Chopper Warriors: Kicking The Hornet's Nest Second Edition

By William Peterson

After having written my first award winning book, Missions Of Fire
And Mercy, I felt something was missing. I have always had a great
deal of respect for the infantry (grunts) who our unit, C/227th Assault
Helicopter Battalion, 1st Air Cavalry supported. They were always
appreciative of the helicopters and crews. My personal feeling
is that they heroically fought the worst part of the Viet Nam war.

Chopper Warriors will introduce many of the survivors of that war.
The true, interesting, gut-wrenching and often thrilling stories you
are about to read are from men whom I am honored to know. Many of
the words written here are theirs from interviews I have done. As a
storyteller, I have tried to recapture the events as they happened forty-five
plus years ago.

The narrative and scenes created here are mostly true, and the
dialogue is written for all audiences from teenagers to adults, men
and women alike.

Our unit supported these men in every way; inserting them into
the fiery hell of battle, and supplying them with ammo, food, water,
and mail, often under intense enemy fire. When they were ready to
move on to a different LZ, we picked them up and re-inserted
them. When they were sick or wounded, we flew them to the closest
field hospital. And when they were silently lying in the jungle,
having breathed their last, they were solemnly escorted
on our choppers. We reverently evacuated them to an area where
they could be cared for, prior to their final flight back to their loved
ones. I have the utmost respect for the guys we called “grunts”.
Though our military technology didn’t always work, the helicopter
was a very useful tool for putting our troops right where they
needed to be – deep within the enemy’s lair. More importantly, the
choppers saved innumerable lives that in other wars would have
been snuffed out. For that I am grateful to have been a part of the
First team in Viet Nam.

In my personal stories that you will read, I have used actual
names whenever possible. In other cases, names have been changed
in honor of the families.

It is my most sincere hope that these accounts will be read by
those who have lost loved ones in this most unpopular war. Many
soldiers involved in Viet Nam, the Gulf War, Iraq, Afghanistan, and
others, have declined to tell their own stories as they actually happened
to those they love back home. The feelings that war veterans
have, run very deep and are often very traumatic. Many don’t want
to relive those horrendous nightmares. Severe cases of PTSD, guilt,
or not wanting families to know what they went through are prevalent
and very real.

In many cases, their stories are relived here as they actually happened.
Here, you may finally read about what your son, grandson,
husband, father, or friend endured. Though honorable and often
heroic, you can be sure the memories are horrible, and something
they will never forget.

Throughout these pages, you will see the word “grunts.” It seems
that all wars have their own nomenclature. In Viet Nam, a grunt
grunt fought the toughest part of the war, in my mind. In many cases,
that was to lessen the fear of their family and friends. though noble,
I personally feel that to be a shame. i pray that knowing what your
loved ones went through may bring healing to a lot of you.

• Language: English
• Publisher: William Peterson
• Release date: Jan 28, 2014
• ISBN: 9781311057921

Book preview

Dedication

Far too many families have gone through the pain of losing one or more of their sons, daughters, fathers, husbands, or grandchildren in wars that span the globe.

The stories you are about to read are about many of those heroes who fought not only for their lives, but also for the lives of others, and for the freedoms we enjoy today in America.

I salute each of you for your sacrifice to our nation.

Acknowledgements

The men whose names appear under each chapter heading are my heroes. While listening to each of their stories, I was mesmerized by their honesty, sincerity, and even humor. Though I really didn’t want to take these soldiers back to the horrors they experienced some 45 + years ago, it was necessary, to be able to correctly portray their combat experiences in Vietnam. Like me, their short-term memory is considerably less than perfect. On the other hand, combat is seared into the brain so deeply it will never be forgotten. We were young and very green at first. Soon we lived the lives of soldiers, of Chopper Warriors, and we necessarily became combat savvy at a huge and enduring price in order to stay alive.

Combat soldiers carry a lot of unseen baggage. That baggage is nothing like the array of pastel colors you see at the airport. It is, instead, very gray and often black, soaked in thick, sticky red – unseen by the average citizen, but viewed by the combat soldier almost every day that he/she is alive.

I am grateful for the willingness of these men to let me bore into their past during my personal interviews with them. It is my honor to know each of them.

