LZ: Landing zone-Anywhere even if can't land.

CA: Combat Assault-Take troops into an LZ on assault

Extraction:-Remove troops from LZ; usually not Hot

C+C: Command and Control-Fly Company Commander around.

ARVN's-South Viet Army

NVA-North Viet Army

VC-Viet Cong

1/35^th-Means 1^st and 35^th battalion + company

KIA's-Killed in action usually Americans

LURPs -Long range patrol recon missions

RON-Remain over night (usually in infantry firebase)

CROC's-119^th aviation Co's gunships

PE-100 hr inspection

Intermediate -25 50 75 hr inspection

Daily-Daily insp.

PAVN-North VN Army or Viet Cong: Not sure but USA's enemy

C.O.Commanding officer

Flew C.C. for 155^th Co. on a CA 75 miles south of Bam Me Thuot. No contact with enemy. 155 lost one ship. I saw it crash. No one was hurt except one VN soldier was killed when he tried to jump from ship and was hit in head by blade. Flew back to Bam Me Thuot then flew to Pleiku

Scheduled to leave for Quinon for 21 days as soon as the weather clears. The weather didn't clear today so we didn't go.

Took off at 6:25AM and flew to Quinon. Ran into severe turbulence going threw the AnKhe pass.

It is the monsoon season in this part of the country. We flew 4 1/4 hrs. Pulled an intermediate today and red X my ship because of a leaky hyd. Servo. Maintenance is working on it tonight. We are living in tents with a mud floor. It is pretty misserable.

Didn't fly today because of the servo. Worked on my ship then. I flew for 15 min to check the servo. Ship is mission ready at this time. This place is really misserable today I got two packages from Jannie. Candy bars address book & this diary.

Flew 6 hours & 20 min today. 3 hrs CA time-3:20 D.C's. Went on a CA this morning then flew resupply for a different Company. Then we flew on a 4 ship CA. We dropped some guys off and they made a sweep threw a village then we picked them up again. The name of this place is "lain field" no mail.

Bronco Beach

Today my ship and its crew had to move over here to an infantry camp by Hammond Field. We are on standby here for 5 days. Today we flew for 7 1/2 hrs we flew on a short CA and then flew resupply the rest of day. Ship number 616 accompanied us all day. Had a couple of VN troops try to steel something out of ship caught them both. No mail today. Helped 616 crew chief pull an intermediate.

Took off at about 7:30AM and flew resupply for the 1^st Bn 35^th Co. The 1^st L.Z. we went into was on the top of a mountain and we had to come in down wind because of the way it was cut out. We had "C" rations on board. The 1^st try we lost power and had to turn right and gain speed by going down the cliff. We made it in on the 2^nd try but we hit a tree about 5 times with the main rotor blades on the way out and we had a bush in our tail rotor the whole time. The only way out of the LZ was up. It was a real close call. Not much damage to ship. Moved tent & camp about 2 miles north.

Today we flew 5 hrs 40 min all resupply for the same unit. Heard that camp Holloway got hit for the 3^rd night in a row last night. VC were mortaring one LZ just before we came into it. Today we landed on a hill and we were pointed down hill. The ship kept sliding down every time we tried to pull pitch. They killed 4 VC in an LZ that we went to yesterday and they got 2 today right near this camp. There is a lot of firing going on near here right now. I can see tracers going all over. I pulled my intermediate in the rain and in the dark tonight. No mail.

First we started resupply for the 25^th Div. We took some food into one LZ we couldn't land in because of the stumps. One of our ships got shot at right where we were flying all day. Later in the afternoon we took some food "C" rations into some guys on the top of a mountain. They hadn't eaten in 3 days. They killed 10 VC today. Then we went in again and took some hot food. We tried to get in a 3^rd time but the clouds had them covered too well. Then we went on a CA with the rest of the 119^th. 2^nd V. We got too high over mountains and got lost couldn't see anything not even other ships in formation. Turned right and got out of clouds. Scared as hell. Found rest of formation. 7 ships made it through but our 3 didn't. Made it on 2^nd try. Let men off in wrong place. 1^st Cav. men, other 7 ships went on another CA we were late so didn't go. All 7 ships got weathered in plus 4 guns. All must spend night in LZ. Glad I didn't go. Holloway hit 4 nights in a row. Played game of hearts with Capt. Naase and WO Wilson tonight. No mail.

Went on a CA with 20 ships and 6 guns half 1^st Cav ships and half 119^th carried 1^st Cav north of Quinon. Rain all the time. Went on another CA. Same thing. Then went on a propaganda mission with loud speakers and a tape and we dropped safe conduct passes. Took an interpreter and two captains to a river near Hammond Field a patrol had 200 suspects. All working on a ditch without permission. Checked it out then came back to camp. Staying here one more night then going back to company at base camp by Quinon. Flew 5 hrs 45 min today. No mail but someone said they have some back at base camp for me. Everywhere we go around this area there are very few men. Very strange.

Last night at 11:00 they got our crew out of bed for a mission to take some guy over to Hammond Field.

Hasn't rained yet it is clear for a change. We flew resupply for 3 hours and now they had us shut down and wait for another mission. Came close to going down in the mountains once already. Lost power and had to pull up and we barely slid over the trees try8ing to get out of the LZ.

Came back to the camp and shut down for 4 hrs. Went on a CA then came back to camp and got all our stuff and came back to the company. Ate my first meal in 5 days and then went to the club and drank a beer.

