"NAM as I saw it........"
some recollections of CWO Ernie L. Greening, US Army Helicopter Pilot after two tours in Nam
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Nam as I saw it . . .
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Assignments prior to first tour of combat in Vietnam
Endured 8 weeks of Basic training at Camp Chaffee, Arkansas
After a short (3 months) tour as a snow plow driver at the Canal Locks in Upper Michigan, I spent 4 years as a Military Policeman in Indiana, Germany & Korea
Where I served 3 years as a Recon Platoon Sgt & Drill Sgt.
ended up an E-7 in 2nd Bde Hq & Hq Co 2nd of the 11th Inf as a Recon Plt Sgt & Sniper
Would like to hear from other members of the 2nd 11th
Then I was sent to:Jungle School where I Qualified as Jungle Expert
ME
Less than a year later off to Camp Hale, high in the Rockies for Mountain Warfare School
ME
followed shortly by Special weapons School
We were on alert until the Pentagon decided it was a domestic affair and not a foreign country that did the shooting.
Sworn in as Warrant Officer WO, 24 Jan 1964
Feb 64 to May 65 CH 21 "Shawnee" checkout then of to... Korea and the 13th Transportation Bn
May 65 to May 66 I was a Flight Instructor at Ft. Rucker (remember the flashlight lens cover on our caps?)
Oh well, we will soon know…
I was met at the tie down area by my flight commander who told the students to shut the aircraft down and me to go with him. On the way he told me that all of the instructors who had orders to report to Vietnam in August had been moved up to 12 May..
Evidently a bunch of pilots in Vietnam had been shot up. I had just five days to get my family and furniture moved, settled and to report to Travis AFB.(Air Force base).
Fortunately for me, the Household Transportation Department was swamped and they could not get us moved until around the 20th.
Now my orders read:
To Rpt to Travis AFB NLT (Not later than) 1200 hrs 1 June 1966.
As the C-141 lifted off from Travis, I leaned back in my seat with mixed emotions:
1; I was a pilot and had been trained for War, so here I go. After all, that is what I was being paid for.
2; I was a husband and father, I could get killed and not see my kids grow up.
Especially since I was being hurried to the 1st Air Cavalry Division because they had just lost a bunch of pilots.
I recalled the 23rd Psalm, Psalm 27 - 1, and Proverbs 29-25.
I asked "SKY - 6" To appoint a Good strong Angel to watch over me while I was in Combat Zone
While refueling at Clark AFB, I met a pilot I knew from a
previous assignment who was returning after a year in "country". He told me, it was
not bad, just to keep my head and Fly the airplane first and to worry about
"Charlie"* second and I would come out OK.
I felt a lot better on the flight to Pleiku.
* The Charlie comes from VC Victor Charlie on the 2-way radio.Arrived at Pleiku in the upper highlands of Vietnam. . .HOT and DUSTY
Was met by a PFC in a 3/4 ton truck, was taken to a HOT, DIRTY tent, given an off white supposed clean sheet and a mosquito net.
I was assigned a folding cot and told to check bulletin board every hour or whenever I saw any new orders being posted.
I asked about food and was told there was a case of "C"s (ration Combat) on the table, to help myself.
I asked where the Officers Mess was and they burst out laughing, I heard several mentioning FNG between snickers.
I assumed there was no Officer Mess Close and took a couple cans of gourmet Cs and set up my cot and mosquito net.
There was artillery going off every couple of minutes, all sizes 105's, 8 inches and 175s. As none of the Old timers seemed to be concerned, I decided It was all outgoing.
Found some dog- eared Luke Shorts and started reading.
About 2200 hrs the lights went off everywhere and a Sergeant came in with gas masks in cartons (un assembled) told us to assemble our masks and to get into a bunker a few feet outside the tent.
There were about ten of us. He left us one flashlight. It is quite an experience assembling a mask while holding a flashlight. Explosions all around, not knowing what is going on and still no combat gear of any kind, especially since NO weapon having been issued.
At least the Marines carry their weapon with them on assignment.
I guess the top brass figure an Army Aviator with over ten years of service and a Top Secret Clearance is not mature enough to carry a weapon, even in a Combat Zone.The bunker was a mud hole with very little over head cover. As no one of authority seemed to be around and I figured if a VC comes by, one grenade in a bunker would be bad, so I got between three trees that offered some cover and concealment.
That's when I met my first F--- You lizard. There is a very ugly lizard that makes a sound yyyyuuuccckkk yyyooouuu when disturbed and evidently I had disturbed him.
I told him to shut up because right then cooked lizard appealed to me more than old, cold C rations and if he bothered me I was going to try him out. After all, I was a grad-U-ate of the Jungle Warfare School in Panama and lizard was the best food I had found in the Jungle.
He kept quiet and in about an hour some one yelled the All-Clear, the lights came back on and I went to my cot and tried to sleep, but between the artillery and constant hum of helicopters coming and going, I got very little sleep.
Breakfast, a can of "C"s. I went looking for that lizard.
