Vietnam 68-69

I still vividly remeber the first time I saw the Rakkasan’s symbol.  It was outside the battalion headquarters at Camp Evans.  I came around the corner of the building and saw it standing there.  It was in stark contrast to the olive drab, the Vietnam dirt and the gray brown wood of the buildings.  I pretty much stopped in my tracks and just looked the big red inverted arch.  I thought it looked asian, like Chinese writing.  I thought it odd that the 3/187th would have such a symbol.  I never took a picture of it.  I think it was becasue I hadn’t received a camera from home yet.  I do remember that it was big and solid, not some flimsy thing.  I vaguely remember a ring of rocks around it and the ground was well kept.  It felt like a shrine or somehting.  I probably asked a few people about it, but I don’t remember.

It wasn’t until years later that I really came to understand what it really means.  The symbol is actually a Tori.

I took the picture of this Rakkasan Tori at this years “Hamburger Hill” Reunion Ceremony, which was held at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. 

Active duty soldier at the Rakkasan speakers poudium

Also see: http://rakkasan.net/

Huey taking off from fire base with troops, headed to an LZ in the jungle.

As my squad readied weapons and gear we were given final instructions by our squad leader, Sgt Dunn.  He told us that our squad would be one of the first ones to be dropped at the LZ, which the buzz was about it being “HOT”.  Sgt Dunn checked and made sure we had enough ammo, and that every man had ammo for Raines’ M-60.   He told us that we were to have our weapons at the ready and be prepared to return fire as the helicopters descended onto the LZ.  We were instructed to dismount from the helicopter quickly and move into position at the edge of the LZ to the right of any men already on the ground.  He stressed how important it was to return fire and secure the LZ as quickly as possible.  We knew we had to stay low to the ground and move to cover on perimeter of the LZ.

It wasn’t too long after we had been given our final instructions before we heard the rythmic thumping of the approaching Huey’s.  Everybody saddled up and checked their weapons one last time to make sure they were ready to “rock and roll”.  As each chopper touched down we loaded up and were airborne.  The helicopters trailed one after the other towards the LZ.  We sat in silent contemplation, myself thinking about what lay ahead for us.  The thought crossed my mind that our helicopter could get shoot down before we had a chance to unload, or maybe we would get shot up while we were still on board, or pinned down on the ground by hostile fire.  I wonder about who might get hit and hoped that one of them wasn’t me.  I looked around at my  friends as we rode high above the jungle, the cool wind buffeting us.  I could tell the were ready to go with their weapons at the ready and I some how felt better.

As we approached the LZ we were given the command to lock and load.  We readied our weapons and prepared to hit the ground running.  Our helicopter was one of the first to drop into the LZ.  I could see the ground rushing up toward us as our Huey made a quick descent into the clearing.  The clearing was big enough for a number of helicopters to drop their troops at once.  As the chopper ahead of us picked his spot to drop in our pilot picked a spot to the right rear of it.  I could see that the LZ was overgrown with brush and the wash of the helicopters blades was blowing it out and down in a circle.  I expcepted our helicopter to touch down, but the pilot stopped his descent about ten feet from the ground.  I looked down at the swirling brush and thought to myself, “There is no way I’m going to jump that far, the pilot needs to get closer to the ground.”  The I heard the door gunner yelling for us to hurry up and jump, that they wanted to get the hell out of there.  I hesitated another second or so and then with my feet on the skid I jumped to the ground.  I knew that with all the weight on my back the I needed to drop and roll.  I hit the ground and rolled over onto the right side of my pack.  Amazingly I didn’t break anything.  The rest of my squad was soon on the ground and moving to the perimeter of the clearing.

There wasn’t any enemy fire and all the helicopters made it in and out without incident.  Once we knew the area was clear we moved out toward our objective somewhere in the jungle.  Needless to say we were on high alert, wondering where the enemy could be and why they didn’t show at the LZ.

Maybe next time we won’t be so lucky.

I believe, Trautmann, Dunn, Schmitz, Crabtree, Crutts, Raines, Winder and Brown were all a part of this story.

Another air-assault into the jungles of Vietnam.

Usually when we were dropped at an LZ the pilots would touch the skids of the helicopters on the ground.  Occasionally we would be dropped at an LZ that was either covered with bushes and other large plants.  Or, on rare occasions the LZ would be consider “hot”.  An LZ was considered hot if it was known that there were enemy in the area and they could be laying in wait near the landing zone.  As the helicopters came in to the LZ the enemy would ambush the helicopters and troops as they unloaded. 

On one occasion we were told that we would be hitting an LZ that could be hot.  Our platoon was briefed by our platoon leader.  We were instructed that as soon our helicopter touched down on the LZ we needed to hit the ground running and fan out to establish a perimeter on the edge of the LZ.  We were told to be ready to return fire if we came under fire.

We talked among ourselves about what to expect and what we needed to do to secure the LZ.  We were all quite nervous about being fired upon while we were in the helicopters and while we were unloading and running for cover.

to be continued…

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