survive the 365 days in Southeast Asia was to be a gunship pilot, blazing my way back to the states, defending myself with mini-guns, rockets, and grenade launchers. The terms Protective Armor and Helicopter are mutually exclusive. [Westmoreland], Democracy Catching On - In the wake of the Cold War, democracies are flourishing, with 179 of the world's 192 sovereign states (93%) now electing their legislators, according to the Geneva-based Inter-Parliamentary Union. f.. There are over 4,945 helicopter pilots currently employed in the United States. tail number N4 7004, were Bob Caron who lives in Florida and Jack Or, to hear veteran helicopter pilots describe their personal experiences in the line of duty, click here. PO Box 8091 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. I used to laugh at the occasional Huey slick driver who flew out to let guys from his unit use the shopping facilities on the ships. ak.. They will always be our heroes, our Angels in the Sky.. It has been said many times by Navy and Marine jet pilots that landing on an aircraft carrier is like landing on a postage stamp. Translation: There are bad guys all around, weve got wounded, get in here NOW before they die or we have more wounded, and you have to come back again. o.. About 12,000 U.S. military helicopters spent 7.5 million hours above Vietnam, flying 2 million missions. How to get a day off of work or which college offers the best ability to party. 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. Magazines are included with VHPA membership and are available to non-members with a Over the course of the war, some 12,000 helicopters of various kinds saw service in Vietnam. My opinion is that he was as afraid that he could not complete the mission, as much as he was afraid to die. [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. If everything is as clear as a bell, and everything is going exactly as planned, youre about to be surprised. rotary wing aircrews that flew in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam Era. To retrieve the data click on 2020 Active Civil Airmen Statistics. Your email address will not be published. His writing has appeared in The National Interest and other news media. a31 road closure alton; cdw insurance for rental cars; hygro cotton bath towels; Hello world! Would love to chat with Bruce Huffman. He was an instructor pilot at Downing Army Airfield at Ft. Wolters, Texas, in May of 1968. He was an Air Cav pilot, delivering and evacuating troops into and out of battlefields. When called upon, a Pilot did not wait for approval from his crew, becuse he knew his crew would never say No. keep your tail straight . [2]:3, This operation heralded a new era of air mobility for the U.S. Army, which had been slowly growing as a concept since the Army formed twelve helicopter battalions in 1952 as a result of the Korean War. Further proof of these facts can be found at a recent Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association (VHPA) reunion. Drinking and how not to get caught. They were heavily armed with mini-guns, machine guns, and various kinds of rockets. This statistic is not included in your account. University. In Vietnam, pilots frequently encountered fog and monsoon rain, which severely tested their blind flying skills. [Online]. In closing, I would merely like to state that I am able to write this today in large part because of luck whole lot of GOOD luck and a little bit of good humor. There, the new guys learned how to apply their recently found skills to combat situations. We fought to an agreed stalemate. There were no Americans involved in any capacity. members without the express consent of the member. The BSR (Bang Stare Red) Theory states that the louder the sudden bang in the helicopter, the quicker your eyes will be drawn to the gauges. Otherwise, if we got tangled up, it could cause the aircraft to crash. "No event in American history is more misunderstood than the Vietnam War. Isolated atrocities committed by American soldiers produced torrents of outrage from antiwar critics and the news media while Communist atrocities were so common that they received hardly any attention at all. The total of non-pilot crewmembers killed was 2,704, according to records of the Vietnam Helicopter Pilots' Association. (One has to realize that there was virtually no protection for the pilots from the front and little from the sides or underneath.) They could often see what we could not and helped keep the enemy off of us and to even the odds for us, so to speak. Hello. Generally, someone is badly wounded in jungle or mountainous (or both) terrain where a helicopter cannot land on the ground or even close to it. [People]. God bless you all! 