A little after 1000 hrs a LT came and got me and told me I was assigned to B Co 228th. 1st Air Cav. It was a Chinook outfit.
On the way to the flight line I saw some damaged aircraft, it had not all been outgoing last night.
After a short hop in a Caribou, I was at the "Golf Course" the name for the 1st Cavalry main airfield at An Khe,
There were DOZENS of Helicopters flying around, C-130s landing and taking off, and Jeeps running up and down the flight line.
At "B" Company I was told the staff was busy, cleaning up after Operation "Crazy Horse" Evidently the first Brigade had found a Viet Cong regiment and had a pretty good scrap.
I was given a cot, nothing else (still no weapon) and told where the Mess Hall was. I found a nice battalion sized Mess in a wooden building with nice art work inside.
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Went to the "O" Club (Officers club) to see if I knew any of the pilots assigned to the battalion. Met several I knew.
Day three:
Things settled down, I was issued flight gear, combat gear and an old .38 revolver. I asked for a .45, was told Officers did not get .45s. I found a guy in supply that knew where a .45 was. We struck a deal. I put the .38 in my toilet article bag and strapped on the .45. A .45 Auto is twice the weapon the .38 is. Shoots farther, faster, MORE POWERFULL, and carries more bullets. I was given a tour of the company area and then assigned to fly with and an experienced pilot the next day. He was to show me the area. I went to PX and bought an air mattress, poncho liner, some Snacks and some Tide as we did our own laundry. No civilians were allowed on this compound. At least I would not get my throat slit at night. Wrote my wife to send a good pillow and some sheets.
One of our crew chief's earned a Purple Heart today. He was loading VC prisoners on the Chinook and a VC bit him pretty bad on the thumb.
Day 4
After a good breakfast I found the old CW4 that was to give me my orientation flight.
He was to show me the area and let me get used to the Chinook because within the next two days I would be given a check ride. I told him I was already a Chinook Instructor Pilot. He said it does not matter; I would be given a check ride. I figured I could probably pass it. I noticed that besides the one "chicken plate" (a ceramic bullet stopper like police men's vest) we all wore, he carried three more. He put one in the chin bubble below his feet, one in the lower window to his left and fastened one to the middle console to his right. I found out later this was his last flight before going home and that he was just being careful. I guess that is why my orientation flight was at about 10,000 feet Of course he could show me the whole area from that altitude so maybe he was not paranoid. At least it was cool up there. After we got up to about 7,000 feet he told me to take the controls and gave me directions. He allowed I would not have much trouble passing the check ride as I had more tandem rotor time than the Company IP. We flew about an hour then he took the controls and showed me what they called a "Hot" approach. It amounted to a Power on autorotation.
I was fresh from Rucker so I knew the Emergency procedures by heart and the performance charts were a piece of cake so I studied the after action reports in the Company Operations trying to figure what the check ride would be about. I did not sleep very well that night because the Artillery was still going off and I now knew some of it was incoming as well as outgoing and I was worried about flunking the check ride. I did not want a pink slip on my first combat ride. I went to bed after going through the entire CH47 manual (about 3 inches thick).
Charlie threw eight mortar rounds into our area between 2200
hrs &
Day 5
No Instructor available. I went down to flight line and talked to a Maintenance Officer and some Flight Engineers. Asked about check ride, they all said forget it, If I knew how to fly, I would pass. I went over a preflight and run up with a Flight Engineer (FE). He said I would have no trouble. OH well, maybe I can sleep tonight.
Day 6 7 June
Fairly good nights sleep and a good breakfast.
The check ride consisted of picking up a sling load moving it 100 feet setting it down then a normal take off and doing a single engine approach. I was told I would be a "turtle" that is to fly with an older pilot (not older in age but more time in area) a few weeks and when he thought I was ready he would put me up for an Aircraft Commander Check ride.
Flight Log:
There were no open seats, so I improved my living area,
built myself a "hot" closet out of rocket boxes. A "hot" closet keeps stuff from mildewing and
guns from rusting in that hot humid climate.
HOT BOX
It had two 100 watt bulbs in it for heat. I dug a new clean bunker by my
tent.
DIGGING BUNKER
Went out to Green Line (the outer perimeter of base camp) and practiced with my new .45.
9 June
No seats, cleaned and practiced with my .45 again. At least ammo is plentiful in a Combat Zone. Ordered a Bill Jordan type holster from a Stateside dealer. Double stitched leather is much better than the issue holster.
Located and introduced myself to (Browned nosed) the Mess Sgt. Many times a Pilot misses regular meals, if the Mess Sgt knows you; there will be food when you get in. I did not fall off the turnip wagon yesterday.
I was assigned to fly a re-supply mission to the Bong Son area. It had quite a reputation.
I took a load of food and ammo into LZ (Landing Zone) X-ray and brought a damaged OH-13 back to Pleiku... (LZ X-Ray is the one the movie "We were Soldiers" is about)
LZ X
Flight Log: CS (combat support) 18 landings Pilot (P) 3.8 hrs Day VFR (Day Visual Flight Rules) Clear weather.