Didn't fly till late afternoon. Worked on ship till noon. Then got a haircut up on the hill here at Lain Field. Flew to the 25^th Div camp and back here and that was it. Tonight I had to put a new inverter in my ship took about 4 hours. Got packages from Jannie. Some B&W pictures etc.

Took off at 7:00AM went on a CA then flew resupply for the 1^st and 35^th. Made one airdrop and tried to lower a battery down on a rope. The battery got caught in the trees and didn't reach the ground. They sent someone up the tree to get it down. Hasn't rained for 2 days. Seems like something is wrong because of it. It is now 4PM and we have flown 6 hrs so far. Played football with the inf. troops for 1/2 hr. Got word that Holloway has been hit 7 nights in a row now. My ship is overdue for PE so we will be going to Holloway soon.

Flew back to Lain and pulled my daily then went to the club for the 1^st time in a long while. Got a letter from an unknown girl.

Today we went on Eagle flights. That is where you take some guys out in your ship find a suspicious looking place and drop them off. They sweep the area and then you pick them up and take them somewhere else. I should be going back to Holloway for PE tomorrow. At 9:00PM one of our ships went down on the way to Lain Field. All OK. Ship wrecked pretty bad.

Supposed to go to Holloway for PE but they need me and my ship to take some maint. men out to the downed ship. Landed by it ant the maint people got it ready for a CH 47 to sling load to Quinon. Took a good sequence of pictures of the whole thing. Took the men back to Lain Field and then came here to Pleiku. My ship is in PE now. Finally took a shower. It was a real hot one too. The 1^st since I was home

I feel pretty good.

Slept until 7:30AM and then went over and cleaned my ship for PE. Came back and tried to go to get X rays for flight physical but went all the way over to Hospital and they said come back Friday at 1:00PM. I won't be able to because I will be in the field. Finally found some chap stik in PX bought 2. Worked on ship. Went to movie and watched combat then worked on ship for awhile. Saw a tape recorder I'd love to have (Akai M-8)

Slept in again today. Worked on ship most of day. Got a letter. My gunner got in a fight with one of the guys here in the Hootch. The guy was Olson and he was drunk. Mr. Suddith has been ridding me about not working on my ship. Been trying to make it hard for me. He is the maint. Officer. I never did get along too well with him. I almost got in a fight with Olson too but he never did hit me. I don't know why I kind of wish he had.

Didn't do too much today. Just made sure none of the maint people did anything wrong on my ship. I didn't go on the test flight they had it at 6:00PM. They said they got shot at while they were test flying. So they came back in. They will be test flying it again in the morning. Some of the guys said they saw about 5 tracers go across the runway tonight. Should leave for the field as soon as the test flight is over.

Out of PE today. Flew back from Holloway. Had to go to work 1^st thing. Flew 5 1/2 hours. Today we carried 5 GI's that were killed out of an LZ. 3 were in body bags and 2 were not. There was blood all over the ship. They just piled them on top of each other. It was pretty sickening. Had to stay RON at Oasis tonight because another ship had troubles. We don't have any gear at all. Can't even brush teeth.

Flew 8 hrs 15 min today. All resupply for the 1^st and 35^th. Carried mostly amo hot food and medical supplies. 895, Ma hans' ship got shot down today. Everyone is OK. They are in the air now. Got hit in the hydraulics. There are more KIA's out in the field. Today we are R.O.N. again with no gear. The 1^st/35^th has 5 men seriously wounded in the mountains and we can't get in to get them out. They might not make it through the night. We have been getting shot at regularly in the past few days -not my ship but all the ships in my company. 25^th is catching hell. Slept in ship tonight.

Flew out to a special forces camp with some supplies for them then came back here. Then we flew out in the mountains to check the weather for an extraction. Went on a troop movement. On 1^st time in we were unloading the troops and the ship slipped down hill had to pick up fast with one man still on board. Came back down and let him off. 851 went down today with tail rotor damage. They got shot at while they were down but mini guns took care of the Charlies. They are back in the air now. Flew on another propaganda mission dropped newspapers all over. Got a letter from some little kid.

Flew 4 1/2 hours in the rain today. Carried 5 wounded to the medivac pad. All from 1^st/35^th. Pulled some troops out that have been walking the jungles for 3 weeks. The 1/35^th was having contact all day. There are still 5 seriously wounded on top of a mountain. It is up in the clouds so we can't get them out. Today we tried to take some supplies up to the Cav but couldn't get in because of the clouds. 616 got shot at while flying below us today.

Tried like hell to get into the LZ on top of that Mt but got lost in clouds each time. They finally got those 5 men out of the same LZ. All were dead after 3 days seriously wounded up there. We took 10 wounded out of there from an LZ down the hill. Made a big troop movement in same area. There are supposed to be a lot of PAVN's in the caves. Tried to get into the LZ by the caves but they were having contact in LZ so they called us out of it.

Had to work on ship in morning. Didn't take off until 10AM. Flew 6 hrs. We moved the Cav once and then we moved the 25^th. We finally got into that LZ on top of the mountain. We took 3 loads in. Made an air drop on top of a mountain. Also lowered a bag in on a rope and pulled a radio and some boots out on the rope. I talked the pilot through it and another man lowered it all down. We hovered for about 10 mins and it all worked out perfect. Helped 616 pull an intermediate tonight.

Flew to Special Forces camp once. Flew amo to top of mountain. Flew 2 Red Cross girls to tip from Hammond. Flew out to caves with some troops then flew out to caves again with 4 newsmen from ABC news on TV. They took some movies from ship while flying low level. 697 got shot down today will be back in air tomorrow. Shut down at Hammond for rest of day. Swept ship out. Flew back to Lain.

