
get a letter of authorizing me to draw equipment from the Air Force. He said no sweat, what else do you need.
I said the "A" model Chinook was a little weak for a bomber, could I get a new B
or C model? He said "You get the
next Hook that shows up in country".
He then sent the Captain to get my CO and he briefed him.
![]()
Needless to say the next month went fast and I enjoyed
it. I rigged the BCH-47 (Bomb Cargo
Helicopter) for both internal and external bombs. Until we got some real bombs we rigged
some 8 inch artillery shells with time and impact fuses and practiced with
them. I used the same Bomb site a
relative of mine had used on the "Doolittle" Raid. YES, there was a Greening on
the Doolittle Raid I found that
with a given altitude above the ground I could get neat air bursts. The racks were fixed so the Flight
Engineer could release them one at a time, or any amount up to a full load at
once. If we were flying at 110
knots 1100 feet above the ground we would get an air burst every 75 yards. I could put any thing the AF had on the
external racks and I released them from the Control stick. We supported the 3rd Brigade
mostly as they had constant enemy contact in the AN Loa valley.
We did a good job but the idea never took hold. One night I got to help the guys at Dak
TO. The enemy was in the wire and the AF could not get below the ceiling. I called for two gun ships that had been
working with me and knew how I operated and we took off with a full load: 20 eight inch rounds double fused*.
We got to Dak To just before
midnight and they had made an arrow of
burning one gallon food cans filled with diesel that was on a lazy susan so they
could point to the enemy. I saw the
enemy in the wire and asked if the friendlys had good cover. They said yes. I had the "snakes' gun ships make a west
approach to cover me and I flew in a southerly direction directly over the
wire. We released 5 of our 8
Inchers. The strike zone would
have been a strip about 75 yards wide and 400 yards long. We did a hard wing over and repeated the
run on the other side of the compound.
We dropped two flares then circled looking for more targets. The snakes
found a few but we did not see any. I asked the Green Berets where they would
like me to expend the rest of the bombs.
They told me they would mark a hot spot with White Phosphorus (WP). We
dropped the rest of our "stuff" on
them and headed home.
* we used double fuzes so the enemy had no chance of
recovering them and using them against us later. The next day we went back as this was
the only place that we had bombed that we could revisit and walk around and see
what actually happened. We had done
a great job, much closer to the friendlys than the AF could have gotten and much
more accurate as we were lower and slower.
The Green Berets asked how they could thank us, I said lets see your arms
room. I left there with a night
scope on a match grade M1 Garand. I
think my Co-Pilot left with a Tommy gun.
The AF got the hint and started supporting the Division better and I was
sent back to the daily grind.
12 years later I was enroute to my favorite Elk hunting spot
with my life long hunting buddy and we stopped for gas at a station near Colorado
Springs. A
Guy hollered " were you a HOOK pilot in
Nam, I
said yes, He was the Sgt from the Special Forces camp at Dak TO and remembered
me from that night.
We later painted bomb silhouettes on the bottom of some of
our regular hooks, thought it might keep Charlie from shooting at them.
27 Mar
Part of a letter home:
We have been very busy this last week; the entire First Div
(all 3 brigades) is in Bong Son area chasing Charlie up the AN Lo River. We are
mostly leap frogging Artillery batteries up just behind the Grunts.
Just before dark each night we have been salting escape
routes with crystal CS gas. It is supposed to keep him going the way the
Infantry wants him to. We do this
by rolling 55 gallon drums of the stuff out the back with timed charges in the
barrels.
ROLL OUT THE
BARRELL
Mar 67: IP
17 P 92 WX3 NVFR7
NWX 4
Signed: Thomas
K. Phifer, CPT
Apr 67
1 April
67:
Big change of command ceremony at LZ Two- Bits. Lots of pomp
and circumstance.
2 April
67
A cool 105 degrees in the shade today.
Sunday April 9,
1967
Early this morning, Charlie mortared us then conducted a
ground assault at our South west corner.
It was reported we lost 9 Sky troopers killed and 17 wounded before we
rejected them in about an hour. I recall that 5 of our Chinooks got hit along
with our guard jeep and two of the wounded were our guards. Being an old Recon
Platoon Sgt, I was asked to take a small
patrol and search our area for VC that might have got in and be waiting for
a chance to do more damage. I led
my first combat patrol.