Nothing remarkable happened the next few weeks. It was a routine of re-supply, haul artillery, re-supply, recover downed aircraft and re-supply. We hauled everything every where. For the first time in History, because of the Chinook (Hook) artillery could be set up ontop of the hills and put direct fire on the enemy. We could move an entire battery at once. We hauled prisoners out, moved entire villages, including chickens, pigs and a couple of times water buffalo. The First Cavalry was spread all over the highlands and as most re-supply was by Chinook, I soon learned where all the units were:
1st Brigade elements around LZ Bird.
2nd Brigade around the Iron triangle
3rd Brigade in reserve at An Khe.
Letter Home
Dear Dad:
Been here two weeks and already got an Air Medal.
Unable to purchase a Fathers Day Card in Pleiku so this will have to do. Hope I am where I can purchase you a card this time next year.
I have been supporting the 101st near Dak To. It has probably been on the news. Some Captain had to call the Napalm in on his own position to break contact with the enemy.
The way we work it here is we take a fresh Chinook out to a unit and stay with them for a given number of flight hours. I sleep most nights in the Chinook. The Chinooks have rigging for litters so I carry a folded up litter and my air mattress along with my mosquito net. It only takes a couple of minutes to set up and I sleep pretty good. I rigged a coffee pot to work on the Chinook voltage so I have fresh coffee every day, the crews seem to like me (probably just because of the coffee).
Letter Home
Hello All:
Just back at base camp for four hours, changing clothes and aircraft then back to support position. Am supporting Operation "Nathan Hale" near Tuy Hoa. The mail clerk noticed the Post Mark on your last letter and told me he was from Higbee. Everything OK, back to the War.
Flight Log end of June 66:
Aircraft Ch47A Pilot (P) time 51hrs Day VFR(DVFR) 48hrs night VFR (NVFR)3 Copilot 9 Day VFR
177 combat support sorties
Flight Records signed by Gwyn L. Tyner, Major
July 1966
4 July (Independence Day) got my second Air Medal
7 July signed off as safe ?? To haul passengers
End of Month:
CH47A Pilot 50hrs + 2 hrs C0-pilot DAY VFR 44 NIGHT VFR 4 WEATHER (WX){flying in clouds by the use of instruments}2 N WX 2
256 Sorties
Means I flew 52 hours, 44 day, 2 hrs on instruments, 8 hours night, 2 hours on instruments
Flight Record signed by Edward E. Adams, Major
Aug 66:
On 2 August, Operation "PAUL REVERE II" was commenced for the primary purpose of denying rice to the hungry VC. We sprayed every rice field that was not near a friendly village with "Agent Orange" or diesel fuel. The first significant contact with the enemy came at LZ Juliett on 8 August as a reinforced enemy battalion came at the Company A 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry. In less than three hours I hauled 11 loads of supplies in and took wounded and dead out. Each load is from 5 to 8 thousand pounds.
6 Aug (both Mom & Dads birthday)
Air Medal (4th Oak Leaf cluster)
Flew long hours the next few days as several units were in contact with the enemy.
On
The 2nd of the 7th Cav opened Highway
one, so we could now run trucks from
Letter Home
Well I am sitting up here in
It is pretty obvious
that THE US POWERS TO BE are NOT trying to win this war. No clear goals or
objectives, we patrol an area in day time then leave it at night. No front
lines, just isolated islands of US personnel. We are not allowed to shoot
Charlie in Rubber plantations or across the border in
Letter Home
Have been assigned to a Gun company for 60-90 days, now I can shoot back at Charlie.
OH YES!!!
Some jerk in the "States" gets a perverse satisfaction from sending wives and parent's telegrams saying that their husband or son has been killed. If you get a telegram and a uniformed serviceman does not come within 24 hours, take telegram to FBI.
On hill 534 in
"A" company of our Battalion was on a training mission just outside our wire, training some new men; it turned into the real thing. They had landed on a VC platoon sized patrol that was scouting our perimeter.
Another battalion sized unit (5/7) has joined us from
Charlie learned a lesson the hard way last week near Bong Son. A couple of VC companies were surrounded by Cav units, but on the East side there were no Infantry, just our 155 Artillery batteries. Charlie decided he could over run them so he tried; he was introduced to "Bee hive" rounds, our new type of "grape shot" thousands of 8 penny nails with fins on them where a regular nail has a head, are fired with one round. The whole battery lowered their muzzles level with ground and fired at once. Charlie was litteraly "nailed".
BEEHIVECH47A P 61 DVFR 1.3 WX 3.2 N 14.7 CP 14.6 DVFR
Flight record signed by: Phillip E. Daves, Major
Sep 66
During the late evening hours (22:00) "Charlie" sent several Mortar rounds into the golf course. He got three of our Gun ships and two ch47-s from the 228th. He wounded two guards on the B 228 flight Line. Night attack |  |
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Do not fly near as many hours with guns as with Chinooks, we only average about 1 hour a day, mostly just stand-by, but when we do fly we are normally eye ball to eye ball with Charlie. It's fast and furious.