Went on a CA for the 1^st Cav out near a Special Forces camp. Flew one sortie of resupply then flew on a troop movement for 1/14^th then we shut down for a few hours. I polished the head on my ship and did a few more things for my ship. Then I played in a football game in the sun and it was about 120F. I think the monsoon season is over now. We had to take another ships place on C&C for the 1/35^th. We made a one ship extraction; then we flew over the area and guided artillery in on a certain position; then we flew out to the Special Forces camp to pick up a major. Flew 4:10 today.

Didn't fly all day but then we had to go up at 6PM. We flew to Holloway to pick up Maj. Edwards our C.O. Today I took a bath in the creek and got one hell of a sunburn. Some of the men from our company dammed up the creek and made a swimming hole. It is about 4ft deep. Got my ship cleaned this morning. We got back from Holloway about 9:00PM. 3 hrs flt.

Today we flew 6 hrs. We flew C&C for the 1^st Cav. We came back and took some prisoners in from 1/35 base camp. We took in 4 V.C. that they found hiding in caves one had his leg blown off and the others had their feet really swollen up. None could walk. We are R.O.N. at Hammond with no gear again. Haven't shaved yet so I will look like hell tomorrow. Slept in ship.

Flew 9 hrs today went on a CA this morning for 1/14. Fired 200 rounds at 3 men on ground think I hit them. Flew resupply for 1/35 rest of day. Took two sling loads of barbed wire. Made one air drop. Flew to Quinon Airport picked up two guys. Went to Lain picked up gear and now are back at Aloha R.O.N. tonight with gear. Have intermediate tonight. Sleeping in ship. Mortars and small arms fire near here. I can see it all.

Finished intermediate in morning. Flew sortie resupply for 1^st Cav. Then flew out for the 1/35^th on resupply. Went to tip then to another mountain and then on the way into another L.Z. on top of a mountain we hit a tree on the right side with the main rotor blades. Flew back to tip and shut down found out we ruined one blade. OK to fly back to Lain to get new blade. Put now blade on and couldn't get it to stop vibrating in flight so we will stay the night here at Lain with no gear. They will probably put new blades on tomorrow. Got 2 magazines from cousin Pug in Dallas.

Worked until 1AM last night and started in again this morning. Finally got the blades changed. I got two new ones now. Got done about noon. Took off at 3PM and went to work resupply for R.O.K.'s (Rep. of Korea troops).

Took some real heavy loads to different places by the coast. Flew over the ocean and the beach. Made 2 sling loads lost RPM down to 6200 on last run with sling so had to drop it but it landed in the right place anyway. Flew back to Lain stayed night at Lain. No gear.

Flew for 10 hrs today. Mostly resupply for Koreans. We carried over 12 tons and 185 troops today. Also we made about 15 sling loads. It was kind of interesting. I am staying overnight out in the infantry camp again. Haven't shaved in 3 days. Slept in ship.

Flew 9 1/2 hrs today. 2 CA's 3 extractions. We flew resupply for 1/14 and 1/35. Pulled an intermediate tonight. We had to move our helicopter to the other side of the field because they expect us to get hit before the 9^th of Feb. The Koreans caught some prisoners and found out by interrogation or torture. I have been assigned a bunker in case we do get hit.

Flew 9 hrs today-all resupply for the Koreans flying in area south of Quinon along the coast. Today we made 80 landings we carried over 25 tons of cargo and 150 troops. We have flown 23 hrs in the last 3 days so we have done our share of the work. Today we flew out over the South China Sea and fired our machine guns. I also dropped some large rocks out of the ship at 1000 ft to watch them hit the water. I also dropped a green smoke grenade at 1000 ft.

Today we flew some Korean generals down to a place about 30 miles north of Nha Trang. They took part in a big ceremony down there. We flew over the beach all the way down and the beaches look pretty nice around here. We flew 2 hrs resupply for the R.O.Ks and then I put the company insignia on the front of the ship. Got out in the sun for a while. I'm just about done peeling on my back now.

Flew resupply for the R.O.Ks today for 2 1/2 hrs. Then we came back here for the 11^th PE on 777. 545 maint detach is going to pull it. Watched TV tonight. We got a station here in Pleiku now. Watched The Flintstones and part of the Jimmy Dean Show. Finally took a shower. Worked on my ship tonight till 8:30PM. All the flare standby ships went up tonight. Nothing has happened yet. I am listening to the radio right now.

Today I filled sandbags all morning. Went for my flight physical (X rays) today at the 18^th surgical. Had guard duty tonight at bunker 4. Shot one of my pencil flares and one of the illuminating hand flares.

Slept in this morning and then loaded and unloaded sandbags all afternoon. Brought an air medal ribbon in the PX. My ship is all torn down now.

Stacked sandbags on Heli pads this morning then loaded and unloaded truck all afternoon.

Worked on ship in morning. Spread barbed wire around perimeter of Holloway in afternoon.

Spread wire this morning around perimeter of Holloway and loaded & unloaded sandbags this afternoon.

Worked on ship for a while this morning then had the rest of the day off because I had guard last night.

Worked on ship in morning. Covered up detonating cord that runs between the Claymore Mines between bunker 2 and bunker 8. My ship was painted today.

No entry

Went out to dig around a trench that goes around the perimeter. Went to supply point to pick up wire but couldn't get it. Had guard duty on bunker 4. We got a round in over bunker 3. Was fired from pretty close. We were playing cards at the time. Fired 6 hand flares during night. O.D. Mr. Daniels fired one just for the hell of it. We fired one M79 round and then reported an explosion.

