Year 1972

On January 11th the company lost a Copperhead gunship. A fire team was covering a Chinook resupplying an ARVN base near Ca Mau when the lead gunship (65-09543) suddenly exploded in mid-air, possibly hit by an RPG or large caliber weapon. The lost crewmembers were Cpt Robert W. Vehling (platoon leader), WO John David Eddy, SP4 G. Wayne Tawney and Sgt. Leonard H. Mantooth. All losses were sad but this one especially so. Cpt. Vehling had an identical twin brother who was a pilot at another unit at Can Tho. He was almost inseparable from his brother during their off-duty time. Seeing him at the memorial service the next day was a heart-wrenching sight still vivid in the memory of those who were there that day.

Another Copperhead gunship was shot down in January and may well have set a record for number of hits. While attacking a target in the U-Minh forest area, the ship came under fire from a minigun the VC/NVA had recovered from a downed loach and rigged up as a ground-fired weapon. The Copperhead ship took a total of 212 hits from the minigun and crashed. Amazingly the only casualty was the gunner who was hit in the foot by a minigun round. The crew managed to set the aircraft down and were picked up almost immediately by a nearby slick.

On a lighter note, many will remember the spider monkey named Pete, owned by one of the men in the commo shack. It was kept chained to a pole outside the commo shack but got loose one day and one of the junkies in the company (unfortunately there were a few of them at that time) shot him up with heroin. The monkey then went crazy and ran around the barracks excreting in his hand and throwing it at anyone he considered deserving. This, in turn, ticked off quite a few people who pulled out their M-16's and hand guns and started shooting at the monkey. No one hit him but they did manage to put a lot of holes in the sheet metal roofs, creating more gripping and complaints when it rained. The poor monkey finally died after a couple of days running around on the roofs and being shot at by half the company.

In early 1972, the combat missions were gradually winding down and more and more were ash & trash. Cpt Gause recalls going on many of the Cambodian Embassy missions and noticing how poorly equipped the Cambodian Army was. The Cambodians had few machine guns and many of them were using World War II era Japanese bolt action rifles. The Vultures had accumulated a large amount of excess weapons over the preceding few months so Cpt Gause and others on the Cambodia run began taking over excess M-60's, initially to trade for SKS rifles and 9 mm pistols as souvenirs for the Vultures. Beginning with one or two per flight, this trade quickly grew into a significant "gun-running" operation.

Since the Cambodian Army didn't generally have access to M-60 ammunition, the Vultures began supplying that as well. It got to the point where each slick making the trip to Phnom Penh was loaded up with weapons and ammunition. Initially it was traded but later simply given to the Cambodians. The Cambodians always treated the Vulture crews like royalty and took them on a tour of the local sights wherever they landed. The 162nd crews liked the Cambodians (who were refreshingly open and friendly to Americans) and decided to help their war effort by giving them excess weapons and ammunition. No attempt was made to hide this activity. The US military attaches at the Embassy knew full well what the Vultures were doing and tacitly agreed to look the other way.

The 162nd Assault Helicopter Company flew its last operational mission in late-March 1972 and stood down on April 3rd, 1972 after more than six years of war. Aircraft and equipment were taken to Saigon and turned in over the next couple of weeks. Getting rid of the equipment turned out to be a major problem. Only the amount of equipment listed on the unit property book could technically be turned in but the 162nd had far more equipment than it was authorized.

Since it was one of the last US units in the Delta to stand down (and THE last AHC), many of the previous units to stand down had given their excess equipment to the Vultures. As a result, the Vultures had numerous extra vehicles, weapons and even extra aircraft. For example, the company was signed for a total of 61 M-60 machine guns but in fact had several hundred of them. There were M-60's stuffed in almost every nook and cranny. A similar situation existed with almost all weapons and it took a great deal of negotiation, threats and shouting to turn in the large amounts of excess equipment. In some cases, much of it simply ended up at the bottom of the Mekong River, buried around the airfield or in the South China Sea. More than one truck loaded onto the ferry at Can Tho for the trip across the river didn't quite make it to the other side!

There was also a strong rumor that one of the extra and badly damaged aircraft was buried beside the runway one night. This may not have been true but there were some suspicious looking marks left by a bulldozer one night. The maintenance folks also had a C model Hangar Queen they used for spares that hadn't flown in months. It took a lot of work to put it back together so they could fly it up to Vung Tau one last time to turn it in. By mid-April all equipment was disposed of, the last man signed out of the unit and the colors shipped to Ft. Hood, Texas. The 162nd AHC passed into history.

The old tradition of new pilots drinking the "Green Mother" as an initiation rite into the company survived to the end. Just before departing, many pilots gathered at the Can Tho O club for one last time and downed a Green Mother to the memory of those who went before them.

The 162nd Assault Helicopter Company served in Vietnam for just over 6 years and 2 months. During this time it built an unsurpassed record as an assault unit. It was one of the best, a proud unit that led the way and helped establish the traditions of Army Aviation. The 162nd logged more than 175,000 hours of "blade time" in 192 aircraft assigned to the company during its service in Vietnam. A total of 60 aircraft (31% of the total) crashed and incurred major damage, including 33 that were completely destroyed.

There were many fine aviation units in this helicopter war. Some may have accomplished more and certainly some incurred more casualties. However, the 162nd had no equal in terms of individual motivation, dedication, esprit de corps and service to our country. May God bless the men of the 162nd.

In a sense, the stand down of the 162nd also marked the end of an era in Army Aviation and close fire support for ground troops. The company was the last assault helicopter unit in Vietnam to use that extraordinary aircraft-the UH-1C model gunship. Despite the fact that it was notoriously difficult to takeoff fully loaded and often would not even hover like a normal helicopter, the aircraft flew beautifully once in the air. The 540 rotor system gave it amazing maneuverability.

It was an incredible feeling to slide, bump and bounce down a runway on takeoff, nursing every ounce of torque, and then reach translational lift. You could feel the power, an invisible hand lifting the aircraft into the sky. Every pilot who ever flew a C model gunship loved it. Ground troops in a firefight also loved the C model. It could not stay on station as long as, or carry the ordinance of, a Cobra but it flew low and slow enough to see all the action and spot things other aircraft missed. The uncanny ability of an experienced crew chief and gunner to find targets that others missed was unbelievable. They had eyes like eagles. The C model could provide accurate and effective fire literally within a few feet of ground troops, far closer than any other type of aircraft. The closeness to the ground and the ability of the ground troops to actually see the gunship crews provided an immense psychological lift to the infantry.