18 September
We broke up an ambush
that Charlie had set up for B/228th. A Chinook was down and Charlie
knew they would come back for it, so he set up a horse shoe shaped ambush
around the Chinook and held their fire until the recovery crew was making their
approach. When they opened fire the
Maintenance Officer called for help, we were in the area so we responded with
two C Gunships. I was flying a "HOG" 40 mm cannon on nose We flew at extremely low
level and took out most of the VC. One
machine gun was in a church steeple and the LT with me said we cannot shoot
temples. I told him he was right but I did not see a temple all I saw was a
machine gun nest and if he did not want to see a temple shot up to look out his
side window for about 30 seconds. I
waxed the temple (machine gun nest). On the next pass we ran out of Ammo but
the Chinook crew was still on the ground. I told them we were out of ammo but
would make one more pass with our landing light and side arms; they had better
get that Hook out of there. I made a low level high speed pass, flashing
the landing light while the co pilot fired both of our pistols out his windows and
the door gunners emptied their machine guns with one hand and their M-16s with
the other. The Hook made it out but I
took a hit in the tail rotor and had to make a running landing at the nearest
dirt strip. The 228th crew tried to put me in for a Medal of Honor but the
Brigade Commander said: " Warrants do not get Medals of Honor in this division".END
OF DISCUSSION.
Footnote:
Some company that makes models of aircraft used me & this incident for their Model gun ship:
To see it: click on this URL. Use your back button to return here
Corgi
I got an Air
Medal (fifth Oak Leaf Cluster)..with "V" device.
21 Sep
Flew 9 hours today, 1 hr of WX. Logged 30 sorties, definitely my longest day in a gun ship.
We were in support of the 2nd of the 5th CAv, who was pretty heavily engaged near LZ HammondsFlight Log P 48 DVFR P8 NVFR WX 2 CP38 DVFR CP 4 NVFR
Missions: 137
Flight Record signed by: Phillip E. Daves, Major
Statistics for the Division:
110,000 flight hours, sorties=250,000, troops and passengers=375,000, Cargo transported=30,000 tons,
Comparing with Air Force our Div alone flew 3 times as many
hours, 8 times as many sorties, 3 times as many troops and passengers; we
carried slightly less cargo, and flew 10 times the sorties the entire Air Force
in
Oct 66
First 5 days I flew with guns a GO GO (CH 47s fixed up with guns.5 .50 cal.MG's, two rocket pods, 2 20mm cannons and a 40 mm"chunker")
Left seat fires the 40 MM grenade launcher "chunker". Right seat, Pilot fires the 20's and rockets. There is a G.I. on each 50 cal MG).
2 Oct ACH-47A CP 6 hrs DVFR 8 sorties
3 Oct UH1 B Guns directing GO-GO in support of C 1/12 and C 1/5 that were driving the VC South toward A & B of the 12th Cav. We provided the east wall of the box.
I logged over 4 flight hours that day, expended over a ton of rockets. Had just finished supper and was getting ready for some much needed sleep when I was sent back out.
4 Oct ACH-47A ( Assault Cargo Helicopter-47 A model) CP 6.8 hrs DVFR
5 Oct. logged 4.8 in UH1B "Guns" (Huey)mostly chasing VC survivors
from yesterday. We caught some in open
so our door gunners had a "turkey shoot".
I found some bunkers and as I had been calling for artillery fire from a
Scorcher, rain stopped, sun out HOT AND HUMID
Starting Operation Irving II
Most of the Division is in field so; I am back at base camp with two gun ships on stand-by in case Charlie hits the Camp.
Ran into an old buddy today. (Remember Al Smith) He heard me
call the tower for landing and called on the radio" Devil 35 are your initials
Ernie Greening", I said yes and he met me at the aircraft revetment. He was a flight class mate as well as on the
first assignment in
Al Smith can help me
with my radio problem as he sends damaged aircraft back to the
23 Oct
Re-assigned back to "B" 228th
Because most of the division is in the field we have to sleep in our birds with clothes on so if Charlie hits base camp we can get a rapid take off and disperse the birds. We do not even have a co-pilot; the Flight Engineer (FE) sits in left seat. We have all switches in go position except Master Switch, We can be airborne in less than two minutes if both engines cooperate. Flight Engineer starts the cranking procedure while I strap in, then I take over and by the time he straps in we are normally going to Flight. Kind of fun…
31 Oct Operation Paul Revere IV was launched by a re-enforced 3rd Brigade.
Rest of Oct logged 17 hrs P DVFR 4 CP DVFR CP NWX 1
Flight Record signed by: Clarence E. Gabbord, CW3
Nov 66:
Did a lot of defoliate spraying missions, both around base
camp "Green Line" and out in the field, mostly to deny rice to the VC.