Slept this morning because had guard last night. Slept till 12:00 and went over to ship till 3:15 then told that I have guard downtown in the parking lot from 4 to 8 PM.

Wrote & read letters today.

Lee left this morning. I thought my ship was going to leave today, but now it won't go till tomorrow. Had a company party tonight also had a sort of party in officer's hootch.

Left Holloway this morning. Flew to Lain then to Quinon airfield. Took a few pictured at Quinon-then we flew back to Lain; ate and then at 1200 we went out to the field. Flew over ocean and fired machine guns. I am now staying closer to the coast than we used to stay. Flew 7:35 hours today. One of our gunners on another ship killed an elephant. He saw it with a VC on its back. Flew all resupply today and we flew a lot near and over the coast and the beach. Took some good pictures today. Flew low level over the ocean and over the beach.

Took off this morning at 7:00AM. Went on two CA's on one of them I shot about 200 rounds going in. Then we flew to Bang Son to pick up one man then to Quinon to pick up 5 more and some coke and beer. Flew over ocean and beach at 4000 ft and 3 ft. Listened to "Wipe Out" on radio while flying at 4000 ft.

A Maj. Fired my machine gun in ocean and at rocks on shore on way back from Quinon. Flew resupply for a while; then went on propaganda mission. Watched about 300 artillery rounds hit about 3000 meters out from camp here. Tonight gunships went up found nothing so they are firing 155's again.

7:50 hrs

Flew resupply this morning near ocean; then flew resupply the other way into the mountains. Shut down-ate lunch and then went on a CA. Stayed running went on an extraction in an L.Z. that we could only take out 2 guys at a time because of the density altitude. Took them to Aliami. Then regrouped and took them on a CA. Also extracted Alpha Alpha and took them on a CA. Extremely hot today. Listened to radio when we were flying high today. Had a spray mission this evening in about 5 places my 1^st time. Pulled intermediate and retorqued tail rotor.

8:05 hrs

Caught a catfish in stream with flashlight and an amo can.

Went on a CA after I had TI look at a hydraulic line inside of the ship. Then I fixed a hyd. line. On the way in. the 1^st pair of ships got shot at and they got shot at again on way out. We were in the last pair so we fired on way out and we received fire we took them out later in the day. Went on resupply and had to stop and fill hydraulics and tighten a line. Looked for a downed bird dog--OSO found it. Went on a propaganda mission and an extraction. Our knob on FM radio broke we cant change freq. Took the S-5 to a village so he could show propaganda movies. Got a package from Cousin Pug.

Went on a CA with 1^st V Hot. Then went on resupply. While on resupply we flew over a unit on the ground just as one colored man got shot by sniper fire. We heard over the radio that he was hurt bad so we went in after him. It wasn't 5 min till we picked him up. He was hit in back and it came out his stomach. He was bleeding all over the ship plus a bit of internal bleeding. He later died.

We flew out over the sea and threw out a box to shoot at but we saw a great big shark. Probably a whale shark we couldn't shoot because there was a boat nearby. Then we saw another one. Thin I put 150 rounds into him. Probably hit with 100. We came out later with a 2^nd Lt. and we saw 2 more. We fired an M79 at one and missed then hit with 2^nd shot. We saw another one and we shot M79, hit. And I fired about 50 rounds into him. killed all together they were about 40 ft long. Went resupply then on a CA to a place where a bird dog had crashed yesterday. They are going to blow it up and I am now waiting to go pick them up. I also saw a great big sea turtle today. We picked them up after they blew up the plane. We then went on an extraction and then I saw the CROCs (gunships 1982) blow up a church.

We were C&C for 1/35 today. 1^st we caught a sniper in a hootch and hovered over it while troops moved in. I dropped as smoke grenade on the hootch. We picked up a VC prisoner from a PT boat we had to land on the beach as close as possible to water. They threw him overboard and he had to swim in. We carried two prisoners today. We then went on an 18 ship hot CA. We were in the 1^st "V" and we were hot. Then we went back to the same area and flew around guiding the ground troops around the major. I shot up a bunker that we thought might have someone in it. We made a medivac of two guys. We had to hover while they were loaded on. Had an intermediate.

Went on a CA 1^st thing this morning. Then went out and picked up one prisoner. Then we went on resupply. We picked up 4 prisoners while on resupply. We then took on VN that had been accidentally hit by a Claymore Mine. We are now shut down for lunch.

Flew some more resupply for the 1/35 went to 5 L.Z. one trip made an air drop in one of them I lost my M14 out of the ship in one of the L.Z.s and we had to go back after it. We then went on an extraction. No mail today. It rained just about all day.

731 got shot at today-3 mortars came in last night. I slept right threw it we had flare stand by.

Went on a 3 ship cold CA and then took 6 men out of an L.Z. We then came back here and shut down because we are now on standby for Col. Shanahan. 731 got 3 rounds in their ship today. They came back here and replaced us. Then we went on an extraction. Then we took over C&C for OSO & 1/35^th. First we flew up on a hill that overlooks this camp and located a patrol. This is the area we are supposed to get hit from. Also the area we got hit from last night. We then went on a night medivac for the ARVNs took a doc with us. Found them on a road-we landed and everyone started shooting and mortars started hitting all around us. Some ARVN walked into the rotor blade with an antenna from his radio. Then Mr. Dobbs (pilot) got hit in the nose r/side. We got out of there and came back here. Couldn't find anything wrong with ship but found the bullet under Mr. Dobbs seat in morning. Made one air drop today to same place as yesterday.

