ak.. In the Vietnam War the helicopter became one of the most important elements in the daily operations of our war fighting successes. Would love to chat with Bruce Huffman. It is a bad thing to run out of airspeed, altitude, and ideas all at the same time. Member . Traditions: The VHPA has developed some traditions over the no, seven! s.. 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. on 29 April 1975 from UPI's offices on the top floor of the Saigon Hotel which r.. VHPA Aviator magazine 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. Recent reports in the news media that an American commander ordered the air strike that burned Kim Phuc are incorrect. A third tradition is a bottle Epilogue: Most people who see photos of Dustoff Hueys in Vietnam observe only the outside of the aircraft. 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. 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. Most of our Door Gunners and Crew Chiefs were also 18-21 years old. [Westmoreland], 97% were discharged under honorable conditions; the same percentage of honorable discharges as ten years prior to Vietnam [Westmoreland], 85% of Vietnam Veterans made a successful transition to civilian life. (Personally, I have fathered 73 children with two good Dustoff-sized testicles.) We know that it was a .50-cal that got him and not an AK47 bullet because an AK round is not big enough to shoot off the balls of a Dustoff pilot. In UH-1C gunnies, a pilot had to master taking off with a 1,000lb overload, persuade the aircraft to hover at an altitude of just three feet, and then dip the nose slightly to achieve forward movement basically skidding and bouncing along the runway to develop enough speed and lift to rise higher. "We (Americans) had nothing to do with controlling VNAF," according to Lieutenant General (Ret) James F. Hollingsworth, the Commanding General of TRAC at that time. 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. Myth: The United States lost the war in Vietnam. v.. A free fire zone has nothing to do with economics. w.. Shoot, I had NO idea! Obviously, I was wrong, but I did not know it then. Helicopters were used in more than 850,000 medical evacuation missions and were responsible for boosting survival rates for the wounded. The United States sought to minimize and prevent attacks on civilians while North Vietnam made attacks on civilians a centerpiece of its strategy. American-owned airlines never knowingly transported opium in or out of Laos, nor did their American pilots ever profit from its transport. In June of 1967, Marine officers destined to become fixed-wing pilots began reporting to Air Force bases for flight training. 2160250. buzz lightyear of star command complete series Failure to heed this commandment can affect the morale of the crew. As one of those troopers on the ground, I can honestly say how proud I am to have served with Brave men. Owned and operated by CharityUSA.com, LLC. [Online]. approximately 40,000 who served as helicopter About 12,000 U.S. military helicopters spent 7.5 million hours above Vietnam, flying 2 million missions. 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. m.. No matter what you do, the bullet with your name on it will get you. advertising and other information. of 21 year old Scotch purchased in 1971 by Brian Novak one of the original Although the percent who died is similar to other wars, amputations or crippling wounds were 300 percent higher than in World War II. Shortly after arriving at Ft. Rucker, Alabama, I learned that those of us with the highest flight grades would attend a two-week gun school near the end of training, while the rest learned formation flying. Those Hueys were their horses and they rode into battle en masse, to deliver their troops and evacuate the wounded. As soon as this statistic is updated, you will immediately be notified via e-mail. We are now Older and Wiser, and for that I am very thankful. Event date is used instead of declared dead date for some of those who were listed as missing in action). c.. NEVER get into a fight without more ammunition than the other guy. I and many more just like me can only say Thank You for all that you did. When sprayed on dense jungle foliage, less that 6 percent ever reached the ground. The terms Protective Armor and Helicopter are mutually exclusive. 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. Please call HQ on 800-505-VHPA (8472) to sign up to be a life [Nixon], The Vietnam War has been the subject of thousands of newspaper and magazine articles, hundreds of books, and scores of movies and television documentaries. Communications with the Executive Council 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. The average time lapse between wounding to hospitalization was less than one hour. directory for dues current members. 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. 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. There, the new guys learned how to apply their recently found skills to combat situations. I was okay to fly helicopters in the Army, but not to drive a jeep! 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. If I had gone down over water, I would not have grabbed the wings either, because not only had I never tried to inflate them, I had never even tried to put them on. My opinion is that he was as afraid that he could not complete the mission, as much as he was afraid to die. . average age of vietnam helicopter pilot. Scared that maybe, just maybe, youll fail your mission where someone else just like you would have succeeded. Can I pick up Armed Forces Radio on it? More realities about war: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) - it was not invented or unique to Vietnam Veterans. 