Spraying Agent Orange
During one of these spray missions Roger
Gould and I had our door gunner shoot a deer for "fresh camp meat". When I got
back to camp a LT. Colonel asked me if I had a
Camp meat
Got a nice letter of Appreciation Through channels from 227th battalion commander for fixing their aircraft radios.
Almost every trooper in first Cav got a hot
Big storm, high winds, heavy rain. No fly. Need the sleep.
CH47A_ IP 7 P 114 WX 3 NVFR 12 NWX 3
Flight Record signed by: Clarence E. Gabbord, CW3
1 – 9 Dec 66..Spent some time on the beach of Phan Thiet supporting Task Force South, 101st Airborne in the Song Moa Forest, Was with Roger Gould an old friend.(Attachment #4) we tried fishing and caught some UUGGGLY fish. They were so ugly we threw them back.
26 Dec hauled Bob Hope show from An Khe to Quin Nhon then out to an aircraft carrier.
After I returned, I was supposed to get two days off as the powers that be had arranged a Christmas truce.
During this truce the VC moved three NVA Battalions into position around LZ Bird.
Then attacked in force.
Due to weather, most of our guns and the Air Force could not get to them; Charlie got into camp, killed several G.I.s and blew up several big guns. The LZ needed re supply bad.
As I had an instrument ticket and was willing to use it, I was elected. I told Operations Officer that I had drank two mixed drinks since morning as I was not scheduled to fly. I asked him to clear it with commander. I felt I could do it but every regulation in the world says 24 hours "bottle to throttle". Commander came and checked me out. He said it was up to me, that I was the only pilot immediately available that could fly sling loads in bad weather and the Grunts were getting their butts kicked. I told him to get an all volunteer crew and I told them I had had two drinks that I could make it but it was up to them. They said lets go. I told the co-pilot to watch me like a hawk and if something bothered him to speak up; my feelings would not be hurt. We made it ok. I never took another drink while in a combat zone again that tour or the next. Instrument flying, especially with a sling load takes ALL your skill.
The next 4 days I never got to take my boots off, LZ Bird was near Bong Son. I flew day and night, logged 56 Combat support sorties, hauled over 140 tons of ammo & supplies in, did not keep track of wounded I hauled out, logged 30 flight hours on 5 different Chinooks, over 7 hours of night weather.
I would do a sortie, refuel, get a fresh co-pilot, sometimes a fresh bird, fresh thermos of coffee and go back up. The way I did it was fly VFR on top, have radar line me up with the valley, let down on instruments, the Black Hat (air control) would listen for my engines, talk me down, I would release my load, pick up wounded, climb back on top and do it all over again. After a couple of trips, radar marked my descent point with a grease pencil, so I was in same spot every time I started let down, made things easier.
Several weeks later I got a Bronze Star for this action.
Got 6 hours sleep then had to fly another 6 sorties out there.
DEC 66 IP 9 P 152 WX 3 NVFR 16 NWX 8.5
Flight Record signed by: Wayne T. Boles, Major
7 Jan 67 NO fly No note in Log as to why no fly.
8 Jan 67
I cut down a big tree for Major Adams today. (Another Story).
Rains ever day
27 Jan 67: The Two Front Brigades were operating in the same area near Bong Son and heavily engaged. We were hauling rockets to several Assault companies, D-227, D-229, 1-9th and hauling artillery to LZ Hammond.Jan 67 IP 5 P 125 WX1 NVFR 4
Signed: Wayne T. Boles, Major
Feb 67
Cannot remember the date or occasion, but Roger Gould and I did something for the Navy and they gave us more fresh lobster than we could eat.
One other time the Navy told me they had a supply ship off the coast that had some kind of trouble and was headed back to the Philippines for repair and that if I had a way of getting out to them they would have a Sling load of tenderloin and lobster as well as other fresh meat and vegetables. It did not take me long to get the permission I needed from CO to make that trip. Needless to say our unit ate well for a week.
11 Feb
Bad weather No fly
Just after dark the CO came in and asked me if I thought I could make it to Bong Son as they were under attack and needed artillery shells. I checked weather and figured I could make it. One nice thing about being in a Combat division, Both Aviation and Artillery has good weather forecasters. The CO climbed in with me and said lets go, (turned out to be a pretty dangerous Mission for a Commander). After we took off with a load of bee hives and other supplies, things rapidly turned bad. We lost our Gyros. I told the CO I thought I could make it on needle ball and airspeed and asked him if he was up to it. He said "Plow On, we really should not drop these bee hives in open country where Charlie can get it and the Grunts need this stuff".
I think the bee hives were still "classified" at that time.
When we were almost there an engine light came on,
indicating possible engine failure. I
briefed him on single engine procedures very carefully because a lot of pilots
shut down the GOOD engine instead of the bad when an Emergency happened. I told him there was no hurry in cleaning up
a bad engine and to let me or the Flight Engineer confirm each move before he
did it. I would be busy flying the aircraft (remember what the Old warrant told
me at
Flying a sling load at night on needle, ball and airspeed separates the men from the boys.