Found that bullet under seat this morning didn't get hit last night as expected. Came out and checked ship for bullet holes it is OK. Now we are sitting and waiting to go. Went on a CA and then we were supposed to go on another to same place but it got called back after we had been loaded and airborne. Flew a lot of resupply and flew 10 prisoners from "Two Bits" to a larger POW camp. 5 women, one girl, 3 men and a baby-all admitted VC. We had flare standby tonight because we are the only ship out here. My gunner had to have his tooth pulled late in the evening. All other ships were sent back to Lain because of a red alert here. Nothing came of it though. Got paid tonight.

We are C&C for 1/35 today--first thing we did was go out and pick up emties from different elements. Then we flew to "PAN by the sea" with two passengers. Now we are waiting for something else. We had to go out and pick u one man who had his legs blown to pieces by a booby trap. Then we flew over an area where they thought they had a V.C. in a hootch. Then we had to take out 3 more who got hit by a similar booby trap in same area. One was real bad off. Then we flew up in the mountains that overlook this camp and one element was in contact. We spotted for the "Crocs" on a few runs into the area. And then guided the ground troops in from 3 different directions. We then had to haul out 3 KIAs 5 more wounded from the area we were reconing. I had an intermediate tonight.

Still at uplift.

We were C&C for 1/35 today but first we went on a big C.A. We didn't do much that was unusual though we did get 6:30 hrs in today. We did have to fly tonight. We took one passenger to two bits and it was pretty damn dark. We shut down in a couple of LZs and we flew around the area just reconning with the major. There is a big crap game in the tent now.

Made a one ship CA with Lurps. C&C again for 1/35. We carried 4 prisoners and one medivac today. We did mostly recon of an area we will run a big CA in tomorrow. Had flare standby tonight and at two o'clock went up. LZ crystal was being mortored. We flew over and dropped all our flares then went back and got more & dropped them all. Got done at 4:00AM I had to use a screwdriver through the ring to pull the cords on the flares. I dropped 33 altogether.

Scheduled for a 6:45AM CA but didn't go till 9:30. Went on two lifts then we were C&C for 1/35 carried one medivac (recon platoon SGT). Then carried 10 prisoners in from same area as CA. Guided in some 175mm and 155mm artilery on some caves today. Flew recon over a fire fight in the flat lands. Getting ready to go back for P.E. Made a late run to Aliani and Koral with some ice.

Went on a couple of CAs in the morning. Got ready and left for PAPA KILO. Washed ship pretty fast. Finally took a shower and watched TV for the first time in quite a while. Kind of relaxed for a couple of hours.

Worked on ship all day. Had guard duty at night.

Slept in the morning. Worked on ship all afternoon--then some this evening. Had a show in the hangar but I didn't go I just stayed in the Hootch and drank with SP4 Wilson & Bender.

Worked on ship all morning after woke up by bitch box this morning. I am now ready to leave for Lain pulled daily and went to club and got drunk. Stay8ing at Lain tonight. No film in Lain P.X.

Flew 7:50 hrs today A/C (aircraft commander) was from 170^th because our pilots have too much time in. Flew resupply for awhile then went on a C.A. and an extraction--one ship was down in L.Z. with hyd. Problems it was yellow flight 887. It rained all day today and we had to do a lot of low leveling. Not much exciting happened today.

Flew 8hrs 40min today. Wind was real bad all day with a little rain. Flew on two CAs and one extraction. Yellow one got hit by scrap metal from "Crocs". Flew resupply for both 1/35 and 1/14^th. Got a package with fudge, magazines, pickles & pocket books. Played poker & lost $2.50. Was supposed to RON tonight at uplift but came back to Lain.

Flew on a C.A. in the morning brought gear from Lain to uplift again. Flew resupply for both 1/35^th and 1/14^th --mostly 1/14^th. Mr. Babbon was A/C today and they told him over the radio that his wife had a baby boy. Had to go back to Lain again tonight. Have an intermediate & company party at __night. Half done with intermediate when we had an alert for a night C.A. Had to finish tail rotor in morning. Today we shot at a bunch of pigs near Aliani. I wasted 2 or 3 hundred rounds. I don't think I hit anything but dirt. They are fast.

Went on 5 BIG CAs all hot. The 1^st CAV helped us on one of them. Didn't do much resupply. That's about all I did today. Stayed at Lain tonight. Played poker and won $1.50.

Flew Blue 2 today with Lt. Tinny leading. Fired on two hot ones and went on 6 hot CAs today. Had an airstrike for a prep for one. Flew resupply for awhile and then flew blue one on 4 extractions one in Alpha Alpha. Stayed at Lain tonight. Went to club.

Flew resupply in the morning with Mr. Babbon and then went on two hot C.A.s one on old "Tip". Then we went on C&C for Col. Miller at Aliani. We will be here tonight at Aliani. They put some special radios on my ship. Slept in ship. Aliani correctly spelled Allini. Couldn't pull intermediate because had no tools and light at Allini.

Down all morn after flying from Allini to uplift pulled intermediate then went on 2 CAs in afternoon. No FM or UHF radios stayed at Lain. Got two packages in mail.

Went on two CAs in the morning, then shut down for awhile after 2:00PM. We flew resupply and went on a propaganda mission then one more CA. Supposed to have one night I flew the slip from uplift to PEN and back again. I also got to hover it at 10ft near PEN. I did pretty good.

Mr. Dobbs flew my ship again today & tomorrow. We were resupply for the 1/35^th allday went on one CA then one unit came in contact. Had a new pilot flying with Dobbs today. Have flare standby at uplift RON one night. Thought today was 16^th so I put the wrong date on my forms--got to go fix them now.

