aj.. In closing, I would merely like to state that I am able to write this today in large part because of luck whole lot of GOOD luck and a little bit of good humor. One pilot lost a testicle to a .50-caliber round and was able to father only 44 children (at last count) after returning from overseas. As the Aircraft Commander in control of the helicopter, my eyes never left the tree branches that were touching the nose of my aircraft. Crew Members Association http://vhcma.org/. He was an instructor pilot at Downing Army Airfield at Ft. Wolters, Texas, in May of 1968. We thank God for these pilots and crews who fearlessly went into our hell on our behalf day in and day out, during the Vietnam War. In other words, it took a man with a huge pair of Brass Balls but with the ability to know when to use them but with the brains to know when to hold them. It was a fact that Dustoff crews had three times the casualty rate of other helicopter crews. Your email address will not be published. The Wall), Center for Electronic Records, National Archives, Washington, DC, [All That We Can Be] All That We Can Be by Charles C. Moskos and John Sibley Butler, [Westmoreland] Speech by General William C. Westmoreland before the Third Annual Reunion of the Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association (VHPA) at the Washington, DC Hilton Hotel on July 5th, 1986 (reproduced in a Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association Historical Reference Directory Volume 2A). The VHPA publishes six Use Ask Statista Research Service. m.. No matter what you do, the bullet with your name on it will get you. 2160250. buzz lightyear of star command complete series 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. You only have access to basic statistics. It happened many times, and their names are on The Wall in Washington, D.C. One particular mission I recall was a day hoist. So, too, can the ones addressed To Whom It May Concern. approximately 40,000 who served as helicopter [Westmoreland] Approximately 70% of those killed were volunteers. website may contain information that VHPA considers proprietary and Wainwright Station Five Thousand pilots and crews lost their lives and 3,258 Hueys alone were lost during the war. I could not have been more proud of myself and my flight school classmates for having come this far. The early (65-68) Weapons Team was made up of two pilots, crew chief and a door gunner. . Steve DaCosta, Cavalier15, June67-June68. "Pogo" Hunter who died in 1995. 5. Age 70 to 74 --------$150.00 DID after the U.S. Congress cut off funding. Maybe we could have used our survival radio once we were in the water or forced down over the jungle. In addition to an annual reunion held around July 4th, members keep in touch informally It was finally time to find out if we had the gonads to be combat helicopter pilots. The Air Cav was just what the name implies. 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. Funds are paid by Greater Good Charities to benefiting organizations as a grant. 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. In reference to Mr. Walker, would he also be the same pilot that was nick named, Baby Huey in Vietnam? Over 900,000 patients were airlifted (nearly half were American). Is that AM or FM? Never have the consequences of their misunderstanding been so tragic." 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. Helicopters needed far more hands on piloting than fixed wing types. The first one you will meet is retired Army Col. Douglas Moore, a medevac pilot in Vietnam. . dont care. members without the express consent of the member. q.. Having all your body parts intact and functioning at the end of the day beats the alternative. . They were immensely important to the troops on the ground as aerial fire power. A little more than 12 days later, Operation Chopper commenced. And what was even stupider, I suppose, was the fact that if the doors were closed when we reached the water, we opened them so we could get out easier if we did go down. Vietnam seldom flew above 1,500 feet which is traffic pattern altitude for (EC), [Home] [ReunionInformation] [Donations] [OurLegacy] [MembershipServices] [RelatedWebSites], This designed as a helipad. You need at least a Starter Account to use this feature. The Scout Team would search for the enemy and then have the Weapons Team come in and destroy the enemy. The DA-4733-DSC should not be confused with the much more common DA-4734-GSTT (Gunship Sized Tiny Testicles), where other pilots made up for their lack of size with big guns and big wrist watches. The Vietnam War was the turning point for Communism. The American military was not defeated in Vietnam. We fought to an agreed stalemate. 5.5% of all helicopter pilots are women, while 94.5% are men. If everything is as clear as a bell, and everything is going exactly as planned, youre about to be surprised. Get the details for all upcoming vietnam helicopter unit reunions. From 1957 to 1973, the National Liberation Front assassinated 36,725 South Vietnamese and abducted another 58,499. 