Any way we made it and as a Chinook flies great on one engine when empty and low on fuel, we elected to return to base (secure) rather than spend the night in an LZ under attack. On the way back with one engine shut down the light came on the good engine nose box. What next? I decided to crank up the bad engine to take some of the load off that nose box. Not sure this was the correct thing to do, but what the ____ we were essentially writing the "Book" on the CH-47 every flight we made anyway, at the time it seemed like the best thing to do. I am on basic instruments, bad engine on one side, and bad nose box on the other. I called radar for a straight in emergency running landing on the Main runway. That way I did not have to add any power to land, in fact I would be reducing power all they way in. I told the crew to stow all loose equipment, to dismount and stow the machine guns as we were not going to need them unless we crashed, and to buckle in securely. We landed hot; wheel taxied to a clear spot and called maintenance to bring tow for the bird. We later got DFC s for this night.
IP 13.6 P 91 WX 7 NVFR 8.5 NWX 3.3
Signed: Thomas K. Phifer, CPT
Around The first of March we were at the "Turkey Farm" near Pleiku waiting for the weather to clear up enough for a Battalion sized assault. As the Bird was combat ready and we were short of sleep, I told crew to get some shut eye and I would stand watch.
A sparkly clean "Dog Robber" (Infantry Captain, Generals Aide) came by
and told me a General was headed my way, to get my crew
Up and LOOK BUSY.
I told him we were tired, had been in heavy combat and needed the rest,
that I would talk to the General.
He said" I am a captain and I am ordering you to get your crew up",
I told him I was the Aircraft Commander, therefore I outranked him
and that I was a MAD, TIRED Warrant, and to get off my turf...
About ten minutes later General Creighten Abramsshowed up with his usual
entourage and the Captain (with a smirk on his face).
I saluted the General and I wish you could have seen the Captains face
when the General Abrams stuck out his hand Said "Ernie,
I did not know you were in country, How you doing?"
I said "fine Sir".(we had been assigned together off & on since 1956. While I was at the G3 in STRIKE Command we met several times and started playing chess. we had played many a game of Chess when he was a Colonel and myself a Staff Sgt. He was a second Lt. in the first Cav when I was born and told me the Cav would still be riding Horses if some "OLD" Generals had their way.He was the tank commander that broke through the Germnan lines and helped the 101stat Bastogne. He often told me to "Speak my mind" not to tell him what he necessarily wanted to hear but what he "NEEDED" to hear
He said" Ernie I have a problem and you are
just the guy to help me. Captain go get
me and the Chief a cup of coffee while we talk." The problem was that the Air
Force would not come down to low level on bad weather days to support us. He asked me what I thought. I told him about an idea I had for a Chinook
Bomber. He asked what I needed. I told him, just his support because I would
be harassed by both the Air Force and Army.
"Paradigm"
.Reluctant to change.
In fact the cavalry would still be on horses except some one was vocal enough to get trucks and later helicopters into the inventory. I asked him if I could get a letter of authorizing me to draw equipment from the Air Force. He said no sweat, what else do you need. I said the "A" model Chinook was a little weak for a bomber, could I get a new B or C model? He said "You get the next Hook that shows up in country". He then sent the Captain to get my CO and he briefed him.
We did a good job but the idea never took hold. One night I got to help the guys at Dak TO.
The enemy was in the wire and the AF could not get below the ceiling. I called for two gun ships that had been
working with me and knew how I operated and we took off with a full load: 20 eight inch rounds double fused*. We got to Dak To just before
* we used double fuzes so the enemy had no chance of recovering them and using them against us later. The next day we went back as this was the
only place that we had bombed that we could revisit and walk around and see
what actually happened. We had done a
great job, much closer to the friendlys than the AF could have gotten and much
more accurate as we were lower and slower.
The Green Berets asked how they could thank us, I said lets see your
arms room. I left there with a night
scope on a match grade M1 Garand. I
think my Co-Pilot left with a Tommy gun.
The AF got the hint and started supporting the Division better and I was
sent back to the daily grind.
12 years later I was enroute to my favorite Elk hunting spot
with my life long hunting buddy and we stopped for gas at a station near
We later painted bomb silhouettes on the bottom of some of our regular hooks, thought it might keep Charlie from shooting at them.
27 Mar
Part of a letter home:
We have been very busy this last week; the entire First Div (all 3 brigades) is in Bong Son area chasing Charlie up the AN Lo River. We are mostly leap frogging Artillery batteries up just behind the Grunts.
Just before dark each night we have been salting escape routes with crystal CS gas. It is supposed to keep him going the way the Infantry wants him to. We do this by rolling 55 gallon drums of the stuff out the back with timed charges in the barrels.
ROLL OUT THE BARRELLMar 67: IP 17 P 92 WX3 NVFR7 NWX 4
Signed: Thomas K. Phifer, CPT
Apr 67
Big change of command ceremony at LZ Two- Bits. Lots of pomp and circumstance.
A cool 105 degrees in the shade today.