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 . The third seat was installed in our combat aircraft to accommodate the well above average size of our family jewels, which were required to complete most of the missions we flew in Vietnam. That sinister-sounding term was coined after the war) Orange was sprayed at three gallons per acre that was the equivalent of .009 of an ounce per square foot. Read the latest issue of the Friends of the Vietnam Center Newsletter and subscribe to recieve future newsletters. Terry Clark? applies to subscribers): Age 80 and above ---$75.00 20002023 The Veterans Site and GreaterGood. The Naval Air Training Command, located at Pensacola, Florida, could not train enough Marine helicopter pilots to bring the units in Vietnam up to strength. but it cant hurt. I had no idea of the satisfaction, pride, sense of accomplishment, and even elation that I would feel in the next six months. It called for release of all U.S. prisoners, withdrawal of U.S. forces, limitation of both sides' forces inside South Vietnam and a commitment to peaceful reunification. Required fields are marked *. The Army employed it in various roles, including that of an armed escort or attack gunship in Vietnam. You can only download this statistic as a Premium user. They were involved in every aspect of that war fighting, from medevac, to ammo, troop and supply delivery, to aerial fire support. I think I can make it back! was his last message as the aircraft caught fire, rolled inverted and crashed in flames, killing all on board. r.. Phil Marshall, DMZ Dustoff 711, 237th Medical Detachment (Helicopter Ambulance) Camp Evans and Quang Tri, Vietnam 1969. The engine RPM and the rotor RPM must BOTH be kept in the GREEN. solicitation purposes, or any correspondence related thereto. I cannot talk about how tough flight school was, nor can I state what the washout rate was because I did not go myself. When sprayed on dense jungle foliage, less that 6 percent ever reached the ground. There is only one rule in war: When you win, you get to make up the Without his heroic actions that day we, the Grunts, would have been in severe situation as we were running out of food, ammo and our radio batteries were almost dead. [People]. [The Wall Street Journal] The Wall Street Journal, 1 June 1996 page A15. [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. * Includes pilots with an airplane and/or a helicopter and/or a glider and/or a gyroplane certificate. These three represent all of out Vietnam War helicopter pilots. Thanks Tom H. AKA,Cavalier 16, 68/69, Brought a tear to my eye. Myth: Most Vietnam veterans were drafted. Laura Ungaro, I enjoyed reading this very much, many good memories were recalled. [Nixon]. The early (65-68) Weapons Team was made up of two pilots, crew chief and a door gunner. Even the AP photographer, Nick Ut, who took the picture was Vietnamese. The domino theory was accurate. Failure to heed this commandment can affect the morale of the crew. Currently, you are using a shared account. The initial Army designation was HU-1, which led to the common unofficial nickname of Huey.. In my mind, the only way I would. [Westmoreland] Approximately 70% of those killed were volunteers. The picture of a Huey helicopter evacuating people from the top of what was billed as being the U.S. Embassy in Saigon during the last week of April 1975 during the fall of Saigon helped to establish this myth. You were way more mature for your age than 99% of the young men today. ", Federal Aviation Administration, Average age of active pilots in the United States from 2002 to 2020, by category* Statista, https://www.statista.com/statistics/919100/aviation-industry-average-age-of-active-pilots-in-the-united-states-by-category/ (last visited March 04, 2023), Average age of active pilots in the United States from 2002 to 2020, by category* [Graph], Federal Aviation Administration, May 18, 2021. aircraft in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam era and inform them of the existence of the It is far better that you fear the media, for they will steal your HONOR. During his two tours in Vietnam, Col. Moore flew 2,752 combat medevac mission and transported 2,952 wounded men back to the medical help they needed. The Air Cav was just what the name implies. 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. 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. Information contained herein shall not be used for commercial 5.5% of all helicopter pilots are women, while 94.5% are men. Statista. We risked much in a totally dark valley that night, and there was no doubt that someone appreciated us. He has reported from Europe and flown Super Puma and Cougar helicopters with the Swiss Air Force. 