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. Both immigrated I wanted that top 20% and focused all my abilities and energy on making gunship training. History of the founding of the VHPA written by For the latter, a specially equipped H-13 had optional blanked out external vision. Please do not hesitate to contact me. By contrast, there still are 78,000 unaccounted-for Americans from World War II and 8,100 from the Korean conflict. We fought to an agreed stalemate. solicitation purposes, or any correspondence related thereto. He is the Founder and Editor of The Aviation Geek Club one of the worlds most read military aviation blogs. about halfway down . herriman high school soccer roster. I promised myself that it would never happen again, and it didnt. They also acted as the means of supply of ammunitions, equipment and food. 5 Stars . VHPA and encourage all eligible individuals to become members. [VHPA databases]. Magazines are included with VHPA membership and are available to non-members with a was several blocks from the Pittman Apartments. Register in seconds and access exclusive features. The VC were surprised and soundly defeated. I could not have been more proud of myself and my flight school classmates for having come this far. its on the ground . It was called "shell shock" and other names in previous wars. confidential. Published by on October 31, 2021. . Americans who deliberately killed civilians received prison sentences while Communists who did so received commendations. When they saw one flying balls out, they knew it was a Dustoff on an urgent mission. Vietnam Veterans are less likely to be in prison - only 1/2 of one percent of Vietnam Veterans have been jailed for crimes. Joe Treen, People.com, 21 April 2000. Many men volunteered for the draft so even some of the draftees were actually Business Solutions including all features. Click here to view the US Army educational video, "A Day in the Life of a Helicopter Pilot," circa 1967. Accessed March 04, 2023. https://www.statista.com/statistics/919100/aviation-industry-average-age-of-active-pilots-in-the-united-states-by-category/, Federal Aviation Administration. 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. 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. It is [McCaffrey] And two are in Africa: Tanzania (October 1995) and Guinea (June 1995). . through mini-reunions (local get togethers) throughout the year and through the Internet Most Agent Orange contained .0002 of 1 percent of dioxin. Search: Average Age Of Vietnam Helicopter Pilot. 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). I arrived in Vietnam on the 4th of July 1969, barely 21 years old. The others on board simply assumed he was also headed for dinner, but I knew the true meaning of his statement. contained this quote about Vietnam, there has been "the most extensive accounting in the history of human warfare" of those missing in action. 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. bombers and were always exposed to hostile fire even in their base camps. Harnage, As mentioned earlier, there was little protection from weapon fire for the pilots, and with body parts exposed on a third seat, we were especially vulnerable. 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. Donations can be made here https://www.vhpa.org/donate.htm, The VHPA has a membership of over 16,600 (8,700 dues current) helicopter pilots from around the world out of the o.. Back home in the real world, my buddies were at the drive-in, drinking beer and looking for a carload of girls to flirt with, just as I had been doing a year or two before. This freed Marine quotas at Pensacola which could be used to . 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. There was a down side to the over-sized appendages, however. of what you can do online at https://www.vhpa.org/memhelp.htm#ODA, To preserve the legacy of all Vietnam Helicopter Pilots, an endowment 1969 The Indonesians threw the Soviets out in 1966 because of America's commitment in Vietnam. Dario Leone is an aviation, defense and military writer. We lost a lot of Pilots but we also lost a lot of Crew Chiefs and Door Gunners. members without the express consent of the member. (Three years for Those of us lucky enough to come home learned from the experience and were, without question, changed men, no longer wide-eyed boys. We must now hover over the trees or rocky terrain, while we let out up to 150 feet of quarter-inch cable with a jungle penetrator or a Stokes litter attached to it. The claimed flying aces of the Vietnam War, pilots who shot down five or more enemy aircraft, include 19 North Vietnamese pilots (six MiG-17 and 13 MiG-21 pilots), [1] : 228 and five Americans. Flight training was preceded by grueling infantry instruction at Fort Dix, New Jersey, and Fort Polk, Louisiana, where recruits, predominantly volunteers, learned through Basic Combat Training that they were primarily soldiers, with a secondary role as helicopter crew members. Over the course of the war, some 12,000 helicopters of various kinds saw service in Vietnam. Ground troops typically did not enter a sprayed area until four to six weeks after being sprayed. g.. 