When I was 19, I joined the army and....

[PLOTUS]

Many of us dream of flying just once in our lifetimes in a helicopter. In 1970 times were so-so and being 19, I was doing nothing either creative or productive. The times were about the War and the demonstrations against it, many facing the draft still. I was one of those, and at least to have some choice in what I was to be doing in the service, I joined the Army. During those years virtually everyone except "Some Senators Son" was sure to end up in South East Asia, specifically The Republic of Vietnam. The Day I left for Vietnam, I was at Fort Lewis, located in Washington state, it was a gray drizzly day filled with gloom, which was intensified by someone there at the staging center who thought it cool to be playing the bag pipes. That along with the gray drizzle cast a surreal atmosphere about the place. I was leaving all I had known up to that point, all that was familiar, behind. Upon riving in Cameron Bay, I spent several days before being dispatched to Camp Eagle, to the far north of the country, and then to Quang Tri, only 3-4 miles from the DMZ of North Vietnam and the South. Spending a month there I saw some firefights that will forever be in my memory. Some two or three months later we stood down to Camp Eagle again in a seemingly unwind of where I had come from, and finally to the South, to a fire base known as Camp Bearcat. It was at Camp Bearcat that I was afforded the opportunity to become a Doorgunner on a Huey (slick) and jumped at the prospect. Having heard all the horror stories of short lifespans of Crew Chief's and Doorgunners, it was admittedly a scary proposition to undertake, but never the less I jumped on board. Our typical day consisted of inserting Blues Platoons and Rangers. Otherwise we would fly to an airbase and spend the day 'waiting'. Some days were intense others life threateningly boring. Lift off was a feeling of being lifted by some invisible rubber band, then the tail rising to an extreme angle and collective applied, the Birds' were on our way, quickly rising to an altitude of 2,000 feet and leveling off at that point as a cruising altitude most commonly. Morning was a mixture of many things, and prop wash on my side intensified everything to the point, there was no guessing the weather, you were in the thrust of it. Some mornings the cold chill of low temperatures was apparent, or the occasional rains would dampen out 'Jets' and gung-ho,edness, by virtue of a good collateral soaking. Other times in the early dawn stillness it was beautiful, almost too beautiful to be a war zone, never the less there was an ever present danger all around us as often times we went to places not allowed, to retrieve downed crafts or rescue pilots or soldiers. Often times after the monsoon season, flying was much different, there were smells not present the rest of the year, and while flying over low clouds or jungle mist the shadow of the Slick's prop on the clouds would appear as a circular rainbow, very unusual and pretty to see. Cold days brought the wop,wop bounce felt as the prop was in dense air, much more so than in dry conditions. Late night incursions were few, but we had our share. Ar night there was an absence of ground based lights, as many 'Villes' had no electricity, the only thing seen might be a small fire or a lantern, often times extinguished at our coming presence. The stars were so bright in the night sky, they seemed to be your one familiar sight that you could cling to, the sometimes cold was all around you when flying at night because our altitude was often times increased to 3,000 feet. During the warm summer months there was less lift and a feeling of comfortable warmth, but being in a huge fan, never too hot. Rising to altitude, there was a significant 'feel' change as the temperatures varied. But during the days it was much more uniform in temperature. I did this every day for nearly a year, either finding My way somewhere on foot, or by air. What many would pay to fly as much a I have flown. To experience the seasons, the smells, and all the nuance's of flight. The feeling of power with two Cobra's, two Loaches and three to four Slicks indescribable, simply you just had to be there. These days I'm content to have an M35A2 Deuce. It is sufficient to stir memories, after all the ride to the flight pad was in a Deuce.

[OmegaLogos]

Explanation: @"PLOTUS" I , a mere rogue civvy as you would call me and yet I am also a warrior of sorts [I sport a keyboard and I am an armchair general ok] , Salute you and thank you and all others like you [ @"727Sky" and @"projectvxn" etc] for your service! Hoorah! Sempi fi!








Personal Disclosure: Uhm i suggest paragraphs in future ok. Make it easier to read. But if you on a mobile phone then I understand. Carry on eh.