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. . I told my roommate, This is it. . (the herbicide was called "orange" in Vietnam, not Agent Orange. Prayer may not help . As soon as he stepped from the left side to the right, the aircraft tipped. These new battalions eventually formed a sort of modern-day cavalry for the Army. Federal Aviation Administration. . Joe Treen, People.com, 21 April 2000. statistic alerts) please log in with your personal account. As an example, heavy . I just tapped him gently on the shoulder and whispered, Hey, Buddy, Im as far back in the elevator as I can get now. I knew what he was really saying. THE UNITED STATES DID NOT LOSE THE WAR IN VIETNAM, THE SOUTH VIETNAMESE As a result, less than one percent of all Americans wounded who survived the first 24 hours died. The VHPA has a membership of over 16,600 (8,700 dues current) helicopter pilots from around the world out of the approximately 40,000 who served as helicopter pilots in the Vietnam War. Mortality studies show that 9,000 is a better estimate. Most aviators receives about 210 hours of flight time. I already knew the difference between port and starboard, and it wasnt that hard to figure out beam and quartering approaches. . reunion. U.S. active certificated pilots - number 1990-2020, Worldwide aircraft fleet age by region 2020-2030, Air traffic - passenger growth rates forecast 2019-2040. Small, two seat TH-55 Osages were also used. Also "Estimating the Number of Suicides Among Vietnam Veterans" (Am J Psychiatry 147, 6 June 1990 pages 772-776). Many of these brave men went from High School to Flight School. Decisions made by someone above you in the chain-of-command will seldom be in your best interest. No matter what the enemy threw at them, they never backed down. The most common ethnicity of helicopter pilots is White (82.0%), followed by Hispanic or Latino (6.8%), Unknown (5.5%) and Asian (2.7%). And what was even stupider, I suppose, was the fact that if the doors were closed when we reached the water, we opened them so we could get out easier if we did go down. Topics cover the entire spectrum from Vietnam to . The average infantryman in the South Pacific during World War II saw about 40 days of combat in four years. Search: Average Age Of Vietnam Helicopter Pilot. Larry Clark and Mike Law in 1990. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Aero Bonus 320085 1/32 Us Army Helicopter Pilot Vietnam War 1960-1975 at the best online prices at eBay! Soviet Union. solicitation purposes, or any correspondence related thereto. View complete answer on zippia.com $99) To contact the magazine editor aviator@vhpa.org. The third seat was for our testicles. We lost a lot of Pilots but we also lost a lot of Crew Chiefs and Door Gunners. Most 18 year olds only think about girls and what they can get from them. Mailing Address: Parameters for authorizing operating a US Navy submarine reactor plant above practicable design limits is Read More, Additionally, 1.3 million of those five million flight hours were accomplished during combat. No American had involvement in this incident near Trang Bang that burned Phan Thi Kim Phuc. Those of us lucky enough to come home learned from the experience and were, without question, changed men, no longer wide-eyed boys. I can throw a rock in there, its so close! was the rest of my thought. As soon as this statistic is updated, you will immediately be notified via e-mail. One pilot lost a testicle to a .50-caliber round and was able to father only 44 children (at last count) after returning from overseas. x.. Medals are OK, but having your body and all your friends in one piece at the end of the day is better. They gave us classes on what altitudes to fly to avoid certain types of enemy fire small arms or 0.51 cal. an.. A grunt is the true reason for the existence of the helicopter. The average age of the 58,148 killed in Vietnam was 23.11 years (Although 58,169 names are in the Nov. 93 database, only 58,148 have both event date and birth date. how to unhide mouse cursor windows 10; Published by on October 31, 2021. You only have access to basic statistics. Southeast Asia during the Vietnam era (1961-1975). Another tradition started in 1988 is a "Cobra" As MedEvac helicopter pilots, we flew the only Army Hueys equipped with the electric hoist/winch. In, Federal Aviation Administration. 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. If so glad to know youre well. 