Year 1968

The 162nd began the new year with a change of commanders. Major James Thompson assumed command from Major Stokely Wilson on January 1st. Major Ronald Andresen, CO of the 407th TC Det. succeeded Major Thompson on May 24th, followed by Major Robert Wright in November. (It is interesting to note that both Majors Thompson and Andresen went on to illustrious army careers and became General Officers).

Major Thompson, in particular, was considered a good leader who was highly thought of by the men of the company. The following anecdote related by Major Paul Wenzel, Operations Officer, is an excellent illustration of his leadership:

"One thing Major Thompson did for which he was awarded the Soldier's Medal and something which he did because "it was his job" probably has gone unnoticed. Thompson and I normally integrated ourselves into the flight when we performed as part of a battalion lift, not as flight lead but as peter pilot in one of the lift ships other than lead. I believe we were the second and third out of eight flights of five and were positioning ourselves in water filled rice paddies for troop pick up when one of the ships in the second flight of five lost his tail rotor when he flared too steep and stuck it in the water. The ship immediately turned on its side and caught fire. Ammo from the crew chief and/or door gunner was cooking off and one could see the tracers as they cooked off as well. Anyway, Jim Thompson recognized that one of the crewmembers was trapped inside and without regard for his personal safety, he exited his helicopter, ran over to the burning ship and rescued either the crewchief or the gunner, I don't remember which. He did this in full view of our crewmembers and of course in view of all the overhead commanders at 1500 feet or above. I remember our guys talking about this for weeks and how they respected Thompson for his demonstrated leadership on and off the battlefield."

Major Thompson went on to command the Army's only Air Assault Division, the Army War College and the First US Army. Major Andresen, who succeeded Major Thompson, later became program manager for both the Blackhawk and Comanche helicopters and played a key role in their development and introduction.

In early 1968 a number of improvements were made to make life a little more comfortable for the Vultures at Phouc Vinh, including:

· A new maintenance hangar was built by the 34th Engineers (and promptly mortared).
· Air conditioning was installed in the Officers club, EM club and dispensary.
· A new "Vulture Theater" was built with a new stage, screen, projection room and covered seating area.
· A new addition was made to the mess hall. The mess hall was also completely enclosed to help eliminate dust.
· A hover area for maintenance was leveled off and peniprimed along with all of the slick line. Also, lights were installed on the slick line.

Conditions were improving at Phouc Vinh and life was not that bad for the Vultures during this period. They occasionally got a couple of days off and went to Saigon to relax. The officers even had their own private villa in Vung Tau, for which they chipped in each pay day. The company also had two NCO's stationed in Saigon with a jeep and a two and a half ton truck to expedite the supply chain and buy stock for the Officers, NCO and EM Clubs.

The first half of January was mostly occupied with training flights for the newly arrived 101st Airborne Division, preparing them to become operational and indoctrinating them in the techniques of airmobile operations.

On 17 January the Vultures conducted combat assaults for the 3rd Bde, 101st Airborne Division. As the day wore on, the troops made contact with an undetermined number of VC and additional reinforcements were inserted by the Vultures enabling the 101st to route the enemy.

On the 18th of January the 162nd was on Ready Reaction Force duty for III Corps and called to the aid of the 173rd AHC (Robinhoods). While supporting the 25th ARVN Division, the 173rd had landed in the midst of a strong VC force and lost several ships. The Vultures and the Copperheads completed the insertion in spite of intensive ground action.

On 29 January the Vultures, landing one ship at a time in a small pick up zone, extracted over 60 tons of captured VC rice from a field location between Phouc Vinh and Lai Khe. There were a few anxious moments while extracting the 600 bags of freshly packed rice when US armored personnel carriers just north of the pick up zone made contact with the VC. However, the mission was successfully completed and the Vultures did not take any fire in the short skirmish that took place.

Tet Offensive

The 30th of January marked a new era in the fighting in Vietnam-Tet 68. The VC/NVA undertook a major offensive in most of the key cities and districts throughout the country. Saigon, Binh Hoa, Long Binh, Phu Loi, Lai Khe and many other key places in III Corps were hit with rockets, mortars, and ground attacks. The VC/NVA expected to be welcomed by a popular uprising but instead met with massive resistance. Enemy troops were cut down in the thousands by infantry, artillery and air crews from assault helicopter units such as the 162nd.