Early this morning, Charlie mortared us then conducted a ground assault at our South west corner. It was reported we lost 9 Sky troopers killed and 17 wounded before we rejected them in about an hour. I recall that 5 of our Chinooks got hit along with our guard jeep and two of the wounded were our guards. Being an old Recon Platoon Sgt, I was asked to take a small patrol and search our area for VC that might have got in and be waiting for a chance to do more damage. I led my first combat patrol.
25 April received 24th Oak Leaf Cluster to my Air Medal
AND this message:
Special Orders 92
Indiv will rept as indic for trans to CONUS enr to new asg.
Rept to: 526th
Repl Co;
PXU 30 May 67 for flight V292 SUU
(Translated: I leave
P 107 WX 2 NVFR 3 NW 1
Signed: Wayne T. Boles, Major
May 1967
1 May
Sent to
Picked up Shiny new bird, the flight engineer and I gave it
a good pre-flight, run up then shut down
and checked it out. No problems, picked
up a new Major for battalion, two new cooks and some supplies. Flew to Phu Loi
to refuel and to be sure everything was ok. (I do not like new ships or ones
just out of extended maintenance).
Stopped at Phu Loi, checked it out, everything seemed to be OK, refueled and
headed for
Stopped at
About 30 minutes south of English several warning lights lit up, I heard a loud screetching
sound and the Flight Engineer Yelling
to" get this bird on the ground." I got
off two May Days on UHF before I landed in a rice paddy which covered all my
antennas. When I disengaged the rotors, they stopped immediately (BAD).The screeching
sound I had heard was the Aft Transmission freezing up I saw we were lucky, I could have ran out of
control any second. We were not in
friendly country. With one eye
looking for the Air Cover I expected any minute and the other on the
transmission and hydraulic fluid all over the back of the bird. I told the Major that this was definitely "Indian
country " and asked him to take the two cooks out and recon our immediate area
while the flight engineer (FE) and I tried to fix the bird. I had to show the two cooks how to load and
fire their M-16s. What a mess, NO Air cover, No Machine guns, very little ammo and other
than the FE(one of the Best) and I, all green, non-combat type troops. A couple of weeks earlier I had gone down
with airplane trouble I had a fully equipped Infantry platoon on board along
with Mortars and machine guns, they set up a perimeter that could have held VC
off forever. That time air cover arrived
with in 10 minutes. This time No air
cover. Not a helicopter or Jet in the
sky. I crawled in the mud and unscrewed
the VHF antenna from the belly of the aircraft. I then stripped all the RF
cable I could get to out of the controls closet and from under the floor. I
rigged the antenna as high as I could stretch the RF cable and duct taped it to
the aircraft (we used duct tape (100 mile an hour tape) for lots of things). The FE told me whatever was wrong with the
bird was beyond his capability and even if we fixed it we did not have any
hydraulic or transmission oil. I said
OK, we have to get this radio working. I
told him that as we just had our side arms (the major had the FEs M-16) if we
heard the Major and the cooks firing, he and I would move discreetly to cover
and re assess the situation. We also
rigged three signal fires in a triangle and set a can of jet fuel by each one
so if a helicopter came near we could signal them. Fortunately the APU (Auxiliary Power Unit [generator])
was still working so I did not have to worry about running down the
battery. I made a May Day call on VHF guard
and every VHF frequency that I had (I believe it was four others) every 15
minutes. About an hour after dark I got
weak contact with an Airliner going into the Philippines, after I assured him several
times that I was serious he relayed my position and problem to Saigon. He told me a VHF frequency that
What a deal. Sure could use a cup of coffee and a can of "C"s... Wonder if there are any lizards around?
About
He said that Chinooks had been good to him and that I had my
own 8" battery for the rest of the night.
I thanked him and told him I only had VHF with 4 or 5 channels (most
artillery is on FM). He said he would
take care of that. About ten minutes
later a battery Operations Officer called me and said he had been given to me
exclusively for the rest of the night. I
said OK lets find out exactly where I am. Give me a WP, quick at this
coordinate. BR96829500. He said that if I was no better at fire control than most
of the Division Pilots he had dealt with, that I should get the crew and myself
behind a dike. I told him I was an old
Recon Platoon Sgt. Had directed fire at
He did and it was less than 200 yards from where I wanted it. We worked out some pre-planned interdiction and a box around me in case we were attacked and I asked for random rounds the rest of the night on two likely approachs to my position. We spent an uneventful night. At dawn the next morning it looked like about half the Division was coming, the 1/9 Blues along with 4 gun ships and ½ my company showed up. None of them had brought food or coffee. Our CO ordered some hot chow for us. I asked CO to Thank the Artillery battalion commander for me.
.
13 May 67
Received 26th Oak Leaf Cluster to Air Medal
IP 11 P 37
Signed by: Wayne T. Boles, Major
WAS TOLD NOT TO WEAR UNIFORM LEAVING TRAVIS AS AMERICAN CIVILIANS WERE OPENLY HOSTILE TO SOLDIERS.
What a Deal…..
Before I stopped to purchase civvies I
Went into the first steak house I saw and ordered a huge Rib eye.