C&C for 1/35^th today. Found a fuel leak on right side of ship. Might have to fix it tomorrow. Flew to a lot of LZs with the Bn C.O. and went into one that had ARVNs in it and shut down. We carried two PAVN packs that they captured real close to "uplift". I took quite a few pictures in the past couple of days. Took a picture of a frog close up today. We went on a recon with all the leaders of one unit because they wanted to see the area. We took some prisoners for them and then we were released. Had an intermediate tonight. Didn't do much of a job.

That S.O,B. Dobbs volunteered us for RON again and flare standby at uplift. Went on a hot C.A.--all 7 ships at one time, but only 3 were hot someone screwed up. We then went on a couple of extractions and then came in for flare standby. Got the flares all loaded and Capt. Wolfolf wanted to go out an dpick up some empties (food containers) so a company could move tonight. Then we came back. I was out pulling my daily insp. When they said we had to go up and resupply so I unloaded the flares again. Then they said to load them back up again. We had to go up to drop them. The ARVNs shot 4 of our men 1/2 mile north of uplift on the road. We shot 5 of them. We had to drop flares so the medivac could come in. I drop[ped 16 more flares tonight. Then we went to "IVY" with some emergency amo.

C&C for 1/35^th today. Flew Bn C.O. all over to his companies and shut down in a couple of LZs. Took a lot of pictures and had to spend the night at Allini. I slept on top of my ship tonight. Almost got eaten up by mosquitos. Allini had a fire power demonstration just before dark. Everything on the perimeter opened up for one minute. Ate breakfast for the first time in quite a while.

C&C for 1/14^th today at Allini. Made an airdrop just west of Allini in sight of camp where a patrol founda 2 ton lump of salt.I took some pictures of the salt. Then we went on a few runs to the different units. Checkmate 6 (Col. Shanahan) called Col. Miller and told him to report to Crystal--we took him there. The ARVNs were having real heavy contact just east of Crystal. We went out and reconned the area. There were a lot of wounded that they brought in while we were there at Crystal. We reconned the area for a CA in morning. A couple of our ships were shot a on the way back to Lain tonight. Got a letter from a 9 year old girl. Went to club one hour over P.E.

Supposed to fly today until 855 comes out from Holloway, then we are supposed to go back for P.E. Already one hour over P.E. and 20 hours over Hot End. Mr. Edman is flying my ship today. Flew on one CA then told to return to Allini and wait. Then we were told to go to uplift and wait. At uplift we watched a fire power demonstration by one ARA (CAV HOG) (Hewy gunship with 48 rockets), one of the armed chinooks (guns agogo) and a CAV ship with anti tank missles and one ship that lays smoke screens. Also just before that, 3 phantom jets flew over uplift low level and did a barrel roll and went up. We then came back to Lain then to Pleiku for P.E. #13. Another letter from a 9 year old girl.

Got all the work done on the head of my ship. Worked on ship most of day. Relaxed a little in the Hootch tonight.

Worked on the ship n the morning. Forchini has a bird just like mine in his ship. Went to club today; ate lunch in cola mess; relaxed a little today. Bought a $109.00 slide projector--had to borrow $100.00 from Pete Forchini. I have guard tonight.

Slept and wrote letters in morning. Worked on ship in afternoon. My ship still in P.E. Got to work on my 3's today.

Worked on ship most of day. Capt. Holloway made a flame shoot out of a tail pipe of my ship all the way to the tail rotor. Melted tail rotor damper shaft cover. Most of my company came back today. Had guard tonight with Stansfield and Kiefer.

Slept all morning; mailed 4 rolls of slides. Worked on ship all afternoon. Supposed to go to Kontum tonight. Got ready then was told I was supposed to go to Lain; then Major Paterson said we are not going anywhere. Played cards--pinochle--with Rus Stansfield, McCoy and Frankenfield.

Tried to leave for Kontum at 7:00AM but linear actuator wouldn't work. Eng. man beat on it with a screwdriver; then we took off and came to Kontum; then we went to DAKTO where all the other ships were. Sat there all day and threw knives into ground and BS'd all day. Got into a wrestling match with Martin my gunner. Flew back here to Kontum. It's real nice here.

Flew out to Dakto in the morn. They were having contact all night long. Were surrounded till morning then they broke contact. 2-155 ships got shot up bad. 50 and 30 ca. 4-34's got shot up one in trans. 34's went in and took out a lot of dead and wounded. We took one dead 2 wounded to 18^th surgery in Pleiku. Then one dead to Holloway, then to Kontum, picked up chow then went on a C.A. into LAOS with fresh men. Had to sleep with ship at an unsecured airport in Kontum with 4 other crewchiefs. Went walking around in dark with an AR (automatic rifle) and odrnwheles.

Sat around all day after not getting a chance to eat breakfast. Had to stay with ships at Kontum airport all alone until everyone ate and 4 men replaced me. Went to club, ate and drank beer with Mr. Olson.

In Laos

The troops we put in 29^th were surrounded all night and still in the morning. They had 50% casualties. They were trying to move to an LZ but were in contact from 3 sides all day. One airforce F model (Hewey) was shot down while trying to rescue some of them. The AC a Maj. was hit in stomach. The crew moved with troops to an LZ. The 3F models, 6 butterflys and 7 Heweys went in and pulled them all out. It was a tight LZ under scattered fire. My ship took two holes-one invert fin and one in right/cargo door from flying metal from a hand grenade or a motor. After the explosion the ship started to settle down because we were just trying to come out of LZ overloaded. I was sure we were going into trees but somehow we pulled up to tree top level and stayed there until we finally got enough speed to fly. Circle red X flew to Holloway for repair.