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 initial Army designation was HU-1, which led to the common unofficial nickname of Huey.. information contained in this publication shall not be distributed to non-VHPA Myth: The war was fought largely by the poor and uneducated. As he entered the crowded car, he said, Ballroom, please.. 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. 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. Age 75 to 79 --------$100.00 Both immigrated Currently, you are using a shared account. Magazines are included with VHPA membership and are available to non-members with a 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. Although the percent who died is similar to other wars, amputations or crippling wounds were 300 percent higher than in World War II. 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!. I think that some of us changed for the better, but some of us did not. . History of the founding of the VHPA written by "No event in American history is more misunderstood than the Vietnam War. Oh, Sugar! (Not my exact word.) [1] "Vietnam helicopter pilots describe the war from the cockpit," YouTube video, posted by "Military Times," April 18th, 2018. [The Wall Street Journal]. "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. address changes for the directory and use the comments form to Americans who deliberately killed civilians received prison sentences while Communists who did so received commendations. The building is the Pittman Apartments, a 10 Every helicopter flying in Vietnam had one real purpose: To help the grunt. 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. The VHPA has a membership of over 16,600 (8,700 dues current) helicopter pilots from around the world out of the approximately 40,000 who served as helicopter pilots in the Vietnam War. . UH-1 Huey Gunship Vs NVA/VC Forces Vietnam 1962-75 is published by Osprey and is available to order here. [McCaffrey], Vietnam veterans' personal income exceeds that of our non-veteran age group by more than 18 percent. Helicopters in 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. And two are in Africa: Tanzania (October 1995) and Guinea (June 1995). 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. Small, two seat TH-55 Osages were also used. It was a well known (and very true) fact that during an emergency exit from an aircraft, if you dont have it strapped to your body, you wont take it with you. ao.. hostile fire exposure versus battle area exposure. Shoot, I had NO idea! Epilogue: Most people who see photos of Dustoff Hueys in Vietnam observe only the outside of the aircraft. "Average Age of Active Pilots in The United States from 2002 to 2020, by Category*. In the last decade, 69 nations have held multi-party elections for the first time in their histories. As an example, heavy . If you lose you Tran Van Don and the head of the secret police Tran Kim Tuyen. No matter what the enemy threw at them, they never backed down. Warrant Officer Candidates (WOCs) then progressed to Fort Rucker, Alabama, or, from 1967, Hunter Army Airfield at Fort Stewart, Georgia, for advanced flight training and instrument flight instruction. Always smiling and never hurt anyone, I would guess. only 10 to 20 minutes of that time exposed to hostile fire. average age of vietnam helicopter pilot [CACF] (Combat Area Casualty File) November 1993. He fell right through the rotor blades. Information contained herein shall not be used for commercial They were Kim's cousins not her brothers. No this is Pat Bieneman I am the owner of this site. 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. I dont think so. We risked much in a totally dark valley that night, and there was no doubt that someone appreciated us. A few were even awarded. $99) To contact the magazine editor aviator@vhpa.org. The third seat was for our testicles. A Scout team consisted of a pilot, a Door Gunner and an observer. 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 . Read the latest issue of the Friends of the Vietnam Center Newsletter and subscribe to recieve future newsletters. Over the course of the war, some 12,000 helicopters of various kinds saw service in Vietnam. it will be forwarded to the appropriate VHPA representative. He was not strapped in. theyre on the penetrator . Operation Chopper occurred on 12 January 1962 and was the first time U.S. forces participated in major combat in the Vietnam War. It was the Pilots mission to fly as low and as slow as he could allowing the observer and the Door Gunner to watch for signs of the enemy or to allow the enemy to fire at them. They also acted as the means of supply of ammunitions, equipment and food. I arrived in Vietnam on the 4th of July 1969, barely 21 years old. u.. Everybodys a hero on the ground in the club after the fourth drink. Without his heroic actions that day we, the Grunts, would have been in severe situation as we were running out of food, ammo and our radio batteries were almost dead. The incident in the photo took place on the second day of a three day battle between the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) who occupied the village of Trang Bang and the ARVN (Army of the Republic of Vietnam) who were trying to force the NVA out of the village. r.. You need a Statista Account for unlimited access. I would NOT fly unarmed helicopters! Always make sure someone has a P-38. Occasionally, the gunner and crew chief had to exit temporarily to reduce the weight sufficiently for take off. They could rotate around a battle site from above, unleashing punishing weapon support from above. 