25 April received 24th Oak Leaf Cluster to my Air
Medal
AND this message:
Special Orders
92
Indiv will rept as indic for trans to CONUS enr to new
asg.
Rept to:
526th Repl Co; Camp<
/st1:PlaceType> Schmidt,
Pleiku,RVN, NLT 24 hrs prior to
acft dep time.
PXU 30 May 67 for flight V292 SUU
(Translated: I leave Vie
tnam 30 May 67 for Clark Air Force Base in the
Phi lippines in route home)
P 107 WX 2 NVFR 3
NW 1
Signed: Wayne T. Boles, Major
May 1967
1 May
Sent to Saigon to pick up a new bird
and any replacements for the division.
Picked up Shiny new bird, the flight engineer and I gave it a
good pre-flight, run up then shut
down and checked it out. No
problems, picked up a new Major for battalion, two new cooks and some supplies.
Flew to Phu Loi to refuel and to be sure everything was ok. (I do not like new
ships or ones just out of extended
maintenance). Stopped at Phu Loi, checked it out, everything seemed to be OK,
refueled and headed for Camer on
Bay.
Stopped at Camer on
Bay checked everything, refueled and
headed North for LZ English.
About 30 minutes south of English several warning lights lit up, I heard a loud
screetching sound and the Flight
Engineer Yelling to" get this bird on the ground." I got off two May Days on UHF before I
landed in a rice paddy which covered all my antennas. When I disengaged the
rotors, they stopped immediately (BAD).The screeching sound I had heard was the
Aft Transmission freezing up I saw we were lucky, I could
have ran out of control any second.
We were not in friendly country. With one eye looking for the Air Cover I
expected any minute and the other on the transmission and hydraulic fluid all
over the back of the bird. I told
the Major that this was definitely "Indian country " and asked him to take the
two cooks out and recon our immediate area while the flight engineer (FE) and I
tried to fix the bird.
I had to show the two cooks how to load and fire their M-16s. What a mess, NO Air cover, No Machine guns, very little ammo and
other than the FE(one of the Best) and I, all green, non-combat type
troops. A couple of weeks earlier I
had gone down with airplane trouble I had a fully equipped Infantry platoon on
board along with Mortars and machine guns, they set up a perimeter that could
have held VC off forever. That time
air cover arrived with in 10 minutes.
This time No air cover. Not
a helicopter or Jet in the sky. I
crawled in the mud and unscrewed the VHF antenna from the belly of the aircraft.
I then stripped all the RF cable I could get to out of the controls closet and
from under the floor. I rigged the antenna as high as I could stretch the RF
cable and duct taped it to the aircraft (we used duct tape (100 mile an hour
tape) for lots of things). The FE
told me whatever was wrong with the bird was beyond his capability and even if
we fixed it we did not have any hydraulic or transmission oil. I said OK, we have to get this radio
working. I told him that as we just
had our side arms (the major had the FEs M-16) if we heard the Major and the
cooks firing, he and I would move discreetly to cover and re assess the
situation. We also rigged three
signal fires in a triangle and set a can of jet fuel by each one so if a
helicopter came near we could signal them.
Fortunately the APU (Auxiliary Power Unit [generator]) was still working
so I did not have to worry about running down the battery. I made a May Day call on VHF guard and
every VHF frequency that I had (I believe it was four others) every 15
minutes. About an hour after dark I
got weak contact with an Airliner going into the Philippines, after I assured
him several times that I was serious he relayed my position and problem to
Saigon. He told me a VHF frequency
that Saigon would try to get me on. It worked; I thanked him, and then told
my situation to Saigon. Saigon got back to me in about an hour
and told me I would have to spend the night alone, everyone in Division was
committed, LZ English was being hit
What a deal.
Sure could use a cup of coffee and a can of "C"s... Wonder if there are any
lizards around?
About midnight I got
a call from some Artillery Battalion Commander, he asked if I was a Chinook, I
said yes. He said do you know how to direct artillery and I said, Yes Sir,
Ft.