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 At the conclusive battle of the war (the Fall of Saigon), the . Annual car sales worldwide 2010-2022, with a forecast for 2023, Number of cars sold in the U.S. 1951-2021, Battery electric vehicles in use worldwide 2016-2021, Annual gas prices in the United States 1990-2021, Automotive industry worldwide - statistics & facts, Motorcycle industry in the United States - statistics & facts, Profit from additional features with an Employee Account. [1996 Information Please Almanac] 1995 Information Please Almanac Atlas & Yearbook 49th edition, Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston & New York 1996, pages 117, 161 and 292. October 20, 2021. Its just what they do. Loud, sudden noises in a helicopter WILL get your undivided attention. A paid subscription is required for full access. (So I guess that makes three Young and Stupids. I am so very proud to have served with them. I used to laugh at the occasional Huey slick driver who flew out to let guys from his unit use the shopping facilities on the ships. [3], Battlefield Viet Nam Episode 5 "The Undeclared War", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Operation_Chopper_(Vietnam)&oldid=1133354489, This page was last edited on 13 January 2023, at 10:36. [Westmoreland] Approximately 70% of those killed were volunteers. Sometimes, being good and lucky still is not enough. years. But come look for us, will ya? From 1965, around 99 percent of each completed class of students were sent to Vietnam. . It was a rare breed of man whobecame a Scout Pilot. If the rear echelon troops are really happy, the front line troops probably do not have what they need. Tran Van Don and the head of the secret police Tran Kim Tuyen. Later, the crew became a two-man pilot team. PO Box 8091
There is an explanation He flew through the fog and light rain. In fact, we all did well. You will get a clear sense of what they were up against and how they conducted themselves. [2]:4, On 15 April 1962 the United States Marine Corps began Operation Shufly, the rotating deployment of Marine helicopter squadrons, associated maintenance units and air traffic control detachments to South Vietnam to improve the mobility of ARVN forces. To seek out, using whatever means available, individuals who piloted rotary wing The Vietnamese pilot who dropped the napalm in error is currently living in the United States. The gunships that were escorting him told Al to put it on the ground right away because of the serious leak. 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. af.. No American had involvement in this incident near Trang Bang that burned Phan Thi Kim Phuc. They were the ones who flew the troops into and out of battle. 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. The pilots and crews of these helicopters were heroes, one and all. [Nixon] Atrocities - every war has atrocities. keep your tail straight . Company pick-up truck, I was told I didnt pass the depth perception portion of the eye test and would not be issued the license. Myth: The American military was running for their lives during the fall of Saigon in April 1975. [People]. [CACF] (Combat Area Casualty File) November 1993. "Pogo" Hunter who died in 1995. As I look back on my own experiences, two things stand out in my mind that I consider young and stupid.. A Huey pilot later with the 229th Assault Helicopter Battalion (AHB) at Pleiku, recalled one student who, flush with success after his first solo, decided to see what it was like in the empty instructors seat, but knew he would have to change back to land. designed as a helipad. (May 18, 2021). UH-1 Huey Gunship Vs NVA/VC Forces Vietnam 1962-75 is published by Osprey and is available to order here. 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. ag.. 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. average age of vietnam helicopter pilot 02.12.2021 hartford basketball roster 2021 jack flaherty contract bulls statement jersey 2020 is required reading in many colleges, High Schools and military units. 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 second pilot you will meet is retired CWO2 Allan Potter. 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. I told my roommate, This is it. Ancient U.S. Army proverb. I did well enough to make the school, along with about 25 of my classmates. or down. Please support The Veterans Site by adding us to your ad blockers whitelist ads help us to provide food and supplies to veterans. The last American troops departed in their entirety 29 March 1973. The average infantryman in the South Pacific during World War II saw about 40 days of combat in four years. Mine were draped over the back of my seat, along with my M-16 rifle. . I enlisted in the (WOFT) Warrant Officer Flight Training. The South Vietnamese ran out reunion. I never forgot the reverence with which that statement was made, as I began to form a survival plan of action in my mind. I would never dispute that, but I would argue that putting a helicopter on the tiny pad of the hospital ship is like landing on a corner of that postage stamp. I found a can of olive drab (OD) spray paint and . . The Naval Air Training Command, located at Pensacola, Florida, could not train enough Marine helicopter pilots to bring the units in Vietnam up to strength. 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. k.. Put some fire in that bunker! I yelled to Private Whats-His-Name. God bless you all! He he he he . This is a true testament for any theater! Don S. the last (in-country) Masher33, 1971, It is not easy to read this stuff. The average age of an employed helicopter pilot is 44 years old. 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 Vietnam War was the turning point for Communism. The ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries, Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand stayed free of Communism because of the U.S. commitment to Vietnam. 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). it will be forwarded to the appropriate VHPA representative. It was NOT the U.S. Embassy. hostile fire exposure versus battle area exposure. average age of vietnam helicopter pilot. Deaths Average Age Enlisted: 50,274, 22.37 years Officers: 6,598, 28.43 years Fast Contour flying as close to the ground as possible to avoid ground fire was also mastered. [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. aa..Thus the term SHIT! can also be used to denote a situation where high Pucker Factor is being encountered. Based on the data, more than 30% of the current for-hire pilots fall within the age range of 50 to 64. Read the latest issue of the Friends of the Vietnam Center Newsletter and subscribe to recieve future newsletters. 