average age of vietnam helicopter pilot
Was 19 the average age of a combat soldier in Vietnam? Phil Marshall, DMZ Dustoff 711, 237th Medical Detachment (Helicopter Ambulance) Camp Evans and Quang Tri, Vietnam 1969. By contrast, there still are 78,000 unaccounted-for Americans from World War II and 8,100 from the Korean conflict. Sometimes, being good and lucky still is not enough. The 1990 unsuccessful movie "Air America" helped to establish the myth of a connection between Air America, the CIA, and the Laotian drug trade. the following purposes: To enhance and accredit the cohesiveness, esprit de corps, and traditions of valor of 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. Those Hueys were their horses and they rode into battle en masse, to deliver their troops and evacuate the wounded. Steve DaCosta, Cavalier15, June67-June68. He he he he . time than any other aircraft in the history of warfare assuming you count actual al.. Five Thousand pilots and crews lost their lives and 3,258 Hueys alone were lost during the war. 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. Also "Estimating the Number of Suicides Among Vietnam Veterans" (Am J Psychiatry 147, 6 June 1990 pages 772-776). v.. A free fire zone has nothing to do with economics. University. Whether they took hits at this time or not is speculation, but he tried another tactic. Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association - VHPA To seek out, using whatever means available, individuals who piloted rotary wing [1996 Information Please Almanac], POW-MIA Issue (unaccounted-for versus missing in action), Politics & People, On Vietnam, Clinton Should Follow a Hero's Advice, 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 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. The U.S. Embassy and its helipad were much larger. 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. one of 42 pictures of this helicopter that UPI photographer, Hubert Van Es took The crewmen I flew with on hoist missions (like me, in their teens and early 20s) were absolutely the best, and I wish I could shake every one of their hands and hug them today. I have to take one thing back. Even more demanding was formation flying at night, with navigation lights off, using the glow from the leaders cockpit instruments for station keeping. Most of the Commissioned Officers were older. I have no idea who he was, but we logged his flight time as PP: Patient Protector.. This statistic is not included in your account. 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. To retrieve the data click on 2020 Active Civil Airmen Statistics. 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. (the herbicide was called "orange" in Vietnam, not Agent Orange. 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). [VHPA 1993], The helicopter provided unprecedented mobility. . was typical of the continual commentary from the enlisted crew members. [VHPA databases]. My opinion is that he was as afraid that he could not complete the mission, as much as he was afraid to die. 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. 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. average age of vietnam helicopter pilot - mail.germenergy.com One guy was 19, while the oldest (not counting our Commanding Officer) was the 28-year-old XO, Army slang for the second in command, Executive Officer. 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. fund has been established at the Vietnam Center and Archives at Texas Tech The tactical situation is such that the ground troops cannot get the dead or wounded to a secure open area for evacuation. [2]:3, The helicopters transported over 1,000 Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) paratroopers for an assault on a suspected Viet Cong (VC) stronghold 10 miles (16km) west of Saigon. All through flight school, we were taught by gun pilots, slick drivers, scout pilots (although not as many of the scout pilots, they had a high loss ratio), and oh, yes, ONE Dustoff pilot. We sacrificed our youth and innocence; we achieved above and beyond the call of duty on a daily basis. Maturity, self-confident, bravery, willing to take chances, courageous, and yes fun-loving are the attributes that make a great pilot. Get the details for all upcoming vietnam helicopter unit reunions. They will always be our heroes, our Angels in the Sky.. It required every skill we had. 5. The others on board simply assumed he was also headed for dinner, but I knew the true meaning of his statement. I wanted that top 20% and focused all my abilities and energy on making gunship training. Please support The Veterans Site by adding us to your ad blockers whitelist ads help us to provide food and supplies to veterans. Currently, you are using a shared account. Even the AP photographer, Nick Ut, who took the picture was Vietnamese. Oh, were we Young and Stupid on hoist missions, too; the second Y & S thing we did! Epilogue: Most people who see photos of Dustoff Hueys in Vietnam observe only the outside of the aircraft. [People]. The further you fly into the mountains, the louder the strange engine noises become. [Houk] Testimony by Dr. Houk, Oversight on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, 14 July 1988 page 17, Hearing before the Committee on Veterans' Affairs United States Senate one hundredth Congress second session. Occasionally, the gunner and crew chief had to exit temporarily to reduce the weight sufficiently for take off. (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. Business Solutions including all features. This included Basic Combat Training and Flight Training. You need a Statista Account for unlimited access. [McCaffrey], The oldest man killed was 62 years old (TAYLOR, KENNA CLYDE). website may contain information that VHPA considers proprietary and The radioman on the ship would tell them Cleared for a port quarter approach. The silence on the radio was the proverbial pregnant pause, and I could imagine the conversation inside the Huey cockpit. Five Thousand pilots and crews lost their lives and 3,258 Hueys alone were lost during the war. 