Coldshooter
Member
To all who made it back welcome, let us not forget those who did not.
That Sound, RVN
- Thread starter Retired W4
- Start date
Alnamvet68
US Veteran
- Joined
- Dec 16, 2012
- Messages
- 1,745
- Reaction score
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Many a time.... a simple walkaround sometimes wasn't enough for me, especially if one of the mechanics just got an Article 15 and has beaucoup resentments.
Butterbar grunts got fragged...pilots just lost their nuts.
LimaCharlie
US Veteran
I remember the sounds of a Huey, the diesel engines of a Swift Boat, and the M2 50 BMG. Instant flashbacks.
Swift Boat Engine Sounds
Swift Boat Engine Sounds
Definetly a sound I'll never forget. I always hear choppers a bit before most of the folks I'm with at the time. Guess it's just being used to being tuned into it, memories of when I had to.
42 years and counting. Agent Orange damaged under VA care, (more or less).
Welcome home brothers.
42 years and counting. Agent Orange damaged under VA care, (more or less).
Welcome home brothers.
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OP
I found one loose on a pre-flight inspection in Tay Ninh one morning. The safety block with safety wired bolt was there, but the J-nut was never torqued. I always wondered if it would have held up for 8 or 9 hours of flying.
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CH47gunner
US Veteran
We never said no - altho when the LZ's were too small (if we couldn't trim branches w/ the blades), or the crunchies couldn't get their radio procedure down, or even when the ARVN's popped CS instead of smoke, we'd usually at least hover in and dump/pick-up what we could.
Been to the Wall
Still get goose bumps at the sound of blades
Still smell the burning JP-4
I'm OK with that.
Welcome Home all.
Bruce
Tay Ninh -
Then you probably remember this "small" landmark also.
Nui Ba Dinh (Black Virgin Mtn.)
Been to the Wall
Still get goose bumps at the sound of blades
Still smell the burning JP-4
I'm OK with that.
Welcome Home all.
Bruce
Tay Ninh -
Then you probably remember this "small" landmark also.
Nui Ba Dinh (Black Virgin Mtn.)
ogilvyspecial
Member
CH47gunner, thanks for posting that pic.
My brother was at, or near, the top of Nui Ba Dinh during Tet and a
close friend near the bottom, during the same time frame.
My brother was at, or near, the top of Nui Ba Dinh during Tet and a
close friend near the bottom, during the same time frame.
CH47gunner
US Veteran
Glad to -
You can barely make out the specks at the top, but that was the outpost. It wasn't even a firebase as there wasn't a whole lot of room there. Probably a total of twenty/thirty people at most. It was a real thrill trying to resupply this one. I know I wouldn't want to spend even the night there.
Tay Ninh/ Tay Ninh West was approx. five klicks to the S.East, I spent a lot of time flying there as it was one of the main exits for the Ho Chi Minh trail and was also one of the staging areas prior to the Cambodia Incursion in May 1970.
Bruce
You can barely make out the specks at the top, but that was the outpost. It wasn't even a firebase as there wasn't a whole lot of room there. Probably a total of twenty/thirty people at most. It was a real thrill trying to resupply this one. I know I wouldn't want to spend even the night there.
Tay Ninh/ Tay Ninh West was approx. five klicks to the S.East, I spent a lot of time flying there as it was one of the main exits for the Ho Chi Minh trail and was also one of the staging areas prior to the Cambodia Incursion in May 1970.
Bruce
Buffalohunter60
US Veteran
Yep...every time we changed rotor heads...can't remember the torque value on it...long time. Repacked many short shafts also. Served with the 11TH ACR 66-67 XuanLoc. That was the base, we were seldome there and went from one operation to another...junction city, oregon and cant remember the others. Can still remember many of our piolets...Walter Kidwell, Bill Abby, Capt Hess, Lt Strickland, ...sometimes I have to think on it and the names come back to me. Visited the wall three times. We lost a lot of good men...Sgt Yarno got the CMH for throwing the ammo out of a burning UH-1 (in Flight) ....cost him his life but saved the rest of the air-crew.
Can remember being medevacted to 93rd at Long Bin with Maleria....21 days in the hospital and could not wait to get back to my unit and the guys. Lost 30 pounds in 15 days...took a year to recover from it but served the rest of my time in country. Lost my left eye to cancer...va says its not related to agent orange. Lost a lot of my hearing to the 60's on the pylons just outside the door. Have many friends that served that are diabetic...direct relation to agent orange...lost one of my best friends to cancer...served in the Marine Corp at the same time I was there. God Bless all that served and thanks for the post...it brought back a lot of memories, May the freedom that all our brothers fought for and answered the call....extend to our future generation of Americans...there are no better men than the men that have served this country...I hope our future generation can enjoy the freedom that all of us have had.
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Buffalohunter60
US Veteran
One of my best freinds in the 196th infantry put a lot of miles on in that area and on that mountain.We never said no - altho when the LZ's were too small (if we couldn't trim branches w/ the blades), or the crunchies couldn't get their radio procedure down, or even when the ARVN's popped CS instead of smoke, we'd usually at least hover in and dump/pick-up what we could.
Been to the Wall
Still get goose bumps at the sound of blades
Still smell the burning JP-4
I'm OK with that.
Welcome Home all.
Bruce
Tay Ninh -
Then you probably remember this "small" landmark also.
