Final Flight (almost):
1 January 1968
I’m sharing a handshake with the Staff Sergeant who helped
block in my aircraft about 12:30 on New Year’s Day in 1968.
Sorry I don’t know his name, but if anyone recognizes him, I’d be
pleased to add his name. I’m able to come up with most of the FAC names
because we had blanket TDY orders listing the squadron’s FACs, so we could
be sent anywhere at anytime.
You might take note of some of the survival that shows in this
picture and in the picture with Colonel Pallister. Just below my neck you can
see some solid material between my survival vest and my flight suit.
That was a somewhat one-of-a-kind survival vest that I checked out upon
arriving in February 1967. It was something like a sleeveless sweater
but the front and back attached above the shoulders and at the sides, maybe
with something like velcro, but 1967 probably was too early for velcro.
The front and back seemed to include a bunch of vertical metal strips, which I
hoped would stop shrapnel from antiaircraft shells. I think everyone
else had the fluffier flak vests that didn't seem to have any metal in them at
all. The only drawback for mine was that it was heavier, which didn't
matter much sitting in the aircraft. It did affect me once when I tried
to vault over the side of the squadron pickup and didn't account enough for
the additional weight.
The survival vest was an important part of our gear because it
carried two survival radios and a few other items. An operable survival
radio was a key if you were down in the jungles, so we were pleased to be
provided with two. That point was brought home to me in the summer of
1967 when I was on a mission out of Khe Sanh trying to get part of a Long
Range Reconnaissance Patrol to an extraction zone after they were
ambushed. After taking about an hour and a half to cover 100 yards
on down the side of a jungle-covered hill, the leader finally got to an open
spot where he could see the sky. I made another low pass to pinpoint him
exactly. I knew within 25 yards of where the three men were and never
saw them. If they hadn't had a radio, we'd have had no chance of
locating them.
I'm also wearing a .38 caliber Combat Masterpiece pistol on my
right hip. My pistol belt also supported the standard issue sheath knife
on my left hip as well as additional ammunition for the pistol and maybe 4
more clips for my M-16 (not counting the 15 to 20 more clips on my rifle's
sling and in my "little bag of bullets."
We also wore parachutes on all missions since we flew so high
over the Trail, we might have an opportunity to bail out as Captain Lucius
Heiskell did in Mu Gia on the morning of 6 February 1967. As I recall, the
parachutes were always in the seats in the aircraft, and I don't believe he
had to bring them back and forth from Personal Equipment.
All our survival gear was maintained by the men at Personal
Equipment, in a sheet-metal building on the west side of NKP's main road about
half way between our parking ramp and the 23rd TASS Headquarters farther
north. Just like we FACs never had to wait around for support from our
maintenance troops when we showed up for a flight or returned from one, our
weapons and gear always were ready. The troops at PE had a copy of our
schedule, so when we arrived after our briefing at the TUOC, our equipment was
already set out on tables with men standing by to help out or answer
questions.
This is another example of the great support we received and
without which, we would have had a great deal more problems in carrying out
our mission to attack the Ho Chi Minh Trail and save the lives of many down
South who never knew about The Secret War.
