Vietnam 68-69

We will always miss you Ralph.  You were a great friend and a true soldier.  You gave your life for your country 41 years ago today.   The Rakkasan’s commemorate your heroism and that of the other fallen Rakkasans on Hamburger Hill, at a formal ceremony at the pylon on the Ft Campbell army base.  Your name is engraved on the wall for all to see and know the you are not forgotten.

While securing a trail leading up the middle of a ridge on west side of Hamburger Hill, Galen Brown and Terry Wender were shot and killed by enemy fire.  The day was May 13th, 1969, a day that I will never forget.  Galen and Terry had only been in country a couple of months when the 3/187th started it’s assault of Dong Ap Bia.  It was the third day of the operation and up to that point we had no enemy contact.   Our platoon had just stopped and we had just moved off the trail when shots range out.  With in seconds we were yelling for the medics.  Three men were hit, Galen Brown was hit in the chest and died immediately.  McCarthy was hit in the leg and up through the hip and need a medic.  Terry Wender was hit in the chest and was unconcious but still alive.  One medic was attending to McCarthy and our medic was at Terry’s side. He was applying field dressings to Terry’s chest wounds.  I was trying to help as the medic worked frantically trying to save Terry.  I could tell that Terry was slipping away and as kaous ensued around us, I sensed an abiding peace where Terry was, except for the medic who was very upset because he knew that he wasn’t going to be able to save Terry and was crying frantically.  As Terry slipped away the war seemed to come crashing in on us.  We consoled our medic and told him that he had done all he could do to try and save Terry.  I will always remember Galen Brown and Terry Wender, and that fateful day.

I promised that I would talk more about Hamburger Hill, and I will.

I was talking to an old friend today.  I told him about my Vietnam blog and he told me something that gave me an idea.  I recently saw a couple of YouTube videos that I really liked that reminded me of one memorable Huey ride I took on my way back to my platoon in the bush.

Vietnam 1969 – I was ready to return to my platoon after a stay in the hospital.  One Huey was dispatched to haul me back to my platoon in the bush.  When the chopper arrived, I hoped aboard as the runners danced on the ground.  As soon as the Huey’s solo passenger was aboard the engine strained under the load of the pitched rotors and we shot skyward and over the trees.  We flew low over Camp Eagles bunkered perimeter and were soon swiftly flying low over the Vietnam landscape.   The pilot was flying at treetop level, at every rise in the terrain he would pull the Huey up and I would be pressed into the floor.  At every drop off of the terrain he would take the pitch out of the rotors and I would float weightless before slamming back to the floor when the helicopter stopped falling.  I looked out the open door and watched the landscape fly by.  I must say that I was kind of afraid, wondering if the pilots were going to make a mistake and hit the ground.  I had never ridden with a treetop flyer before.  I pulled my self up to take some pictures of this joy ride!  I could see out of the front windscreen and could see the land and water rushing towards us.  I brought my camera to my eye and took a picture, advanced the film and took another picture and then another.  I wanted to have some pitures of our low level thrill ride.

Treetop flyer over Bo Song river

Treetop flying, pressed into the floor

"Screaming Eagle" pilot of Huey flying on the deck.

 I also took a picture out the door of the helicopter of a Vietnamese gathering on the bank of the Song Bo river as we sped by.

Vietnamese gathering on the banks of the Song Bo River

I will never forget that ride with those ”Hotshot” chopper pilots.

I hope you enjoyed the story and I hope you enjoy the videos.

Mark Galloway performs his version of  Treetop Flyer - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6rYJli8e_Y

A Treetop Flyer flying a river - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o40_MzuKIGA

We were stationed at a mountain firebase.  One day we were trying to cut something with a razor blade.  Raines had the razor blade and I asked him to give it to me as I reached for it.  Raines jerked his hand back and cut my thumb open on the inside edge, from below the second joint, up and across to the side of  the thumbnail.  It started bleeding like crazy, but I don’t remember it hurting too bad.  I told the guys I needed to go see the medic.  Raines didn’t want me to go.  I think  he didn’t want to get in trouble.  He said he could sew my thumb up and went to get a sewing kit.  Well, I let Raines sew my thumb up with a needle and thread from the sewing kit.  It took a while, but it healed up quite well.  You can still see the scar to this day though.