Stayed here at Holloway Went on a mission and flew Gen. Lee around; then took some special forces troops some place. Didn't do much else. Got holes in the ship patched up. Got the company; came back from Dakto. We are all here for the 1^st time since Jan 1. Got my SP/4 orders today.

Flew C&C for Artillery Hill. Col. went to Pleijerang 4^th Div and DVC Co. Flew also to the Oasis. Did a lot of low leveling. Was low level on a road and made two dinks on a motor bike drive into ditch. I laughed my ass off. Mr. Jensen was A/C today.

Took off this morning and it wouldn't beep down (RPM control) so we landed on maintenance ramp and the linear actuator changed. Then had ship flown back to swamp. Got a package with a cake in it from some kid back home.

Was on standby for 8:45 take off for CA with 170^th. 731 had maint problems sync elevator so we had to take their mission. Now we are on standby till 2:30, then we have a mission. We did go on a CA with the 170^th. Went to DVC CO then went out to an LZ. There were no men left for 895 or us so we came back here. Mr. Jensen was A/C. Flew low level formation at 110 K/s. Got back, ate and went on a mission to Kontum and back again. Mr. Babon & Capt. Davis flew.

Took off at 10:00. I rode in front to II Corp. We picked up 3 fill Col. On major and a SP/4 and a pilot Lt. Col. we flew to Nha Trang. I took quite a few pictures on the way. We were there about 3 or 4 hours then flew back took a bus ride downtown NhaTrang, went in PX and club at 17^th Avn Group. Had 3 beers went back to ship. Met crew for 850 at the club. Szeke and Alvarez. I flew part of the way from II Corp back to Holloway. Had an intermediate. Hard time finding a grease gun. Finished at 10PM

CRASHED

Stayed in swamp on ship on standby starting at 7:30. Went to maint and got a TI for my tail rotor inspection. Finally got a flight at 3:00. Went to KonTum, picked up 4 men and their equip. They were all part of a band called the Black Caps. 3 army and one airforce. The airforce guy sat next to me. We went to West CAV, refueled and then on toward Chiereo.

Engine quit halfway there while we were at 4300 ft. We auto rotated onto a dirt road and hit extremely hard. Got picked up by a Huskey Medivac (Air Force rescue 'copter) Had guard duty tonight.

REAL CLOSE

I slept all morning after guard. They are working on my ship already. It was brought in by a Chinook.

Had flare standby tonight. Stayed in Hootch. I got a new engine, tail rotor 90 degree and 42 degree gear boxes, new skids and a lot of cracks patched. Also, my hydraulic system was changed over to gravity feed system.

I did nothing.

Got up at 8:00. Went to Hangar, got some of my forms straightened out, then did nothing all day. They had a little action on the end of the runway. The guns were up. The E.O.D. people got shot at. 050 crashed down by Saigon today. It rolled over on the left side. Crew chief and gunner were hurt. Ship is totaled. I was supposed to be on it right now, but we couldn't get down there in 750 because of hydraulics.

One Year in the FA.

Have to fly on 850 today. Flew for II Corp today, only made it for 1/2 hr then 850 started making funny noises. I checked it out then called a T.I. It was a compressor stall caused by the bleed bands or the fuel control. They left my gunner and I there so we went up to the Art. Camp and ate lunch. I took some pictures of the people of the camp.

Nothing much happened today until tonight when I found out I was going to DAK TO in morn. First I thought I was going on 896, then I found out that 777 was ready.

Left for DAK TO at 10:00. When we got there they put some ropes and rope ladders on the ship. We are on a special mission carrying a Special Forces team of 6 men in and out of the jungles southwest of Dak To near and in Laos. We practiced with the ladders then we practiced with the "Maquire Rigs" which are 130 Ft ropes. 3 of them with slings. We pick up 3 men and hover straight up out of the trees then carry the men hanging at 40 knots.

Had a couple of practice CAs; also, flew some men up north west of here quite a ways--near the border of Laos. Went on a Recon of the A.O. (area of operation) we will be using for the next month.

Supposed to take a team in today but we didn't. Had an alert; got all 4 ships off the ground in 2 min and 10 sec.

Blue 2 took a team in today--had to hover and use rope ladders. We all did OK. We went north to Dak Per today also.

No teams went in today. We took a man to Pleiku who had malaria. Pilot had malaria and had to go in.

Took 3 VN to KonTum. One died on the way. It was raining real hard all the way. Blue 3 took a team in afternoon and we took our team this evening. The LZ we went into was pretty bad. We had to hover straight down into it and let them jump out when we got close enough to the ground. Their call sign is "humble".

Today Blue 2 took in 4 road runners (VN who are to infiltrate into VC). We just flew in formation with Blue 3 and Blue 1.

Then we had a mission to go to Polei Kleng so we did low level all the way. I saw what I think was a big ape in a tree. On the way back we fired our machine guns all over the place as a test. I got a hair cut today with Pancho (my gunman).

Took a company of CIDGs in this morning after an air strike. Had to make 3 passes, then we had to land in a different LZ. 2 Chinooks went also.

Then we had to pull out our team. We went in and pulled out 4 VN. Blue 3 came in and took the 2 Americans. We had to hover and use the ladders. We put our team back in an area north up the valley. Capt. Davis almost made us crash.

Blue 2 took their 1^st team out. They took all 6. They reconned our area for our next team. Blue 3 put a team in, in a real shitty area. We might have to use the Maquire Rigs to get them out.