On the eve of Tet Major Thompson had sent all flyable aircraft to Vung Tau in an effort to preserve valuable assets that might be in jeopardy in an isolated place like Phouc Vinh. On the way to Phu Loi the next day the Vultures heard a call "on guard" for "any gunships in the vicinity of Plantation Tower (Long Binh), request assistance to repel VC climbing the control tower". One of the Vulture pilots yelled "hell, let's take the slicks in and let the door gunners work'em over". This was the beginning of a hectic period with incredibly long days of flying.

On the same day, January 31st, the Vultures teamed up with sister companies, the 128th and 173rd AHC's and two Chinook units, the 205th and 213th ASHC's, and together moved over 3,400 troops and 370 tons of cargo in the short span of ten hours while supporting the First Infantry Division. Two battalion size insertions, two extractions, and a further one and a half battalion insertion in company size lifts were made in the late afternoon. Over five and a half battalions of infantry and supporting equipment were moved by the 11th CAB from Di An to Quan Loi with the Vultures moving over 1000 troops. This was the largest movement to date of troops by UH-1 units of a combat aviation battalion in a single day operation and positioned the First Infantry to block a major attack on the outskirts of Saigon.

Several times during the day the Vultures came under intense enemy mortar and rocket fire at Lai Khe and surrounding areas. However, due to the efforts of flight leads Lt Harlan Scheibe and Lt James Shannon, the coordination by Vulture 3 (Major Wenzel) and Vulture 6 (Major Thompson) all lifts throughout the day went exceptionally well. Majors Thompson and Wenzel put over 22 hours of flight time on the C&C ship on this first day of Tet as they repositioned the First Infantry. On following days the CO and Opns Officer even resorted to putting other pilots names in the log book to keep from being grounded for excess flight hours. There were few experienced officers in the unit and the Vultures sorely needed their experience and leadership.

The Vultures began the month of February with a bang. In the late hours of the first day of February incoming 82 mm mortars were reported in the south quadrant of the compound. These few rounds were an indication of things to come. February, or Mortar Month as it came to be known, was to be a busy month for the 162nd.

In the early morning hours of February 3rd the Copperheads were called to the aid of a PF (Popular Forces) compound south of Phouc Vinh which was attacked by a company size force of VC. The Copperheads stopped the attack and were credited with 25 VC KIA during the night action. Because of the swift strikes such as this, Col. Lawrence Mowrey, Commander of the 3rd Bde, 101st Airborne at Phouc Vinh presented the Copperheads with a letter of commendation.

On 5 February the Copperheads were once again called on to thwart the enemy in their attempt to overrun a Vietnamese compound near Phouc Hoa. After being scrambled the Copperheads established contact with the ground unit and proceeded with their gun runs. When it was over, one of the compound advisors gave the Copperheads credit for 8 dead and 7 wounded VC.

On the next day, the 162nd was on RRF (Ready Reaction Force) and at 1215 hours went to the aid of the 173rd AHC who lost two ships to enemy ground fire just west of Binh Chan. The Vultures airlifted elements of the 199th Light Infantry Brigade into positions around the downed aircraft and completed the lift without taking a round.

On 8 February Major Thompson and members of the gun platoon were honored guests of the Vietnamese district chief at Phouc Vinh. The district chief arranged an appreciation ceremony for the part the 162nd had played in repelling repeated VC attacks on Vietnamese outposts over the previous week. The district chief presented the members of the 162nd with floral wreaths, which were symbolically, one of the highest awards that a person could receive from the government of Vietnam. The VC must have resented the awards because shortly before midnight on the same day they presented the 162nd with a few incoming mortars and rockets.

On 10 February the Vultures were moving elements of the 9th Infantry Division from field locations to Dong Tam when they came under heavy enemy fire. Two aircraft took hits. CWO David Pridgeon was the aircraft commander of one of the ships and Lt Frank Loturco was pilot. CWO Pridgeon was on his last combat assault in Vietnam and Lt Loturco was flying his first one.