Many thanks to those of you who let me use portions of your books. Ralph Christopher; Duty, Honor, Sacrifice, Stephen Menendez; Into The Darkness and Joseph Wasmond; Battle plan for spiritual warfare: God’s Plan For Overcoming The Enemy.

I am grateful to all crewmembers with whom I served, many gave all to save others. You are each one truly my brother in blood.

To all my brothers and sisters who served in Vietnam, your service was less than appreciated by your national family – you volunteered, you served when called, you gave your best, and I salute you.

I want to thank my family for allowing me the time to write when I certainly had a long list of projects that needed to be done. Thanks to my son, Jeremy, who was often able to steer me in the right direction when I felt overwhelmed with computer issues. He did a fantastic job of setting up the book design. My daughter, Jennifer, a fabulous second grade teacher, was very helpful with editing. Cindi, my wife of 45 years, has stood beside me in all my endeavors. She is a very patient, understanding, and loving wife. I am so thankful that God gave me such a precious gift. I am very proud to have been married to her for 45 years. I love her more every day.

My editor, Remy Benoit, Miz Remy, as she is affectionately called, is an author, historian, teacher, publisher, and editor. Remy has a big heart for Veterans.

My final editor is my eldest sister, Fran Lambeth. She is the most meticulous person I know who shoots straight and doesn’t miss her target. She has done a terrific job with the final polishing on this book. Thank you dear sister.

Thank you, my readers for not only purchasing my books, but for your many written reviews, emails and phone calls. I have appreciated and cherish each one of them and look forward to many more.

Editor’s Note

When we of the Vietnam generation were children, helicopters were awe-inspiring. We squealed, jumped about, pointed upward yelling, Look, look!

Over the decades, helicopters and their crews came to mean much more to so many. Their flights became, as Bill Peterson so aptly put it, Missions of Fire and Mercy.

Those of us at home during the Vietnam era were truly unaware of how critically essential the choppers and their crews were to those in combat. One medic, who served in the AO of Cu Chi, estimated that the number of names listed on the Vietnam Memorial would be 10 times higher than the 58,195 names now listed – TEN TIMES higher.

God Bless the Chopper Warriors and all they gave to bring life-saving ammo, food, medical supplies, mail, medevacs, and hope. Think of it, there you are in the monsoon rains, in temps at 130 degrees, with matching humidity, surrounded by VC or NVA troops – hungry, wounded, out of ammo, and the sweet sound of those rotors reminds you that you are not facing the living hell of war alone. Your buddy, gut ripped, legs missing, has only moments. Smoke is popped, and that flight crew risks all to get him medevaced – the first part of his long journey home. He would be going home. And it was possible because of a handful of men, absolutely dedicated, on flight duty that was VOLUNTARY, willing to fly into that popped smoke and the abyss of defoliated jungle and screaming men.

Some of those crews, called the Ranch Hand crews, sprayed what they were told would not harm them as the helicopter rotors back washed it all over them. What they sprayed was Agent Orange; what they lived with, died with, was the effect of that defoliant.

As the American War in Vietnam wound down, the TV show, M.A.S.H., introduced the civilian population to the efficacy of those choppers in bringing soldiers to life-saving triage every time Radar hollered, "INCOMING."

Bill Peterson and the other authors who have shared their days and nights of war give you a whole new understanding, a fearful insight into the multiple meanings of "INCOMING."

It meant grunts under fire. It meant bringing grunts to medical help. To the chopper crews it meant flying into a hot LZ, just one bullet away from a fiery crash.

To all the Chopper Warriors, thank you for keeping those KIA numbers as low as possible. Of the c. 3,000,000 who served in Vietnam, about 800,000 are still with us.

It has been my privilege and pleasure to work with Bill Peterson. What he and his co-authors are telling you is important. Open your eyes. See in part what they have known, and help find a better legacy for our young than war.

—Remy Benoit

Prologue

After having written my first award-winning book, Missions Of Fire And Mercy, I felt something was missing. I have always had a great deal of respect for the Infantry (grunts) whom our unit, C/227th Assault Helicopter Battalion, 1st Air Cavalry, supported. They were always appreciative of the helicopters and their crews. My personal feeling is that the grunts heroically fought the worst part of the Vietnam war.