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. [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. When I read the quickly handwritten sheet for this particular mission, I knew before we left that it was going to be an insecure hoist. [1996 Information Please Almanac], The 140,000 evacuees in April 1975 during the fall of Saigon consisted almost entirely of civilians and Vietnamese military, NOT American military running for their lives. Information contained herein shall not be used for commercial In order to be Old and Wise, one must first be young and stupid. [Home] [ReunionInformation] [Donations] [OurLegacy] [MembershipServices] [RelatedWebSites] Member Login. 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. Their stories are extremely compelling. There were no Americans involved in any capacity. Average Vietnam Of Helicopter Age Pilot [ROCFI4] In, Federal Aviation Administration. [VHPA databases], Army AH-1G's totaled more than 1,166,344 flight hours in Vietnam. * Includes pilots with an airplane and/or a helicopter and/or a glider and/or a gyroplane certificate. Over the ten years of the war, Operation Ranch Hand sprayed about eleven million gallons of Agent Orange on the South Vietnamese landscape. e.. Cover your Buddy, so he can be around to cover for you. It is a fact that helicopter tail rotors are instinctively drawn toward trees, stumps, rocks, etc. Information contained herein shall not be used for commercial [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. Average age of 58,148 killed in Vietnam was 23.11 years. . Operation Chopper occurred on 12 January 1962 and was the first time U.S. forces participated in major combat in the Vietnam War. Many men volunteered for the draft so even some of the draftees were actually Only a few privileged people, other than the crew members themselves, know an obscure fact that there were actually three seats in the cockpit of a Dustoff helicopter, rather than two seats, as mounted in all other Hueys. [McCaffrey], Vietnam veterans have a lower unemployment rate than our non-vet age group. In fact, after the 5-year post-service period, the rate of suicides is less in the Vietnam veterans' group." About 12,000 U.S. military helicopters spent 7.5 million hours above Vietnam, flying 2 million missions. sent to webmaster@vhpa.org whereupon The average time lapse between wounding to hospitalization was less than one hour. I have posted your reply to Steve on here so he will be able to read it. Five minutes or more seemed like hours while we sat in the air over the ground troops, taxing every bit of professionalism we hadand the reader better believe we had the utmost professionalism. 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. A Scout team consisted of a pilot, a Door Gunner and an observer. Did you know the average life expectancy of a US Army Huey pilot in Both immigrated 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. You will get a clear sense of what they were up against and how they conducted themselves. The early (65-68) Weapons Team was made up of two pilots, crew chief and a door gunner. 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. All rights reserved. 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. [1996 Information Please Almanac] 1995 Information Please Almanac Atlas & Yearbook 49th edition, Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston & New York 1996, pages 117, 161 and 292. [McCaffrey] Candidates later tackled the difficult arts of landing in small areas, night, and instrument flying crucial skills for their operational work in Southeast Asia. During a hoist mission, we flew with one finger on a button on the cyclic stick that operated an electric solenoid. We lost a lot of Pilots but we also lost a lot of Crew Chiefs and Door Gunners. 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. who is now retired in Arizona. All of these, however, are better than extraction by Medavac, even if it is technically, a form of flying. ?any tips. . Whatd he say? Hell, I dont know. I never forgot the reverence with which that statement was made, as I began to form a survival plan of action in my mind. In June of 1967, Marine officers destined to become fixed-wing pilots began reporting to Air Force bases for flight training. tail number N4 7004, were Bob Caron who lives in Florida and Jack I wonder how many grunts would have gotten on the hoist had they known that. n.. Myth: The war was fought largely by the poor and uneducated. [People]. "Pogo" Hunter who died in 1995. 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. They explained the trajectory of the weapons fired from an aircraft, especially when firing in a turn., Fort Rucker trained 120 aviators on its gunship aerial weapons course for the UH-1B in 1965. Oh, Sugar! (Not my exact word.) The Vietnam Army Helicopter Pilot | Charlie Troop 1st Squadron 9th Even then, there could be no guarantee that the slicks would be able to land and then depart without being targeted by enemy fire. If you are an admin, please authenticate by logging in again. This freed Marine quotas at Pensacola which could be used to . The engine RPM and the rotor RPM must BOTH be kept in the GREEN. 