After the Vultures were released and enroute back to Phouc Vinh accompanied by a Copperheads heavy fire team, they intercepted a call by Paris Control at Binh Hoa, on guard, for any gunships in the area to contact Paris Control. The Copperheads responded and were requested to go to an area five miles northeast of Binh Hoa, to cover a downed helicopter until it's crew could be picked up. After the crew was rescued, the Copperheads were released and returned to Phouc Vinh.

On 13 February the Vultures participated in an administrative lift for the 101st Airborne Division when the lead ship was sprayed with by an AK 47. After taking one round through the windshield, the crewchief of the lead ship, SP4 Howard Wetzel, cut the enemy down with a burst from his M-60-his first VC kill.

Also on the 13th WO Ronnie Adair had a rather unusual day. WO Adair was on short final to the normally secure pad at Phouc Hoa when his peter pilot overshot the approach and 3 Claymore mines were detonated under the ship. Both pilots grabbed the collective and "pumped" up enough RPM to take off. They limped back to Phouc Vinh leaking fuel and blood from the gunner's leg. The aircraft was later found to have more than twenty holes from shrapnel and bullets in the main rotor, tail rotor, gear box and bottom and side of the fuselage and was rapidly losing fuel. The only person injured was SP4 Tebay, the gunner, who was hit in the leg by a piece of shrapnel but didn't realize it until they began tracing the source of blood on the floor.

On 21 February one of the Vulture lift aircraft received heavy automatic weapons fire from a VC road block north of Phu Loi and was going to make a gun run until he was discouraged by RPG rounds and called the coordinates in to be hit by airstrikes.

On 24 February Lt Harlan Scheibe and WO Thomas Phelps had an experience they will not forget. Their ship (66-16189) had an engine failure and lost directional control southeast of Phouc Vinh and the aircraft crashed and partially burned. No one was injured but it was a bad experience for everyone aboard. The aircraft was written off but later rebuilt and returned to service.

During the month of February, the 162nd compound was hit by mortars and rockets on at least 15 occasions but little damage was done and no one was seriously wounded.

The Vultures started the month of March 1968 by welcoming ten new pilots to the roost for two weeks of in-country training and orientation. The ten aviators from the 7th Squadron, 1st Cav (Blackhawks) were newly arrived in country. As was tradition at the Vultures, each new pilot was required to put ten dollars on the bar the first night in the company, so needless to say the month of March was started out right. At 10 cents for beer and 25 cents for whiskey, ten dollars went a long way in those days.

The first two weeks of the month were spent mostly on missions with the First Infantry Division. However the pattern was changed somewhat with trips to Ham Tam and Xuan Loc while supporting the ARVN units.

Around 8 pm on the evening of March 5th, the Phouc Vinh compound came under mortar and rocket attack. The gun platoon responded by scrambling a fire team to locate and attack the enemy positions. Through a series of miscommunications the fire team was directed to an area where one of the gunships (64-14158) was hit by friendly artillery fire and exploded, killing all 4 crewmembers. The lost crewmembers were CWO Vernon R. Tweedy, SP4 Brian T. Murray, SP4 George D. Novakovic, and WO Vernon L. Leuning, a pilot from the 7/1 Cav who was training with the Vultures. It was a sad day for the 162nd and a senseless loss of 4 good men.

On March 12th at approximately 2130 hours the VC again hit the Phouc Vinh compound with mortars and rockets. Although there were over 200 incoming rounds counted there was only minor damage in the Vulture area.

A few days later the 162nd joined with sister units of the 11th CAB to lift troops of the First Infantry Division from Quan Loi to Loc Ninh and LZ's around Loc Ninh. The Vultures were chosen to lead the 30 ship operation and as always came through with flying colors.

A busy day was in store for the Vultures on March 22n when they supported infantry units south of Phouc Vinh. Immediately after receiving reports that the ground troops were in heavy contact with enemy units the Copperheads came to their aid and drove the VC back while the slicks resupplied the units during a lull in the fighting. The VC directed their fire on the gunships and succeeded in downing one aircraft. However, one of the slicks, flown by WO Donald "Hog" Welch, quickly rescued the downed crew while five other aircraft put in a security force to secure the slick until it could be lifted out by a Chinook.