[guohua]

@"PLOTUS" 
Thank You for your service to our country and me and others on the ground in those days badly in need of medivac or food/water and ammo.
The sound of the Huey to us back then I think is similar to the sound of the A-10 to our soldiers now, were the Huey had you and your M-60 spitting fire the A-10 has the 20 or 30 mm cannon.
We had a time or two that Puff The Magic Dragon was called for support as we were nearly over ran from a very, very, very forward area.

@"727Sky"  and  @"PLOTUS"  Thank You.

[ChiefD]

Plotus, thank you for your service. Pretty cool and brave what you did back then. I’m glad you got through it all.

[727Sky]

The feeling of power with two Cobra's, two Loaches and three to four Slicks indescribable, simply you just had to be there.

At times you were like a god with life or death dished out with but the touch of a trigger or a button. Other times you were a sitting Duck with many hunters trying to punch holes in your butt !

Either way it is what it was and for those who survived the memories of the good and the bad will go to the grave with us.

There used to be a poem or a song (?) that said,  "I flew on grease splattered wings and reached out to touch the face of god"... But I could not find it... 

Salute 

Oh, I've slipped the surly bonds of earth
And hovered out of ground effect on semi-rigid blades;
Earthward I've auto'ed and met the rising brush of
Non-paved terrain;
And done a thousand things you would never care to
Skidded and dropped and flared
Low in the heat-soaked roar.
Confined there, I've chased the earthbound traffic
And lost the race to insignificant headwinds;
Forward and up a little in ground effect
I've topped the General's hedge with drooping turns
Where never Skyhawk or even Phantom flew.
Shaking and pulling collective, I've lumbered
The low untrespassed halls of victor airways,
Put out my hand and touched a tree.

High Flight with the F-104 star fighter... I think this bird almost killed as many Germans as the war did !! (bad joke but it ate them alive err killed them dead)

[F2d5thCav]

Thanks @"PLOTUS".  'Nuff said.

Cheers

[F2d5thCav]

@"PLOTUS" 

Curious how many times you were awarded the Air Medal.

Cheers

[Wallfire]

The video "I was only 19" is one of the best explanations of military PTSD I have ever seen. 
The only glory in war is surviving it
If war does not kill you it follows you to your grave

[PLOTUS]

@"PLOTUS" 

Curious how many times you were awarded the Air Medal.

Cheers

Hours flying earned me flight wings, was a Spec. 4 at the time. If the Lotto pays off, I'll have a Huey UH-1 all my own... Lewies and Wobbleys got all the awards.
But really it was all about Flying in a Huey hours and hours day after day.

[PLOTUS]

The real victims were Family left home in the States to worry and fear. They suffered the most, I later found out when my Brother did several tours in Desert Storm and the Balkans.

Well I always knew it, it's just then I felt it the most..

[F2d5thCav]

@"PLOTUS" 

Curious how many times you were awarded the Air Medal.

Cheers

Hours flying earned me flight wings, was a Spec. 4 at the time. If the Lotto pays off, I'll have a Huey UH-1 all my own... Lewies and Wobbleys got all the awards.
But really it was all about Flying in a Huey hours and hours day after day.

Wow.  Award of the AM was supposed to be automatic for those who flew in the helos.  My father was foot infantry but was awarded the AM with two oak leaf clusters just because of the time he was aloft.

But those flight wings had to be sweet.

My best helo memory was at Fort Carson.  We rode and the pilot flew nap of the earth.  Awesome!

Cheers

[Snarl]

Lewies and Wobbleys got all the awards.

I tossed all my military crap the day I retired.  They postponed the Division's retirement ceremony .. and Boo Hoo ... I didn't have a uniform to wear when it was scheduled.  Know what they did to punish me?  Didn't give me my retirement award.

Ahhhhhahahahahaha.  Fuck 'em ... got my DD-214, a monthly paycheck and dodged the 0bamacare Tax!!

Good OP, Brother.  Thanks for sharing.

[PLOTUS]

@"PLOTUS" 

Curious how many times you were awarded the Air Medal.

Cheers

Hours flying earned me flight wings, was a Spec. 4 at the time. If the Lotto pays off, I'll have a Huey UH-1 all my own... Lewies and Wobbleys got all the awards.
But really it was all about Flying in a Huey hours and hours day after day.

Wow.  Award of the AM was supposed to be automatic for those who flew in the helos.  My father was foot infantry but was awarded the AM with two oak leaf clusters just because of the time he was aloft.

