S.E.A. STORIES
First to go North
Excerpted
from PJ’s in
At approximately
Two F-100’s were over the downed pilot and
they reported that they had him in sight. He appeared to be
OK and in his life raft, but numerous
North Vietnamese fishing boats were nearby. The Hun pilots stated
that they would
remain on scene and keep the boats away from the pilot.
In rapid succession,
five additional aircraft were shot down. One bailout took place in
in
Tan Son
ADMAN six-three headed north towards the pilot floating in
the
Command
Pilot Major Ladou radioed ADMAN 66 transferring
On-Scene Command for the “Feet Dry”
SARS in
At
They headed northbound, flying a course
a mile or so off shore. This over water flight would keep the
crews
safe from enemy
ground fire until they recrossed the NVN coastline.
Major Waechter ADMAN 66’s
Command Pilot and the designated
On-Scene Commander radioed the Huskies and advised them that their
objective was a F-100
Pilot shot down near Dong Hoi. A few minutes later the HH-43 crews learned of
another F-100 down
near Xom Bang and almost immediately an F-105 Thud
was reported down in the same
area.
The rescue crews had plenty of time to
think about what they were getting into. The North Vietnamese were
shooting down high
performance jets out of the sky at an alarming rate. What chance would a slow moving,
unarmed helicopter
have in this threat environment? The HH-43 crewmembers kept their thoughts to
themselves. They knew
that the only chance these downed pilots had was their helicopters and they
were
going in regardless
of the enemy threat.
Map of DMZ area. Shows the landmarks of DaNang,
As the Huskies passed
between
Sighted red
smoke, coming from their
course to check
things out.
Flying
towards the smoke, they soon flew over someone in a
(RCC) Lt. Phelan
entered a low hover over the raft. (PJ) Sergeant
Young was lowered into the water to
recover the pilot.
During the rescue, BRANDY
95 monitored a call to be on the lookout
for a VNAF
(
few minutes,
Sergeant Young and a slightly injured pilot were hoisted on board.
With one survivor rescued, both HH-43s headed north again, flying at an
altitude of 100 feet to avoid
enemy RADAR.
Undoubtedly, the VNAF pilot was very happy to be picked up, but he certainly
could not have
been thrilled to learn that his Rescue
Helicopter was now going to take him back into
attempt to rescue a
downed American pilot. As the helicopters penetrated the enemy coastline, they
came
under heavy
ground fire. This was to continue throughout their mission into NVN.
“ZSU23-2 Antiaircraft Gun” These weapons were all over
They fired 400 rounds a minute and had
an effective range of 8000 feet.
For the
first 15 miles from the coast to the downed pilots reported positions, the
terrain was lowland
vegetation. The
HH-43s were being
escorted by four USN A-1 Skyraiders, call signs “Fortress
5, 6, 7& 8”.
Fortress
5 had gone ahead, reconnoitered the area and found a parachute hung in
some trees. He orbited
this position awaiting arrival of the rescue choppers.
Fortress 6 flew in front of the HH-43s radioing back
vectors allowing
the Huskies to avoid enemy antiaircraft positions. Because of the
threat from these
weapons, the flight
was done at low level, just above the tree tops. Low level flight minimized the
time
that enemy
gunners could track their target before it passed from view. This was not going
to be an easy
rescue. With utter disregard for their own safety
these
brave crews pressed on with their mission.
Fortress
7
reported
that each area over flown by the Huskies was “lit up” like a 4th of July Fireworks
display
with the
antiaircraft shells airbursting high above the ingressing helicopters. Pulse rates were elevated
and “puckers”
were tight.
The HH-43s then came
upon some foothills, finally finding the parachute spotted by Fortress 5. As warned,
it was
entangled in the trees. BRANDY
95 entered a
hover and (FE) SSGt Regan
stated that he thought
that he could
see the pilot, but he appeared immobile. The (RCC) Lt. Phelan
instructed (PJ) Sergeant
Jon Young to
ride the
that this might
not be a good idea, but climbed onto the Penetrator anyway. After reaching the
forest floor,
he discovered
what SSGt Regan had seen was only a helmet, a
parachute harness and some miscellaneous
survival gear. The
missing pilot was nowhere to be seen. Sergeant Young suspected that the pilot
had
either been
captured or evaded away from the immediate area.
About this time, the hovering helicopter
came under small arms fire. Major Ingraham (RCC) in BRANDY 96
radioed their High RESCAP (Rescue Combat Air Patrol) requesting
suppressive fire to protect BRANDY 95.
The orbiting F-105s and F-100s rained
down 20mm high explosive “hate & discontent” to protect their little
friends.
Lt. Phelan continued maintaining his
hover despite the enemy ground fire and the nervously close
suppressive fire, until
SGt Young was safely back onboard. On his way back up
on the hoist, Jon Young
wondered if the
fighter planes might shoot them down in their zeal to provide close air
support? With
Sergeant Young back onboard, both Huskies
preceded
further inland to the area where the F-105 pilot was
reported down.
The third SAR objective was about five
more miles inland in mountainous terrain that was mostly dense
jungle. At
parachute hung in the
tall trees. While in a descending circle, they saw faint smoke coming from a
stream
bed at the
bottom of the valley. The survivor was burning the classified documents he was
carrying. To get
the helicopters
attention, he fired 3 tracer rounds from his pistol. The unusual combination of
signaling
techniques worked.
BRANDY 96
came
to a hover above the 125 foot tall trees. Because of the dense
foliage, the rescue
crew could not see through to the jungle floor below. While Major Ingraham
contemplated his next
move, (FE) SGt
Henderson and (PJ) A1C Moore
shouted on the intercom that
someone was
standing in a nearby clearing and franticly waving a white cloth.
When the helicopter hovered above the
clearing, they could see that the man on the ground was wearing a
flight suit. SGt Henderson lowered the horse collar and reeled in Capt.
Robert Baird. It was extremely
important that the
downed pilot found this opening. He had lost all of his survival gear when he
climbed
down from the
tree in which his parachute had become entangled. A white handkerchief and his
pistol were
the only two
signaling items he retained.
With the second survivor rescued, the
two HH-43s
egressed the area
for the relative safety of the
board
BRANDY 95
the crew could
hear a continuous loud whistling sound, but no one could figure where it was
coming from.
Both HH-43s landed at Quang Tri at 18:15L. They had just completed the first
“Feet Dry” SAR in North
hour and 45
minute flight that they would remember for the rest of their lives. After
refueling, the crew of
BRANDY 95 discovered a bullet hole in one of the
wooden rotor blades. This is what caused the whistling
sound.
After talking it over with the pilots, SSGt Regan wrapped Duct Tape around the rotor to cover the
hole and
both aircraft
departed for their home base at DaNang. About half
way back, Lt. Phelan reported a severe
vibration. Landing at
a Marine
H-34.
EDITORS
NOTE: ADMAN 63 with the
help of the orbiting F-100s and seven A1 Skyraiders
from a
nearby Carrier
effected the rescue of 1Lt. James Cullen.
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