As the Chinook was lifting the downed gunship out of the area, a med-evac aircraft in the same area received heavy fire and went down. The Vultures and Copperheads responded immediately to the emergency by extracting the ground troops from where the gunship had been downed and inserting them in to secure the crippled med-evac ship. At one point as the lift ships were departing the area, enemy troops were seen converging on the site.

On March 25th the Vultures started the day supporting the 1st Infantry on an operation north of Lai Khe. With the aid of a sister unit the Vultures lifted ground troops into LZ's with hopes of finding and destroying any VC in the area. This Battalion size lift resulted in the destruction of two large, newly fortified bunker complexes. The Vultures then moved to Di An to air lift more infantry units north of Thu Duc. With a break of only thirty minutes, the 162nd ships were on their way again supporting infantry units near Binh Hoa.

The 26th of the month was begun with incoming rounds in the 162nd area at approximately 0100 hours. After a rather restless night the 162nd was again participating in a battalion size operation north of Lai Khe. The lift was held up briefly while a security force was inserted around a downed aircraft in the area.

At approximately 2245 hours on the same night the Phouc Vinh compound was mortared again. Two mortar rounds hit the beautiful, recently completed maintenance hanger (built by C Company, 34th Engineers), and three persons were slightly injured from the shrapnel.

On 28 March the Vultures worked with the Black Baron and his aviation elements in an operation north of Chon Li Tan which involved LZ's within 150 meters of the Cambodian border. Major Thompson, the CO, later said "you learn to appreciate the professionalism in the 162nd after seeing another unit go nearly 5 miles off course while looking for the LZ." The Vultures as always were right on target, hitting the RP's and LZ's with accuracy and getting the usual compliment from the ground and air missions commanders for doing an outstanding job.

The month of March 1968 was a record-breaking month. The Vultures flew 3119 total hours, more than the company had ever flown in a single month. A total of 32 PE's were also pulled during the month, another record.

One day in early 1968, WO Ron Gresham was on a 25-ship CA with the First Division and as the ships were unloading in a wet rice paddy he spotted a VC who stood up maybe 50-75 yards away and fired an RPG at his aircraft. It landed roughly 20 feet short, exploded and sprayed hot mud all over the crew. Needless to say, they got out of there fast.

On April 9th , WO James Wright was on a routine mission for II Field Forces when he heard a distress call from an aircraft near Vung Tau. He responded to the call and took part in a search of choppy waters just off the coast. About 30 minutes later a Dust-Off spotted some aircraft parts in the water. A little later WO Wright and his crewchief (SP4 Michael Grant) spotted the downed crew of 6 people on a Vietnamese fishing boat. As the boat neared shore, the 6 men jumped into the water, ran to shore and were picked up by the Dust-Off.

On April 30th the 162nd and a sister unit (the 173rd) were engaged in a large operation supporting the First Infantry Division. As they extracted troops from a hot LZ northwest of Lai Khe, they encountered heavy automatic weapons fire on final into the pick up zone for the last lift of 5 ships. Immediately, two Copperhead light fire teams opened up on the area. The Vultures continued their approach and RPG rounds began impacting in the pick up zone. At that point the slicks broke off and were put into orbit nearby while artillery and air strikes worked over the area around the troops. Then with seven fire teams from the 162nd and 173rd laying down heavy covering fire the slicks pulled out the remaining troops. There were no friendly casualties and enemy loses could not be determined.

In addition to supporting the major US infantry units the Vultures were frequently held on standby as part of the III Corp Ready Reaction Force. They also performed many single ship missions all over III Corps, supplying ARVN compounds, providing reconnaissance for ground commanders and Command and Control ships for operations in progress. These single ship missions were generally referred to as "ash and trash" missions.

In mid April the 162nd broke another record by airlifting two complete battalions of the 101st Airborne (1,700 troops) into positions near Binh Hoa in a period of 6 hours.