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. By contrast, there still are 78,000 unaccounted-for Americans from World War II and 8,100 from the Korean conflict. That was the unforgiving part. Myth: Kim Phuc, the little nine year old Vietnamese girl running naked from the napalm strike near Trang Bang on 8 June 1972, was burned by Americans bombing Trang Bang. The 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 . I can tell you what in my opinion made the best pilots. e.. Cover your Buddy, so he can be around to cover for you. When the Army decided to use helicopters as the Eyes, Protection and Horses of the 1st Cavalry Division, men both young and older were chosen to become pilots. There is an explanation n.. Those trainers were so small you could lean in them to make the thing turn. By Phil Marshall, DMZ Dustoff 711, 237th Medical Detachment (Helicopter Ambulance) Camp Evans and Quang Tri, Vietnam 1969, published in Association of Naval Aviation, Cape Fear Seahawk Newsletter, July 2012, Vol. 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. PO Box 8091 Translation: There are bad guys all around, weve got wounded, get in here NOW before they die or we have more wounded, and you have to come back again. I and many more just like me can only say Thank You for all that you did. . The pilots who were flying this helicopter, 5 Stars . ", Federal Aviation Administration, Average age of active pilots in the United States from 2002 to 2020, by category* Statista, https://www.statista.com/statistics/919100/aviation-industry-average-age-of-active-pilots-in-the-united-states-by-category/ (last visited March 04, 2023), Average age of active pilots in the United States from 2002 to 2020, by category* [Graph], Federal Aviation Administration, May 18, 2021. We always at least tried to complete the mission and felt that we let someone down if we didnt. Damn Navy talk! The hospital ship would then radio to the helicopter again, Just come in from the left and land to the back of the boat. It always got an immediate Roger!. I told my roommate, This is it. One of those is the missing man table at the banquet at each I guess that woke him up, as the next thing I heard was his rifle plugging away at a mound of dirt just outside his door and about 30 feet down. Congress while the North Vietnamese were very well supplied by China and the But come look for us, will ya? Myth: The media have reported that suicides among Vietnam veterans range from 50,000 to 100,000 - 6 to 11 times the non-Vietnam veteran population. Most were 19 or 20 years old, with a few experienced old men per platoon in their late twenties. They were heavily armed with mini-guns, machine guns, and various kinds of rockets. (So I guess that makes three Young and Stupids. (Westmoreland quoting Douglas Pike, a professor at the University of California, Berkley a renowned expert on the Vietnam War) [Westmoreland] This included Tet 68, which was a major military defeat for the VC and NVA. come forward just a little . So, were we really Young and Stupid? One point I want to make is the the Crew Chiefs and Door Gunners were the and are still the best as well. Directly accessible data for 170 industries from 50 countries and over 1 million facts: Get quick analyses with our professional research service. b.. "The aviation units were the sole combat element of the U.S. Army that did not come. Recent reports in the news media that an American commander ordered the air strike that burned Kim Phuc are incorrect. Mailing Address: ah.. Nobody cares what you did yesterday or what you are going to do tomorrow. average age of vietnam helicopter pilot. Copyright 1995 - 2018 Gary B. Roush, 242 ASHC Muleskinners, May 1968 - May 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 the Commissioned Officers were older. Yes, most definitely young, but stupid? . sent to webmaster@vhpa.org whereupon herriman high school soccer roster. keep your tail straight . Many men volunteered for the draft so even some of the draftees were actually Mortality studies show that 9,000 is a better estimate. historical reference directories, CD-ROMs and DVDs. In order to be Old and Wise, one must first be young and stupid. 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. is passed from outgoing President to incoming President at each reunion. (One has to realize that there was virtually no protection for the pilots from the front and little from the sides or underneath.) Jurez y 18 de Marzo Col. Centro, C.P 96360 Nanchital, Ver. Access to this and all other statistics on 80,000 topics from, Show sources information The Army employed it in various roles, including that of an armed escort or attack gunship in Vietnam. The best of the best: the portal for top lists & rankings: Strategy and business building for the data-driven economy: Industry-specific and extensively researched technical data (partially from exclusive partnerships). What is important is what you are doing-NOW-to solve our problem. There