But those flight wings had to be sweet.

My best helo memory was at Fort Carson.  We rode and the pilot flew nap of the earth.  Awesome!

Cheers

My MOS was 11D20 Armor. I left Camron Bay and flew into Frisco then to LA and a month later was in Fort Carson. Met up with about 6-7 of my buddies in Vietnam.  Remained in touch for some years, but time and strugles of life have taken us all to distant places unknown to each other.

[F2d5thCav]

Speaking of awards, I had a master sergeant retire while I was on active duty.

He had told me about his "participation" in the Battle of the Ia Drang Valley.

So when he retired, I put him in for the Meritorious Service Medal as not only an end-of-tour award, but end-of-service award.

Oh, Christ.  All of the smart-shitters up the chain of command knew "better".  NCOs didn't get the MSM, and so forth.

I wasn't buffaloed and kept pushing his Vietnam service, particularly that rendered in the Ia Drang Valley.

By the time I moved to a new assignment, the chain of command was still refusing to give him an MSM.  He retired with an ARCOM.

But after I left, someone who must have been moved by my arguments (probably another person who was a veteran of Vietnam) was able to quash the resistance of the chairborne commandos.

Some time after I left service, the master sergeant and I spoke on the telephone to catch up.  He chuckled and said, "Guess what.  They gave me that MSM you put me in for."

Yeah.

Cheers

[Mystic Wanderer]

Thank you for your service @"Plotus", and anyone else here who has served.

My brother served in Vietnam. He was one of the first to go in on the ground to survey the area; a very dangerous mission. I prayed hard for him everyday, along with the rest of my family.
When he came home, my mother and grandmother cried tears of joy at the airport. It was a time I'll never forget.

He and the others never received a welcome home celebration like the other war vets. He said that bothered him more than he let on.
Finally, just a few years ago, all the old Vietnam Vets were flown to Washington DC to a service there thanking them in the proper way. When they returned to the airport in their hometowns, they were greeted with cheering crowds and waving flags awaiting them.

They were finally given the appreciation they deserved. It brought tears to many eyes. It should have been done all those years ago. So many died before ever receiving their "thank you for your service".  I'm glad my brother received his.

Those words are so important, and I say it from my heart once again, "Thank you for your service".  

[PLOTUS]

@"PLOTUS" 

Curious how many times you were awarded the Air Medal.

Cheers

Hours flying earned me flight wings, was a Spec. 4 at the time. If the Lotto pays off, I'll have a Huey UH-1 all my own... Lewies and Wobbleys got all the awards.
But really it was all about Flying in a Huey hours and hours day after day.

Wow.  Award of the AM was supposed to be automatic for those who flew in the helos.  My father was foot infantry but was awarded the AM with two oak leaf clusters just because of the time he was aloft.

But those flight wings had to be sweet.

My best helo memory was at Fort Carson.  We rode and the pilot flew nap of the earth.  Awesome!

Cheers

You know something SNARL...  I had a notion somehow we had walked similar paths at some time in the long ago past. Since we have crossed paths for years now.

[Snarl]

@"PLOTUS" 

Curious how many times you were awarded the Air Medal.

Cheers

Hours flying earned me flight wings, was a Spec. 4 at the time. If the Lotto pays off, I'll have a Huey UH-1 all my own... Lewies and Wobbleys got all the awards.
But really it was all about Flying in a Huey hours and hours day after day.

Wow.  Award of the AM was supposed to be automatic for those who flew in the helos.  My father was foot infantry but was awarded the AM with two oak leaf clusters just because of the time he was aloft.

But those flight wings had to be sweet.

My best helo memory was at Fort Carson.  We rode and the pilot flew nap of the earth.  Awesome!

Cheers

You know something SNARL...  I had a notion somehow we had walked similar paths at some time in the long ago past. Since we have crossed paths for years now.

I didn't get to be a real soldier until after I retired.  Even then ... nothing I've done compares to hanging out the open door of a helo that's heading to a specific spot the enemy is well aware of.  I don't care how much back-up you took in with you.

So if you ever wondered if it was me walking against you ... I was the guy with his right hand raised to his eyebrow.

[beez]

@"PLOTUS"

Thank you.