On May 2nd, while on Ready Reaction status for II Field Forces, the company was scrambled to an area west of Loc Ninh. A company of CIDG troops was picked at their base camp near Thu Duc and flown to Thu Duc to stand by for further deployment. While airborne, the flight was briefed on the urgency of the mission, an insertion of a search party in an attempt to locate 6 missing CIDG troops and their two US Special Forces advisors. A long range patrol had stumbled into a heavily fortified NVA bunker complex, and an attempted extraction under fire (by the 240th AHC) had resulted in two ships being shot down and eight people missing. Most of the patrol was finally extracted but a larger force was being inserted to search for the missing men. The Vultures arrived in late afternoon and began the insertion, one ship at a time into the area where a ship from the 240th AHC had been downed and destroyed by enemy fire. Air and artillery strikes had temporarily driven the enemy back.

The first 5 ships inserted their troops without drawing fire and shortly thereafter the search team located the missing men. All had been killed in the vicinity of the downed aircraft. An extraction was then initiated, again one ship at a time due to the small size of the LZ. The first two ships loaded with the KIAs and gear made it out without incident but the next ones began taking fire which grew more intense with each extraction. The last two ships, chalks 6 and 7, drew heavy fire on take-off and reported seeing a company-size NVA unit rapidly closing in on the LZ. The Vultures arrived back at the roost at Phouc Vinh at 11 pm with no casualties.

Unfortunately, a former Vulture pilot, WO Larry McKibben, was killed in the above incident. WO McKibben had arrived with a group of new pilots in June 67 and was later transferred to the 240th AHC (Greyhounds) to spread out DEROS dates. He landed his ship in the LZ on the initial pick up attempt and was mortally wounded. His ship crashed in the LZ and the small group of US and CIDG troops desperately held off attempts to overrun their position. For his actions during this engagement, Special Forces SSG Roy Benavidez was later awarded the Medal of Honor.

On May 5th SP6 Ronald R. Blanchette, a Technical Inspector, received a $10,000 lump sum bonus to re-enlist. SP6 Blanchette had joined the 162nd at Ft. Benning as a PFC, came over on the ship in February 66 and held the distinction of being the last remaining original Vulture.

On May 8th, the Vultures made over 600 sorties inserting and extracting troops in hostile areas around Saigon and the Thu Duc area. A total of 12,295 troops were lifted.

While on Ready Reaction standby on May 8th, the 162nd was scrambled to insert reinforcements into an ARVN compound at Bin Dop. The compound was under heavy attack but the first flight of five ships managed to land the troops and depart without damage. However, the second flight of five ships led by Lt Harlan Schiebe was met with a heavy barrage of mortars and rockets in the landing area while on short final. Lt Schiebe broke off and came around for another attempt and the same thing happened. He set up for a third attempt and began his approach to the same area but as the mortars and rockets began impacting in the LZ he veered off to the left at the last minute and landed the troops in an adjacent field. The troops dismounted and took cover and the aircraft departed before the VC could shift their fire.

On the morning of May 13th, the 162nd supported the First Infantry Division in the Phu Loi-Lai Khe area on some rather routine and uneventful CAs. However, in the afternoon they were called on to extract a unit of the First Infantry that declared a Tactical Emergency after 7 hours of heavy contact south of Song Be. Despite marginal weather conditions, the Vultures completed the task without incident and the 11th CAB commander was quoted as saying "The Vultures have once again performed in an outstanding manner in a difficult situation."

On May 19th the company supported units of the First Division in the Lai Khe area. During the second lift the lead gunship, flown by Cpt Michael Shannon, came under heavy automatic weapons fire and Cpt Shannon took a round through his leg. He was later evac'd to Quan Loi and then back to the US. His copilot, WO Butch Garner, was also hit by a spent bullet fragment in the jaw. The round penetrated his cheek but not his jawbone. WO Garner reached into his mouth and pulled out the bullet which he carried for months as his lucky charm.

The 162nd again supported units of the First Division on the 24th of May. The first lift of the morning was a 15 sortie insertion from Thu Duc to an LZ two klicks north of VC Island. The Vultures then completed a 20 sortie extraction from a night defensive position near Phouc Hoa to Normandy I. The Vultures next began single ship resupply missions until late in the day when they reformed to undertake more extractions.

On May 27th WO James Wright was making an aerial recon of a river near Bai Trai when he spotted a small number of VC and 2 sampans in a restricted area. The CE and gunner (SP4 Grant and SP4 Wooden) sank one of the sampans and killed one of the VC.

