[Vhfcn-l] Comment from today's pilots

[Arnold B Christensen]

I remember when one of our Hooks got shot down 
when taking a resupply of 105 ammo into a Arty 
base at night and you should have seen the number 
of members of our Battalion ready to go and 
rescue them.  Then there was the time when one of 
our ships went down with a 105 and ammo 
inside.  A observer in a Huey reported that there 
were a lot of people in black PJ's moving towards 
them. In an instant a virtual platoon of Hooks 
and their members were ready to go and get the 
Arty Crew out and our crew members. It took a 
direct order from the local Commander of the 
operation to us to not do that. Meanwhile the 
Arty Crew and our crew members had moved the 
howitzer to the ramp and tied it down and armed 
the gun and were ready to defend 
themselves.  What was happening in the background 
was that as the black PJ's moved toward that 
single ship a bunch of Hueys were saddling up a 
bunch of grunts and a plan was forming to go in 
rescue the crew with Hueys and trap all the Black 
PJ's in the open.  Gun ships loaded up and ready 
to go.  That did happen but to see a platoon of 
Hooks off loading the 105 guns off their ships 
would make your heart feel good.  Sir Charles had 
no clue what was about to happen to him and his 
buddies.  The ship on the ground was eventually 
repaired and recovered. I can tell you that a 
bunch of Hookers found out that if something 
happened out there to one of us there were a 
bunch of fellow Hookers anxious for you and ready 
to mount up and bring pee on anyone that wanted 
to get a piece of the crew.  I can tell you it 
made me to not worry.  When your back is covered 
by a bunch of hooks with any number of infantry 
on board and enough ammo in boxes to start your 
own personal war...I did not worry.

I wonder if that same attitude is there today? Probably not !
Da Foot


At 01:46 PM 1/12/2019, Darrell Elmore via Vhfcn-l wrote:
>Yeah, Vietnam was the cowboy time in Army 
>Aviation.  While I fully respect the aviators 
>of the AF, Navy and USMC, none could 
>collectively compare with magnificent 
>(predominately) young men in their flying 
>machines.  Literally thousands of grunts and 
>such are alive today due to the skills, audacity 
>and balls of those crews.  I have no doubt we 
>lost crews and aircraft due to how they 
>performed, but in the big picture we guys on the 
>ground had full faith in those guys.  We knew 
>they would do what was necessary to support us 
>as well as humanely possible - and maybe beyond 
>that! Today all services are more like airlines, 
>often more focused on checks in squares than 
>operations. I saw it first hand when the Caribou 
>was transferred from the Army to the AF. 
>Overnight the SF and remote sites were never 
>supported as well as before the turn over. Moe 
>-----Original Message----- From: Don Armstrong 
>via Vhfcn-l <vhfcn-l at vhfcn.org> To: MoeElmore 
><MoeElmore at aol.com> Cc: VHFCN1 Pilots and Crew 
><vhfcn-l at vhfcn.org> Sent: Sat, Jan 12, 2019 
>12:38 pm Subject: [Vhfcn-l] Comment from today's 
>pilots  On another Facebook page someone had 
>posted a link about Bruce Crandall  and his 
>actions that produced a CMH. Â Here is a comment 
>that is very telling. Now a days he would have 
>been. Grounded in the return of the first flight 
>pending an 15-6, investigation, made RL3 because 
>after being shot at and knowing he was hit ,he 
>did not land ,he flew back to base......time 
>have changed ,and I'm not sure for the better -- 
>Don Armstrong cavman at dtroop35cav.org 604th Trans 
>/ 52nd CAB, Pleiku, Apr / July 68 D Troop 3/5 
>Cav, Bearcat /Dong Tam , July 68 May 69 
>http://www.dtroop35cav.org 
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