We went out and pulled a wounded man out of the "Mike Force" the company we took in. Then Blue 2 took the roadrunners out because they were lost. Then we shut down at Polie Kleng and we got an emergency extraction of our team. They were in contact and we went in and used the rope ladders in the bamboo. We pulled out 3 and Blue pulled out 3. We then flew the whole team back here to Dak To and Blue 2 took the roadrunners back to the jungle.

Used red smoke low lever over the camp when we had the team safe on board.

Took our team in. Came to a 1-ft. hover, real easy. Then helped Blue 3 pull their team out. Blue 3 used the rope ladder to take 3 but I guided my pilot right down between and under trees into the shallow part of the river and we almost landed. The skids were under water. We picked up a guy named Striber. He has a price on his head by VN. We used smoke (red) over camp again.

Had one emergency extraction today plus 2 medivacs from the Mike Force.

Had an alert our only team left was in trouble. They killed 2 NVAs and ran like hell with about 3 or so men after them. Blue 2 pulled out the 1^st 3 with the Maguire Rig and we took out the two Americans and one other but we almost landed and they climbed in. It wasn't easy, but better than 130 ft. ropes. I fired at gooks on way out. Then Blue 3 went in and pulled out a team. Pancho my gunner fired at a tree line to hold down fire from there. Then we took a platoon of the Mike Force into the area right after an air strike. We fired at the tree line all the way in and out. I saw a hootch under the tree line and I shot it up until my gun jammed.

Blue 2 put in a team and then we had to pull another team out on Maguire Rigs. Blue 2 took the 1^st 3 then we took the 2^nd 3. We made it to Dak To with 15 mins used up on the 20-min fuel warning light. Mr. Keeny said something about the CO over the radio by accident and he has to go to Pleiku tomorrow.

Blue 2 took a team in then we went to Pleiku, ate and came back here. While we were gone, they had a mission over the border using the Maguire Rigs. I made a sling shot today and we got paid.

Took a platoon in at 11:00. I paid Forchini his $100.00; took the platoon back out at 3:00. We put the roadrunners in this morning. We missed our primary LZ which was a bomb crater but we landed on the bank of the river so everything was OK. We fired on the way out of the LZ when we were pulling out the platoon.

Today we went and took one team out then another team radioed that they just watched a battalion of NVA walk right past them. Mr. Babbon took my ship and me and we flew some resupply for the Mike Force. Then the F.A.C. called some air strikes in on that battalion. Then Blue 2 and Blue 3 pulled that team out under fire. We flew above. We went to Pleiku, stopped 1^st at KonTum. Our last team in got into trouble while we were gone and Blue 2 & 3 pulled them out on Maguire Rigs at night under fire. Then at 2:30AM we had to fly to Pleiku again to take in a report of the day. We got back at 5:00AM. Couldn't get into Dak To almost hit ground trying to get through a hole in the fog. Stayed at Polei Kleng until it got light. Had to hook up to the P.O.

Went on a recon in morn. Then took our team in at 6:00PM. It all went OK. We switched to 731 so triple 7 could go in for P.E. Then after the CA, we switched to 697 yellow.

Blue took a team in this morn. We had an alert. Our team was in trouble in "Belmont". They were being chased and couldn't make it to an L.Z. We flew around for a while--had to refuel once at Polie Kleng. We broke off to refuel again and they called in ready so we went in and pulled them out right after an air strike. We had to use the Maguire Rigs. We went in first; Blue 2 went in second. It was real tight. We took them to Polei Kleng. Then on the way to

Dak To (896), we lost hydraulics so we had to make a running landing 60 knots at Dak To. I had to pull the lines off that were broken. 073 came in with it; came back at night, stopped at C team for 1 hour, went to club then back to Dak To..

Flew to Pleiku once to take 073 back because it flew hot brought it back out.

Had an alert this morning. Blue 3's team were in trouble near Pleijerang (old). We went in and took out all 6 because Blue 3 hadn't gotten there yet. We had Sgt. Piercey on board so we ended up pulling 7 out of a big L.Z. We fired all the way out because there were VC in our path. Just as we got clear of the L.Z. we heard a mayday on the radio. One of the gunships went down burned and blew up 3 crew were killed. Only one lived with burns, Pilot Mr. Kearney (19), Mr. Bullington A/C and Gupton (gunner) all burned to death. Mike Ebert made it out somehow. He was pulled out by Maguire Rig by Blue 2 (Mr. Dobbs) 2 F models lowered a team of 7 Special Forces into the crash and got bodies out. We then went in and pulled out the roadrunners on a bank of the river. We came out hot.

Nothing is happening today. We went in and got 851, then we had to take a team in for Blue 2 because they weren't back yet. We were headed in guided by blue one. We stopped over a big open field of bamboo. We started to lose RPM. We couldn't find the L.Z. We ere losing power fast, but the bamboo was too high to land. We threw out the rope ladders and the team started to climb down. We went down more in power and Mr. Jensen couldn't hold altitude any more. We kept dropping into the bamboo. It was huge. I couldn't see the ground. We lost torque control and the ship started to spin. We hit the bamboo and mowed it down. The team was jumping out all over the place. We made about 6 complete turns around. Mr. Jensen kept it up; we went down to 5000 RPM finally with the weight of the team gone. We started to regain power and stopped spinning and hover up and out of the L.Z. There were some vibrations from damaged rotor blades, but we kept flying until the team cleared an LZ in bamboo. Then we went in and pulled out 3 and Blue 3 pulled out 3. They jumped out at Alt's 30-15ft. One broken back, one broken jaw, one are, one leg.