While supporting II Field Forces in late June, the Copperheads were called to cover an emergency extraction of an Australian unit near Nui Dat. The Australians had several people wounded while in contact with the VC and the Copperheads got one VC KIA. Later they were called on to cover a dummy extraction of a 12 man ambush team which had been spotted by the enemy.

One day in mid '68 WO Bill Greenhalgh and Lt Jack Donahue took a new gunner out to the old French Fort near Phouc Vinh for some gunnery practice. After a few passes in which the gunner managed to avoid hitting the skids or blades, WO Greeenhalgh spotted a bird in a barren tree standing out by itself. He brought the ship to a hover and shouted for the gunner to get the bird. The gunner expended his ammo, splintering the tree, but missing the bird. Amazingly, the bird did not move. According to Lt Donahue, WO Greenhalgh then turned the aircraft over to him, pulled out his .38 pistol, took one shot out the side window and down went the bird. Lt Donahue said of the incident, "I am here to testify that he made one hell of a pistol shot. Should have come over to the Copperheads with me!"

On July 18th aircraft 66-16188 (AC WO Sidney Austin and WO James Cox) were chalk 2 in a 5 ship trail formation extracting a First Infantry unit west of Lai Khe. They were to land along a road but since an infantryman had set off a mine on the road, the aircraft were told to land in a field beside the road. The tail rotor of WO Austin's ship hit a tree stump, the ship spun to the right, hit the ground and rolled over. The aircraft was destroyed but the crew escaped with only minor injuries.

One day around midyear SP4 Phil Bishop, normally flying as a gunner, recalls going to Saigon and hitching a ride back to Phouc Vinh along with SP5 John Ohmer (returning from TDY at Lai Khe) on a Vulture ship (V-176). The engine failed as they entered the traffic pattern and the pilots managed a scary, but successful, autorotation and landed in a rice paddy just outside the perimeter. There was no major damage to the ship but it was a hair-raising incident no one involved has forgotten.

On September 13th, the 162nd with help from the 173rd AHC (Robin Hoods) led a battalion lift for the First Infantry near Loc Ninh. Lt Dennis Morris was flight lead and had 20 slicks to make 5 sorties each into the LZ's. It was raining, the weather was poor and the ceiling was down to around 700 feet. Despite these conditions the First Infantry Division Commander, MG Ware, was on the scene in his C & C ship. With such a low ceiling his aircraft was dangerously exposed and was shot down with all on board killed.

On several occasions at Phouc Vinh nearby B-52 strikes (high altitude artillery) would be so devastating that men would wake-up feeling the vibrations caused by the strikes and the bunks would "walk" themselves across the floor. Men woke-up in a place other than where they went to sleep. What was even more startling was that the Vultures often inserted troops into the same area just after B-52 strikes and would still take a great deal of enemy fire.

Many people at Phouc Vinh in mid-late '68 remember "Lizard Six." As WO Dave Bonifield relates, "When I arrived, on the front of our barn (hooch) hung a sign, 'Home Of Lizard Six.' When I asked who was Lizard Six I thought they were trying to see if the new guy would fall for the bull story. However, I soon found it to be true. Lizard Six was about 18 inches long and lived in the rafters of our barn. We often heard him scurry around up there. If you banged on the walls you could make him mad. He would make huffing sounds as he inflated and puffed up his lower neck. Then he would release the air with a "heeew" sound. The net result sounded like "f-k, f-k, f-k, heeeew". Thus the lizard was known as the F--k You Lizard. Later, I went to the Air Force jungle survival school at Clark AFB. What do you know, there was one of these lizards in a little zoo display. Next to it's proper name was 'FY Lizard.' Everyone else wondered what that meant, but I knew."

(I NEED MORE INFO ON WHAT HAPPENED IN LATE 68??)

In November 1968, the priority of Delta operations was raised and the 9th Infantry Division, previously given limited resources, was assigned 3 additional assault helicopter units and 3 Air Cav troops. The 214th CAB with the 162nd, 191st and 240th AHC's was put under the operational control of the 9th Infantry. The headquarters of the 9th and also that of the Mobile Riverine Force (the 2nd Brigade of the 9th) was located at Dong Tam and the 162nd moved into that sprawling square mile base to support the Division's operations in the Delta.