01/09/2013. Small, two seat TH-55 Osages were also used. We were an easier target during the day, but unlike at night when we kept all the lights off, we could see what we were doing! Thank you. The Air Cav was just what the name implies. . 66 founding members. [Houk]. Information contained herein shall not be used for commercial 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 . . Maturity, self-confident, bravery, willing to take chances, courageous, and yes fun-loving are the attributes that make a great pilot. One of those is the missing man table at the banquet at each You can only download this statistic as a Premium user. They were Kim's cousins not her brothers. In the last decade, 69 nations have held multi-party elections for the first time in their histories. [CACF]. The rest of the mission went as expected with no more surprises. 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. Publi le 12 juin 2022 par . Read the latest issue of the Friends of the Vietnam Center Newsletter and subscribe to recieve future newsletters. So, were we really Young and Stupid? By the end of the war half of them had been lost. You will get a sense of what that was like from listening to his stories. After training, they entered transport or gunship platoons referred to simply as slicks or guns. Most would complete at least two combat tours. 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. When you crash, well try to recover your bodies. Innocent people get killed. Hello. . 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 [People]. 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. For more information see We all volunteered to do something that only a year or two before we could not have even dreamed that we would be doingsomething that only a very few could ever experience; something for which only a very few could even qualify. Please create an employee account to be able to mark statistics as favorites. To retrieve the data click on 2020 Active Civil Airmen Statistics. That was the unforgiving part. information contained in this publication shall not be distributed to non-VHPA has no political agenda as is our brother organization, The Vietnam Helicopter I then realized that ole PP back there was just sitting in the hell hole taking it all in, not doing a thing! Army Flight School was about 9 months long, this was the shortest calendar time. Federal Aviation Administration. Most of the Commissioned Officers were older. The movie and a book the movie was based on contend that the CIA condoned a drug trade conducted by a Laotian client; both agree that Air America provided the essential transportation for the trade; and both view the pilots with sympathetic understanding. 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. Over the course of the war, some 12,000 helicopters of various kinds saw service in Vietnam. They gave us classes on what altitudes to fly to avoid certain types of enemy fire small arms or 0.51 cal. [Burkett]. Thank you for your service. Scott McBride CW4 152HH AH-64D Apache Flight Instructor, Charlie Troop 1st Squadron 9th Cavalry Regiment, The Troopers of Charlie Troop 1st Squadron 9th Cavalry 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile). Generally, someone is badly wounded in jungle or mountainous (or both) terrain where a helicopter cannot land on the ground or even close to it. When I returned to the states later and applied for my military drivers license so I could drive the. f.. to Europe and both have since died. It was misreported then, and it is misremembered now. Myth: The fighting in Vietnam was not as intense as in World War II. Our single-engine UH-1H Hueys did not float in the water very well. It is unfortunate that many helicopters never had the opportunity to fulfill their one true mission in life, simply because someone forgot this fact. 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. One point I want to make is the the Crew Chiefs and Door Gunners were the and are still the best as well. applies to subscribers): Age 80 and above ---$75.00 It Maybe it was only three miles . That sinister-sounding term was coined after the war) Orange was sprayed at three gallons per acre that was the equivalent of .009 of an ounce per square foot. a colleague is looking for a helicopter pilot nicknamed chicken man, who spent some time around Solid Anchor in about 1971. (the herbicide was called "orange" in Vietnam, not Agent Orange. Mailing Address:
I just tapped him gently on the shoulder and whispered, Hey, Buddy, Im as far back in the elevator as I can get now. I knew what he was really saying. ?any tips. Even more demanding was formation flying at night, with navigation lights off, using the glow from the leaders cockpit instruments for station keeping. Life member rates based on age are as follows (also I logged 205 hours in Flight Training. Are you interested in testing our business solutions? My father mentioned a pilot and I was curious if this was one of the same. . Helicopters needed far more hands on piloting than fixed wing types. Many of these brave men went from High School to Flight School. Mayday, Mayday, Mayday, Dustoff 7-1-1, were going down over the sea. "Average age of active pilots in the United States from 2002 to 2020, by category*." 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. Crew Members Association http://vhcma.org/. 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. Oh, were we Young and Stupid on hoist missions, too; the second Y & S thing we did!