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. From 1965, around 99 percent of each completed class of students were sent to Vietnam. Age 75 to 79 --------$100.00 The Vietnamese pilot who dropped the napalm in error is currently living in the United States. By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy. Refining close formation skills was an immediate requirement, as airborne assaults could involve a tight gaggle of up to 40 helicopters, including ten gunships. The Vietnam Overview and forecasts on trending topics, Industry and market insights and forecasts, Key figures and rankings about companies and products, Consumer and brand insights and preferences in various industries, Detailed information about political and social topics, All key figures about countries and regions, Market forecast and expert KPIs for 600+ segments in 150+ countries, Insights on consumer attitudes and behavior worldwide, Business information on 60m+ public and private companies, Detailed information for 35,000+ online stores and marketplaces. I made a pedal turn (U-turn) about 200 feet in the air, probably over some bad guys, and hovered back in over the trees. If everyone does not come home, none of the rest of us can ever fully come home either. 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 looking good. come forward just a little . I did well enough to make the school, along with about 25 of my classmates. If we waited for gunship support, it may be too late for the wounded, so most times we tried to sneak in and sneak out (if thats possible in a clattering helicopter) and complete the rescue before the enemy had TOO much time to shoot us up . It is dedicated to the fulfillment of Myth: Agent Orange poisoned millions of Vietnam veterans. 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. To all of the brave Pilots and their crews, I can say but three things. You were a good friend and much appreciated by my parents. 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. American involvement in February 1973. Age 65 to 69 --------$250.00 I have posted your reply to Steve on here so he will be able to read it. Shoot, I had NO idea! The Vietnam War was shortly after China got involved in the Korean war, the time of the Cuban missile crisis, Soviet aggression in Eastern Europe and the proliferation of nuclear bombs. magazines, a membership directory and a calendar each year and periodically publishes Always make sure someone has a P-38. That was probably the lowest point of my Vietnam flying experience, and I never forgot it. Owned and operated by CharityUSA.com, LLC. If we had been shot down on virtually any hoist mission, our high hover would not have allowed us to make a safe landing, and many would surely have died. Average age of 58,148 killed in Vietnam was 23.11 years. Loud, sudden noises in a helicopter WILL get your undivided attention. ai.. Candidates later tackled the difficult arts of landing in small areas, night, and instrument flying crucial skills for their operational work in Southeast Asia. If we didnt do it, the next guy would, and we would have been found to be personally lacking what it took to complete the mission. The average age (according to General William C. Westmoreland before the Third Annual Reunion of the Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association (VHPA) at the Washington, DC Hilton Hotel on July 5th, 1986) was 26 The average man who fought in World War II was 26 years of age. 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. Three of the five newest democracies are former Soviet republics: Belarus (where elections were first held in November 1995), Armenia (July 1995) and Kyrgyzstan (February 1995). I can tell you what in my opinion made the best pilots. I wonder how many grunts would have gotten on the hoist had they known that. who is now retired in Arizona. u.. Everybodys a hero on the ground in the club after the fourth drink. ao.. By the end of the war half of them had been lost. Maybe we could have used our survival radio once we were in the water or forced down over the jungle. The U.S. Embassy and its helipad were much larger. Congress while the North Vietnamese were very well supplied by China and the They could rotate around a battle site from above, unleashing punishing weapon support from above. 75,000 Vietnam veterans are severely disabled. If you ask people who live in these countries that won the war in Vietnam, they have a different opinion from the American news media. Never have the consequences of their misunderstanding been so tragic." Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. information contained in this publication shall not be distributed to non-VHPA Five Thousand pilots and crews lost their lives and 3,258 Hueys alone were lost during the war. . I logged 205 hours in Flight Training. Vietnam seldom flew above 1,500 feet which is traffic pattern altitude for 58,169 were killed and 304,000 wounded out of 2.59 million who served. The average infantryman in Vietnam saw about 240 days of combat in one year thanks to the mobility of the helicopter. That was the unforgiving part. "Average Age of Active Pilots in The United States from 2002 to 2020, by Category*. [McCaffrey], Vietnam veterans have a lower unemployment rate than our non-vet age group. Running is better than crawling. They were Kim's cousins not her brothers. "The CDC Vietnam Experience Study Mortality Assessment showed that during the first 5 years after discharge, deaths from suicide were 1.7 times more likely among Vietnam veterans than non-Vietnam veterans. 