The Vultures supported almost any 9th Infantry unit at times but was specifically assigned as direct support for the 2nd Brigade, consisting of the 3rd battalion of the 47th Infantry, 4th of the 47th and 3rd of the 60th.

Getting all the vehicles and equipment from Phouc Vinh to Dong Tam proved to be a bit of a chore since the 162nd, like most all aviation units, devoted every resource to aircraft maintenance and virtually ignored vehicle maintenance. As a result few vehicles were in condition to make the trip. After much effort and considerable assistance from battalion HQ the Vultures put together a convoy to Dong Tam, escorted by armored vehicles (Some vehicles had no brakes and had to run into the vehicle in front of them to stop).

The Delta region in IV Corps stretched from the Cambodian border to the tip of the Ca Mau peninsular. It was a heavily silted level plain with no elevation above 9 feet except in the far western area. The entire area was subject to frequent flooding. Extensive embankments were built over the centuries to channel water into the rice fields. Mud flats and mangrove swamps encircled the delta region along its coast. Road networks were limited but hard surfaced major roads did exist. Most of the canals carried heavy traffic throughout the year.

To patrol and fight in the inundated marshlands and rice paddies and along numerous canals and waterways crossing the Delta, the Army modernized the concept of riverine warfare employed during the Civil War by Union forces on the Mississippi River and by the French during the Indochina War. The Mobile Riverine Force used a joint Army-Navy task force controlled by a ground commander. In contrast to amphibious operations where control reverts to the ground commander only after the force is ashore, riverine warfare was an extension of land combat, with infantry units traveling by water rather than by trucks or tracked vehicles. Aided by a Navy river support squadron and river assault squadron, infantrymen were housed on barracks ships and supported by gunships or fire support boats called monitors. Howitzers and mortars, often mounted on barges, provided artillery support.

The broad, flat stretches of the Delta provided an ideal environment for unrestricted use of army aviation. Unfortunately, the VC's line of sight was also unrestricted. They could see you coming from miles away and had plenty of time to take careful aim.

In the October-November period the 162nd was chosen to experiment with helmet sights for the XM-21 Minigun system. Sperry Rand sent a technician over to work with the Copperheads on the test. SP5 John Ohmer (armorer) and WO Dennis O'Brien helped install and test the system. It worked well under ideal conditions but the dust, heat and humidity played havoc with the small servos attached to the helmet. The system wasn't quite ready for field conditions. This was the forerunner of the helmet-mounted sight used in the current day Apache gunship.

On December 7th, the Vultures repositioned from Dong Tam to Ben Tre before daylight in preparation for CA. Just after daylight a B-52 strike went in southeast of Ben Tre and the crews could see and hear the strike as they cranked. The strike was in and around their LZ. The 9th Infantry had intelligence indicating a VC battalion HQ in the area. The idea was to make a 10 ship insertion and then bring in more troops if the situation warranted. Lt Dennis Montgomery (67-17559 with CE SP5 Tom Juneau) was flight lead in a 10 ship formation and WO David Bonifield was flying trail.

The LZ had concrete hay stacks around it and although it was pretty well blow to pieces, all hell broke loose. The flight was to make a 180 turn on the ground and WO Bonifield was to be lead coming out. On short final, they began taking heavy fire and Lt Montgomery's master caution light flashed on. At roughly a quarter mile from touch down, the ship began shuttering and shaking and the gunner came on the intercom and said he'd been hit (luckily the round had passed through his ribs just to the side of his chicken plate and he wasn't seriously wounded). The round that hit the gunner had continued through the firewall and punctured a hydraulics line. Since Lt Montgomery was already set up for landing he continued on and managed to plunk the ship down in a wet rice paddy. Not knowing the extent of the damage he elected to shut down in the LZ.