When I got ready to
pay for it they said"on the house". I thanked them and headed home. Not ALL civilians were hostile after
all.
Some unique missions I recall:
Unable to put a time or place on these missions.
About three days later I was in the area so I stopped to see
if he made it. He was alive and expected
to survive. He would be on the next
flight to
4. I recall going into Phan Thiet and the Right gunner yelling Speed Up- Take off.
51 caliber tracers were moving up behind us. Evidently the enemy gunner could not crank the wheel fast enough to gain on us and he had started shooting behind us instead of in front. We out ran his traverse and called gun ships in to get him.
I flew low over the tents with a heavy sling load, leveled the tents. That night the Commander said they had thought it was an isolated incident and had set the tents back up and were in business, he asked me if I had any ideas. I told him about our spray rigs so we mixed rice paddy water and put in our spray tanks and had another Chinook follow right behind us with CS gas. A heavy dose of "Poopy" water and the CS stopped the "Red Light district" at LZ English.
8. I had an engine failure near LZ Two Bits so I made a running landing there and called Maintenance for a new engine. I went over to an Artillery unit and asked if my crew could get a hot meal with their men as we would be there a while. He said of course and asked why I had made the running landing. I told him I had "Lost an Engine" just west of the LZ and it was standard practice not to hover on one engine if we did not have to.
About an hour later I saw a line of troops moving out and went over to see if we were under attack. They said no, that the Lt was out looking for the Engine I lost. I explained to another Lt what losing an engine meant and asked him to recall the Lt without embarrassing him.
Some of the ways I improved my flying skills:
When the mission was not urgent I would see how good I could get at hovering over a load by starting about 20 feet behind the load and keeping track of how many corrections the FE had to give before the load was hooked. The ideal was you are over the Load; you are hooked, come straight up (x number of feet) and ready for take-off.
Another of my techniques was to lift each load with less power than the load before it.
I experimented with the power settings (cruise setting, approach settings etc.)
Also a tandem is unique in that you can move the hook left by giving it a little right pedal. I also experimented by pivoting around different points of the aircraft (stations).
I spent a little over a year in
My Middle brother (Lowell, Air force)and I were shiped over together....My second tour his first.
I do not recall much about my tour at Phu Loa, except flying Bob Hope again, and being in country with my brother. We had arranged with the Air Force (his branch) and the Army to send us over on the same tour. We had another brother at home so the family line was not endangered. We had some good times together. We not only went over together we had adjoining seats on the airliner over and we had assignments close in country. We got together about every week. I met two officers who would become life long friends, Captains Schroeder and Harris. Normally REAL Officers had very little to do socially with Warrants, but these two were different.
I do remember designing and flight testing both a VOR and NDB approach off Ben Hoa's navigation radios to our airfield.
| 1057 hours as Instructor Single Engine | 2147 Instructor Multi-engine | 199 hrs Instructor wx | 1832 hours Combat time | 549 hours Weather | 541 hours night | 76 night/weather |
| And the ...SCARIEST...126 hours of Low level goggle time... |
| 1651 hours Single Engine | 482 hours in Multi-Engine |
Innovations I saw:
One was fastening a 55 gal barrel to a rear wheel of a ¾ ton 4X4 to mix cement.
Cement MixerThe Battalion Maintenance Officer "Big O" came up with several ideas to recover a Chinook as fast as possible. A couple were coolers with quick disconnects. They just isolated a cooler that had battle damage and flew the hook back.
There were as many ways to heat C rations as one would
expect. One way even aroused the Boeing
Company. We got a TWIX (telegram)
wanting to know why our transmissions all had concentric circles on them. No
other Chinook company in
Another was the Fire buckets. We got the idea from the Forestry department and improved on it by making the trap door bigger and using our Hydraulics instead of electricity. Hydraulics was stronger and more maneuverable allowing the FE to release the water in a controlled manner. He could dump it all at once, like an ammo dump fire or release it slowly as we moved along a grass fire line.
Some crew Chief or door gunner found out a C Ration can made
a perfect feed for ammo on the door gun.
Within a month every door gunner in
The furniture and stuff made out of rocket boxes and Artillery boxes was amazing.
On first tour I made me a cabin and moved out of the leaky tent.
An old water trailer makes a good septic tank.
On second tour I had indoor plumbing.We came up with several ways of refueling and rearming the advance birds.
We could build a pretty good LZ in one day.
Air Force would drop a "Daisy Cutter" this essentially cleared the upper foliage.
The Hueys would drop off engineers with C4, Prima cord and chain saws, they would clear an area big enough for us. We would then bring in a couple of Dozers, a back hoe and a road grader. Normally by dark we had a good LZ complete with dirt strip long enough for C-130s.
PROBABLY THE BIGGEST LESSON I LEARNED WAS THAT IF YOU ARE IN A COMBAT ZONE:
Fly the airplane first and foremost then worry about the enemy.
Each Unit should:
Share this info with other like units.
Contact Ernie via e-mail kegreening@verizon.net
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