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. This form number DA- 4733-DSC (Dustoff-Sized Cajones), was used to determine which pilots would obtain MedEvac training at Ft. Sam Houston, Texas, upon completion of training at Mother Rucker. Over 900,000 patients were airlifted (nearly half were American). come right . Get the details for all upcoming vietnam helicopter unit reunions. This freed Marine quotas at Pensacola which could be used to . The VHPA is a social organization only and Average age of active pilots in the United States from 2002 to 2020, by category* [Graph]. The first one you will meet is retired Army Col. Douglas Moore, a medevac pilot in Vietnam. b.. From 1965, around 99 percent of each completed class of students were sent to Vietnam. Always smiling and never hurt anyone, I would guess. In reference to Mr. Walker, would he also be the same pilot that was nick named, Baby Huey in Vietnam? The Wall), Center for Electronic Records, National Archives, Washington, DC, [All That We Can Be] All That We Can Be by Charles C. Moskos and John Sibley Butler, [Westmoreland] Speech by General William C. Westmoreland before the Third Annual Reunion of the Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association (VHPA) at the Washington, DC Hilton Hotel on July 5th, 1986 (reproduced in a Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association Historical Reference Directory Volume 2A). Most of the Commissioned Officers were older. A third tradition is a bottle . It was a small price to pay for the successful completion of our daily rescues. Many times these brave men had to deliver or retrieve the troopers into or out of areas where enemy fire was heavy. Annual car sales worldwide 2010-2022, with a forecast for 2023, Number of cars sold in the U.S. 1951-2021, Battery electric vehicles in use worldwide 2016-2021, Annual gas prices in the United States 1990-2021, Automotive industry worldwide - statistics & facts, Motorcycle industry in the United States - statistics & facts, Profit from additional features with an Employee Account. DID after the U.S. Congress cut off funding. Without the helicopter it would have taken three times as many troops to secure the 800 mile border with Cambodia and Laos (the politicians thought the Geneva Conventions of 1954 and the Geneva Accords or 1962 would secure the border) [Westmoreland], Approximately 12,000 helicopters saw action in Vietnam (all services). . Correspondence relating to commercial purposes or solicitations shall only be ac.. Running out of pedal, fore or aft cyclic, or collective are all bad ideas. [People], The evacuees were Vietnamese not American military. Scared that maybe, just maybe, youll fail your mission where someone else just like you would have succeeded. The further you fly into the mountains, the louder the strange engine noises become. Are you interested in testing our business solutions? Section 501(c)(19) of the Internal Revenue Service. Wainwright Station All of these, however, are better than extraction by Medavac, even if it is technically, a form of flying. Shortly after arriving at Ft. Rucker, Alabama, I learned that those of us with the highest flight grades would attend a two-week gun school near the end of training, while the rest learned formation flying. The average time lapse between wounding to hospitalization was less than one hour. Information contained herein shall not be used for commercial Hello, I enjoyed Reading the blog. (Although 58,169 names are in the Nov. 93 database, only 58,148 have both event date and birth date. The death squads focused on leaders at the village level and on anyone who improved the lives of the peasants such as medical personnel, social workers, and schoolteachers. confidential. to incorporate the statistic into your presentation at any time. 2160250. buzz lightyear of star command complete series More Scout Teams were lost because of this than any other helicopter team. Traditions: The VHPA has developed some traditions over the [McCaffrey], The oldest man killed was 62 years old (TAYLOR, KENNA CLYDE). through mini-reunions (local get togethers) throughout the year and through the Internet Every helicopter flying in Vietnam had one real purpose: To help the grunt. In 2009, the US Congress changed the mandatory age of retirement of airline pilots from 60 to 65 in a bid to solve the pilot shortage problem. The second pilot you will meet is retired CWO2 Allan Potter. They also acted as the means of supply of ammunitions, equipment and food. Thanks for the memories. i.. Chicken Plates are not something you order in a restaurant. Were about five miles out. Five miles out from where? From a military standpoint, it was almost an unprecedented performance.