Sandy
Guardian
Angel in the Skies of Southeast Asia
She may have been oil-smeared, dirty, and slow,
but the sight of a Sandy overhead was the first thing downed combat aviators
wanted to see to raise hopes of being rescued. Once the A-1 arrived with its
guns, bombs, and CBUs, a fighting chance for rescue by a Jolly Green could be
close at hand. No amount of systems analysis or staff studies by outsiders
will ever convince the men who were fighting the day-to-day war that the A-1
was not the right plane at the right time in the early years of the war over
Laos and South Vietnam.
Note: The dot near the wingtip is a flaw in the
picture.
********
It was common knowledge in the Jolly Greens
that Sandy pilots had brass balls. (Sandy was the call sign for A-1's
assigned to the SARTAF -- Search and Rescue Task Force.) They would
escort the Jollies to the survivors' location, positively identify and locate
the survivor, suppress any enemy resistance, guide the Jolly to the survivor,
and protect the Jolly during the pickup with close - I mean REALLY CLOSE - air
support. They were our heroes, and no Sandy could buy a drink if a Jolly
was in the same bar.
Besides the brass balls-equipped Sandy pilots, the other reason the A-1 was
such a great rescue escort was their slow speed - a fully-loaded H-53 could
outrun a fully-loaded A-1 right after takeoff - their long loiter time, and
the tons of ordinance they could carry. The Sandies would get right down
in the dirt with the Jollies, low and slow, and lay down ordinance just yards
from the survivor and the Jolly. They did this time and again, earning
the respect and admiration of everyone in the rescue community -- especially
the survivors.
Mama and I went to a movie a few years ago --
can't remember if it was "Bat 21" or "Flight of the
Intruder". At one point in the movie, our hero is shot down and is
holding off the entire NVA with his trusty .45 Colt. Out of nowhere
comes the ear-splitting growl of a radial engine, and a big, beautiful A-1
swoops between the trees, tearing the NVA to pieces. I leapt up in the
crowded theater and cheered until Mama grabbed my arm and jerked me back down
to my seat with a comment something like "Sit down you fool!" I
had to forgive her because she had never been in Rescue.
Bob Blough
HH-53 Pilot, 40 ARRS, NKP Thailand 74-75, Korat Thailand 75
Life Member Mayaguez Memorial VFW Post 11575,
Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Charter Member Jolly Green Association
Life Member Air Commando Association
Proud Member, Thailand/Laos/Cambodia (TLC) Brotherhood
Proud Member, Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association