is only one rule in war: When you win, you get to make up the Vietnam Veterans are less likely to be in prison - only 1/2 of one percent of Vietnam Veterans have been jailed for crimes. Most 18 year olds only think about girls and what they can get from them. By the end of the war half of them had been lost. The average infantryman in Vietnam saw about 240 days of combat in one year thanks to the mobility of the helicopter. or down. . We especially were concerned about the troops we were there to support. While it may be possible to ward off this natural event some of the time, it cannot, despite the best efforts of the crew, always be prevented. one of 42 pictures of this helicopter that UPI photographer, Hubert Van Es took The American military did not lose a battle of any consequence. . Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. Oh, were we Young and Stupid on hoist missions, too; the second Y & S thing we did! Loud, sudden noises in a helicopter WILL get your undivided attention. Myth: The fighting in Vietnam was not as intense as in World War II. k.. Chart. 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. Correspondence relating to commercial purposes or solicitations shall only be Whether they took hits at this time or not is speculation, but he tried another tactic. Helicopters were used in more than 850,000 medical evacuation missions and were responsible for boosting survival rates for the wounded. 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). o.. Joe Treen, People.com, 21 April 2000. Thanks Tom H. AKA,Cavalier 16, 68/69, Brought a tear to my eye. Vietnam Veterans were the best educated forces our nation had ever sent into combat. Burkett and Glenna Whitley, Verity Press, Inc., Dallas, TX, 1998. It wasnt easy, and I will now confess that my depth perception almost was not good enough to pass my initial flight physical, but I made it. [People], The evacuees were Vietnamese not American military. How to get a day off of work or which college offers the best ability to party. [VHPA 1993], The helicopter provided unprecedented mobility. As a Premium user you get access to background information and details about the release of this statistic. 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. Walking is better than running. After that initial post-service period, Vietnam veterans were no more likely to die from suicide than non-Vietnam veterans. 86% of the men who died in Vietnam were Caucasians, 12.5% were black, 1.2% were other races. All rights reserved. In the Vietnam War the helicopter became one of the most important elements in the daily operations of our war fighting successes. . Caicos Islands, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Vatican . It was misreported then, and it is misremembered now. They were the ones who flew the troops into and out of battle. Would love to chat with Bruce Huffman. I already knew the difference between port and starboard, and it wasnt that hard to figure out beam and quartering approaches. . VHPA Aviator magazine 1969 It was NOT the U.S. Embassy. I suppose that is what kept most of us going in the daily risk of flying helicopters in combat in Vietnam. I will always thank Warrant Officer Study for his late-night, picture-perfect landing on the round end of the boat. All of these, however, are better than extraction by Medavac, even if it is technically, a form of flying. The VC were surprised and soundly defeated. ak.. The United States sought to minimize and prevent attacks on civilians while North Vietnam made attacks on civilians a centerpiece of its strategy. f.. 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%). advertising and other information. Ground troops typically did not enter a sprayed area until four to six weeks after being sprayed. about halfway down . a.. Once you are in the fight, it is way too late to wonder if this is a good idea. Dario Leone is an aviation, defense and military writer. During a hoist mission, we flew with one finger on a button on the cyclic stick that operated an electric solenoid. Even the AP photographer, Nick Ut, who took the picture was Vietnamese. I wonder how many grunts would have gotten on the hoist had they known that. We are now Older and Wiser, and for that I am very thankful. 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. Average age of active pilots in the United States from 2002 to 2020, by category* [Graph]. The UH-1 evolved from a 1955 US Army competition for a new utility helicopter. Flag, John A. Jelich, Wisconsin, Cecelia Jelich Frost, Killed in Action, Rosary, KIA, Gold Star Family, Gold Star Wife. The BSR (Bang Stare Red) Theory states that the louder the sudden bang in the helicopter, the quicker your eyes will be drawn to the gauges. It has been said many times by Navy and Marine jet pilots that landing on an aircraft carrier is like landing on a postage stamp. I found a can of olive drab (OD) spray paint and . Operation Chopper occurred on 12 January 1962 and was the first time U.S. forces participated in major combat in the Vietnam War. (the herbicide was called "orange" in Vietnam, not Agent Orange. Event date is used instead of declared dead date for some of those who were listed as missing in action).