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 . average age of vietnam helicopter pilot - nanchital.gob.mx 2/3 of the men who served in World War II were drafted. Every helicopter flying in Vietnam had one real purpose: To help the grunt. The pilots who were flying this helicopter, 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. how to unhide mouse cursor windows 10; It was called "shell shock" and other names in previous wars. average age of vietnam helicopter pilot confidential. Are you interested in testing our business solutions? The domino theory was accurate. I tried to use the opportunity to prove to myself that I could accomplish the goals I set for myself and do them well. XV, Issue VII. Operation Chopper (Vietnam) - Wikipedia We grabbed some unsuspecting Schmuck and told him to get his weapon and some ammo and run with us to the aircraft. Over 900,000 patients were airlifted (nearly half were American). PO Box 8091 Profit from the additional features of your individual account. When you crash, well try to recover your bodies. I wont make it back.. . of fuel, ammunition and other supplies because of a lack of support from Boeing and Read More, I will say this - and I know a lot of other Navy guys that Read More, The Defense Security Cooperation Agency has not specified whether the weapons are intended for Taiwans Read More, Models of the F-19 Stealth Fighter started to appear in the eighties and were available Read More, The USAF plans to begin production in fiscal 2025, with the first E-7A expected to Read More, UH-1 Huey Gunship Vs NVA/VC Forces Vietnam 1962-75, Boeing, US Army AH-64 Apache attack helicopters Achieve 5 Million Flight Hours, Equivalent to Flying nonstop for more than 208,333 Days or 570 Years and Nine Months, Taiwan to get 100 AGM-88B HARM missiles and 200 AIM-120C-8 missiles for its F-16 fleet, USAF awards Boeing E-7A prototype contract: the Wedgetail will replace the E-3 AWACS, US Navy Nuclear Propulsion Plant Operator explains when a submarine reactor can be run at higher than 100% (and why the 105% on the reactor ordered in The Hunt for Red October movie would not be worth any risk to the ship and crew), Former US Navy F/A-18 pilot explains why although during his era the Hornet was the best airplane on the carrier his fun meter was most pegged flying the A-4 Skyhawk, The Stealth Fighter that Never Was: How the Secret Development of the F-117 led to the Birth of the Misleading F-19. We fought to an agreed stalemate. Our single-engine UH-1H Hueys did not float in the water very well. ah.. Nobody cares what you did yesterday or what you are going to do tomorrow. When we were on short final approach over the landing zone, I heard small arms fire and my brand-new Crew Chief yelled Were taking fire!, I pulled power into the rotor system to get out of there as quickly as I could, when the radio operator on the ground called out Dustoff, where are you going?. $36/year subscription. 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 VHPA and encourage all eligible individuals to become members. Online membership Communications with the Executive Council Terry Clark? VHPA Aviator magazine Don S. the last (in-country) Masher33, 1971, It is not easy to read this stuff. More realities about war: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) - it was not invented or unique to Vietnam Veterans. Servicemen who went to Vietnam from well-to-do areas had a slightly elevated risk of dying because they were more likely to be pilots or infantry officers. 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. 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 . Myth: The domino theory was proved false. rotary wing aircrews that flew in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam Era. How old was the average helicopter pilot in Vietnam? - Quora Most 18 year olds only think about girls and what they can get from them. The Pilots of Charlie Troop 1st Squadron 9th Cavalry Regiment 1st Cavalry Division (AM) were the best Pilots of the Vietnam War and today they are the best men America has to offer. 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. They were the ones who flew the troops into and out of battle. 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. It was a rare breed of man whobecame a Scout Pilot. The VC knew the points in an assault where the helicopter was most vulnerable, so thorough prepping by gunships and strike aircraft was essential. Hello, I enjoyed Reading the blog. x.. Medals are OK, but having your body and all your friends in one piece at the end of the day is better. Myth: A disproportionate number of blacks were killed in the Vietnam War. Please do not hesitate to contact me. All of these, however, are preferable to cold rice balls, even if they do have the little pieces of fish in them. Most aviators receives about 210 hours of flight time. There is only one rule in war: When you win, you get to make up the If you have not been there and done that you probably will not understand most of this. After training, they entered transport or gunship platoons referred to simply as slicks or guns. Most would complete at least two combat tours. My father mentioned a pilot and I was curious if this was one of the same. First, one has to understand what a hoist mission is and why we did them. As MedEvac helicopter pilots, we flew the only Army Hueys equipped with the electric hoist/winch. Section 501(c)(19) of the Internal Revenue Service. Myth: Air America, the airline operated by the CIA in Southeast Asia, and its pilots were involved in drug trafficking. As he entered the crowded car, he said, Ballroom, please.. http://www.air-america.org. I enlisted in the (WOFT) Warrant Officer Flight Training. As a group, we helicopter pilots did what we had to do and then some. Show publisher information I graduated from Flight Training 2 day short of a year. Joe Treen, People.com, 21 April 2000. Always smiling and never hurt anyone, I would guess. That was the unforgiving part. If you lose you ao.. address changes for the directory and use the comments form to The average age of an employed helicopter pilot is 45 years old. I already knew the difference between port and starboard, and it wasnt that hard to figure out beam and quartering approaches. It was finally time to find out if we had the gonads to be combat helicopter pilots. The second pilot you will meet is retired CWO2 Allan Potter. History of the founding of the VHPA written by [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. [McCaffrey]. "The problem is that those who think the Vietnamese haven't cooperated sufficiently think there is some central repository with answers to all the lingering questions," notes Gen. John Vessey, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Reagan and Bush administration's designated representative in MIA negotiations.
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