There was a bit of confusion as the other ships waited for Lt. Montgomery. Finally, they turned in the LZ and WO Bonifield led the flight out, leaving the former lead ship on the ground. Lt Montgomery gave first aid to his gunner and they all took cover in the LZ with the infantry. Meanwhile the rest of the flight had formed up and were circling a few miles away. At that point WO Gilbreath, disobeying orders from the C&C ship, broke formation and set up an approach into the hot LZ to pick up Lt Montgomery and his crew. On final approach he was covered on one side by two Cobras and on the other by 4 Copperhead gunships, all blazing away at the tree lines. As Lt Montgomery recalled "You should have seen the massive display of firepower, particularly from my position. It was beautiful!" After they left the LZ, the downed ship was hit head on in the nose by an RPG, incurring massive damage.

Amazingly, there were no fatalities. After things settled down, a CH-47 was brought in to get the ship out. Action was still pretty intense to the north of the LZ so the Chinook crew was told to land north and depart south. Somehow they became confused and departed north, right over all the bad guys. However, they held on to the Huey, probably because they were too scared to remember how to punch it off. They ended up touching the Huey down at Ben Tre and then making a running landing themselves, shutting down engines as they rolled. One of the fuel cells was blown open and the inside of the Chinook and the crew were soaked-a memorable day for them too.

Some of the men didn't let the tropical weather interfere with a traditional Christmas celebration. They even built a good-size snowman out of sand and shaving crème that appeared very authentic.

During the year aircraft availability rates for the 162nd exceeded 80% every month, sometimes reaching 85%, thanks to the incredible efforts of the Vulture maintenance team. This played an especially important part in the Vulture and Copperhead activities in the hectic early months of the year.

The Army supply system during this period (and probably every other period as well) was extremely cumbersome. When you needed something, you took something (a case of steaks or chicken, etc.) to the Vulture liaison man in Saigon, told him what you needed (plywood, air conditioner, or the like) and he would work a deal. More often than not you would have what you wanted in a matter of days rather than months if you depended on the supply system.

Aircraft parts supply was also sometimes a problem but the Vultures were fortunate to have WO Ron Gresham, a great tech supply officer. As WO Dave Bonifield relates, "We had a very high aircraft mission ready rate. With all due credit to the maintenance guys, Ron had a lot to do with that. We would fly to Phu Loi. At the supply depot, Ron would sometimes send me and the CE in the front door with the requisition slips while he went in the back door to get the things he knew we did not have the priority to get. We would fly back to Phouc Vinh with every corner of the Huey packed and rotor blades and tail booms sticking out the doors. The net result was a tech supply that probably had enough parts to build a Huey and a high ready rate."

Memorable Incidents

Other memorable incidents that occurred during 1968 include:

· WO Donald Welch, Assistant Opns Officer, hopped into the passenger seat of a jeep that was taking him out to the flight line as a rush replacement pilot. However, someone had removed the seat pins and as the jeep made a sharp left turn, the seat and WO Welch both tumbled out of the jeep-Some guys had a weird sense of humor!

· Major Thompson was so incensed with the living conditions of the maintenance people at Phouc Vinh when he took over the company (they were living on a berm infested with rats) that he immediately had their quarters bulldozed. This left almost 100 men with no shelter at all but the engineers he called in quickly set up tents while they built permanent quarters.

· WO Jim Cox was returning from R&R as a passenger on a slick that had an engine failure and landed in a mine field outside of Phouc Vinh. Everyone was afraid to move and waited for a ship to hover overhead and pick them up.

· A man shot himself in the foot while lying in his bunk and "leading" a rat with his pistol. One of the leisure activities at Phouc Vinh was to shoot rats. Men would often lie on their bunks with a gun in their hand so as to be able to squeeze off a shot without moving and frightening the rat.

· After new urinals were dug, Major Thompson banned indiscriminate urinating in the company area under penalty of the violator constructing new urinals. Two WO's promptly ran afoul of the ban and were put to work.

· Late one night the shower ran out of water and a WO back from club was all lathered up but with no way to rinse. Being resourceful he ran over to 1st Sgt Pine's hooch and jumped into the fire barrel by his door to rinse off.

· Many remember the "monkey raids" at Phouc Vinh. Monkeys from the local jungle would invade the 162nd area when the flight crews were all out flying. The monkeys would come in looking for food and devoured any unsecured care package. They scared the hooch maids so much they would abandon ship when the monkeys showed up.