Nui Ba Dinh (Black Virgin Mtn.)
where did the time go?
rayb
rayb
Old Seabee
US Veteran
Sound
I asked a pilot of a gun ship once why they hopped instead of just taking off he said he had to balance one half tank of fuel to bullets they really overloaded those ships . Seen them hop lots of times . Like the others thanks for the memories I guess
I asked a pilot of a gun ship once why they hopped instead of just taking off he said he had to balance one half tank of fuel to bullets they really overloaded those ships . Seen them hop lots of times . Like the others thanks for the memories I guess
7shooter
Member
A friend who was stationed in Bien Hoa during Tet of 1968 gave me an audio tape of a rocket attack .He had photos that showed among other things a dud rocket that was stuck in the ground. They were in the process of taking apart some of the older bunkers but had not finished reinforcing them when the attack hit. People died as a result . He had just turned on his tape recorder to make a taped letter to send back home but didn't get a chance to start speaking when the sirens and explosions started. It is a heart wrenching tape to listen to knowing what the outcome was.
DWFAN
US Veteran
I was with the 168th Combat Engineers B Company and we built the 93rd Evac in Nov.-Dec. '65. Then after a difficulty with my platoon Sargent was transferred to C Company in Lai Khe in the Iron Triangle. Put in a runway using PSP. A 130 could pretty much make a mess of it and repairs were constant.
Vietnam Helicopter insignia and artifacts - 173rd Assault Helicopter Company
C Company, Big Red was also there. An artillery unit. MP's, can't remember more. Some accounts put the Red as being there later but that's not so. There's no missing that insignia. Lai Khe was an old US company rubber plantation. Goodyear I think.. That was 48 years ago. Damn.
DW
Vietnam Helicopter insignia and artifacts - 173rd Assault Helicopter Company
C Company, Big Red was also there. An artillery unit. MP's, can't remember more. Some accounts put the Red as being there later but that's not so. There's no missing that insignia. Lai Khe was an old US company rubber plantation. Goodyear I think.. That was 48 years ago. Damn.
DW
Retired W4,
Thanks for doing what you did.
I too have very clear memories of the sound of an approaching Huey.
I was an 11 Bravo with the Army's 9th Infantry from February 68 to February 69 in the Mekong Delta (A Co. - 3/60th). I flew on several of those machines on eagle flights going wherever the Colonel wanted us to be at any particular time, and in most cases on pretty short notice.
The best sound of a Huey was hearing one of the resupply choppers come in at the end of the day to bring us water & food, and sometimes even mail from home.
I have very vivid memories of seeing the back of the helmets you chopper pilots wore. You guys had a dangerous job. When you got close enough to the ground or on the ground, we were gone, yet you guys were still very vulnerable and a very large target for the VC with their AK47s, ChiCom Carbines & RPGs.
The time has passed quickly.
CH47gunner
US Veteran
DW -
You were with the 173rd Robin Hoods @ Lai Khe, we were both in the same Aviation Battalion then. This was the way it was set-up in 1969 tho.
I was @ Phu Loi with the 213th ASHC (BlackCats) crewing Chinooks. The 213th (Chinooks), 173rd (Hueys), 205th (Chinooks), and 128th (Hueys) made-up the 11th Combat Aviation Battalion, 12th Aviation Group, 1st Aviation Brigade.
I actually flew out of Lai Khe (Rocket City/Sherwood Forest) a bit and POL'ed there often.
Bruce
Anyone who flew the III Corps area around Lai Khe and Cu Chi might remember this - the 1st Infantry Div. (Big Red One) cut this into the jungle using Rome Plows, it was so big you could only see it from the air.
You were with the 173rd Robin Hoods @ Lai Khe, we were both in the same Aviation Battalion then. This was the way it was set-up in 1969 tho.
I was @ Phu Loi with the 213th ASHC (BlackCats) crewing Chinooks. The 213th (Chinooks), 173rd (Hueys), 205th (Chinooks), and 128th (Hueys) made-up the 11th Combat Aviation Battalion, 12th Aviation Group, 1st Aviation Brigade.
I actually flew out of Lai Khe (Rocket City/Sherwood Forest) a bit and POL'ed there often.
Bruce
Anyone who flew the III Corps area around Lai Khe and Cu Chi might remember this - the 1st Infantry Div. (Big Red One) cut this into the jungle using Rome Plows, it was so big you could only see it from the air.
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DWFAN
US Veteran
CH47gunner, this was my unit.
168th Engineer Battalion (Combat)
This is the ship we took to paradise.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:USNS_Geiger_(T-AP-197).jpg
168th Engineer Battalion (Combat)
This is the ship we took to paradise.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:USNS_Geiger_(T-AP-197).jpg
labworm
US Veteran
Retired W4
You guys were just fantastic, especially the Medivac gang.
Always knew where you were heading and nothing stopped you guys.
Cu Chi, 3/4 Cav 67/68
You guys were just fantastic, especially the Medivac gang.
Always knew where you were heading and nothing stopped you guys.
Cu Chi, 3/4 Cav 67/68
CW Spook
US Veteran
There's nothing like the sound of a Huey to make the hair on the back of my neck stand up. Our air ambulance service was still using them for 10-15 years after I came home from the Navy in '72. Living just a block from the hospital meant that sound stuck with me for a very long time.
OP
We never said no - altho when the LZ's were too small (if we couldn't trim branches w/ the blades), or the crunchies couldn't get their radio procedure down, or even when the ARVN's popped CS instead of smoke, we'd usually at least hover in and dump/pick-up what we could.
Been to the Wall
Still get goose bumps at the sound of blades
Still smell the burning JP-4
I'm OK with that.
Welcome Home all.
Bruce
Tay Ninh -
Then you probably remember this "small" landmark also.
Nui Ba Dinh (Black Virgin Mtn.)
Do I remember? This was my view walking to the flight line in the morning. Been on top, all around the base, and especially on that saddle.