Our unit supported these men in every way: inserting them into the fiery hell of battle, and supplying them with ammo, food, water, and mail, often under intense enemy fire. When they were ready to move on to a different LZ, we picked them up and re-inserted them. When they were sick or wounded, we flew them to the closest field hospital. When they were silently lying in the jungle, having breathed their last, they were solemnly loaded onto our choppers. We reverently evacuated them to an area where they could be cared for prior to their final flight back to their loved ones. I have the utmost respect for the guys we called grunts.

Though our military technology didn’t always work, the helicopter was a very useful tool for placing our troops right where they needed to be – deep within the enemy’s lair. More importantly, choppers saved innumerable lives that in other wars would have been lost. I am grateful to have been a part of the First Team in Vietnam.

In my personal stories, I have used actual names whenever possible. In other cases, names have been changed to honor their families.

It is my most sincere hope that these accounts will be read by many who have lost loved ones in this most unpopular war. Many soldiers involved in Vietnam, the Gulf War, Iraq, Afghanistan, and others have declined to tell their own stories to those they love back home. The feelings that war veterans have run very deep and are often very traumatic. Many don’t want to relive those horrendous nightmares. Severe cases of PTSD, guilt, or not wanting family members to know exactly what they went through are prevalent and very real.

The goal of these stories is to reach out to families and loved ones who never understood why their soldier has been so quiet about Vietnam. Hopefully, this will help you have a better first-hand view of those men and women, and what they went through.

It is my hope that this will help bring healing to those of you who have served in combat, and reassure you that your memories are not faulty. These things did happen. You can and should be proud to have served so honorably and bravely.

Chopper Warriors will introduce many of the survivors of that war. The interesting, often thrilling stories you are about to read are from men whom I am honored to know. Many of the words written here are from interviews I have conducted. As a storyteller, I have tried to recapture the events as they actually happened 45 plus years ago. You will find the language in this book to be appropriate both for teens and adults, men and women.

Here, you may finally read what your son, grandson, husband, father, or friend experienced. Though honorable and often heroic, you can be sure the memories they still harbor are horrible and something they will never forget.

I pray that knowing what your loved ones endured may help bring healing to many of you.

Helicopter Flight 101

We hear all kinds of horror stories of helicopter flight. Many of them are unfounded. Fixed wing pilots especially like to spread rumors of how dangerous these fling wings are. The majority of those pilots have never ridden in one, let alone flown one. Since I am certified in helicopters and airplanes, as well as an instructor in both, I can speak about this subject with some authority.

Should something catastrophic happen during the flight of an airplane, a runway, road, or a flat, fairly long piece of real estate free of trees, power lines, and other obstructions is needed in order to get the aircraft on the ground. However, should a helicopter have an engine failure, all that’s needed is a small back yard to make a safe landing. I said safe, not necessarily pretty.

You will notice that I didn’t mention catastrophic when speaking of a chopper. If the situation is truly catastrophic, such as loss of sufficient rpm in order to maintain flight, a missing piece of a rotor blade or major flight component (even a small control tube), or total or even partial loss of nerve on the part of the pilot…well, cinch up your seat belt and kiss your rear end good-bye. It’s not going to be pretty.

Now, if the pilot can maintain his nerve while ignoring his soiled flight suit, he can often successfully land the ship and walk away to the nearest phone to call his insurance company.

I have personally been in some harrowing crashes, the majority caused by enemy fire. I have had to cinch up my monkey harness (seat belt) in more instances than I care to remember. On most occasions I have been a crewmember and not the pilot. I was the pilot in two crashes. I am still here, with all limbs intact and have only used half a box of Band-Aids. God has been busy, and has protected me beyond measure.

When something bad happens and you can’t wait to get back on the ground ASAP, you better hope your pilot knows his emergency procedures, remembers them well, and can pull his tricks out of the bag instantly. There is no time to get the manual out, look up the problem, and review how to solve it. I mean NO time. Your flying machine is headed for the ground like a greased piano. If this were an airplane, you would have a lot more time to do a bit more studying before you have to face the results of your training.

When on an approach to land in dry conditions, dust and debris are factors that can adversely affect a safe landing. In the case of a slow approach, the increased flying dust can create white out conditions, causing the pilot to lose sight of the ground and surrounding obstacles. A more rapid approach is actually safer.

After achieving my helicopter certification following the war, I came to appreciate the