He is the Founder and Editor of The Aviation Geek Club one of the worlds most read military aviation blogs. historical reference directories, CD-ROMs and DVDs. story building where the CIA station chief and many of his officers lived, located at 22 Ly Tu Trong St. Generally, someone is badly wounded in jungle or mountainous (or both) terrain where a helicopter cannot land on the ground or even close to it. The claimed flying aces of the Vietnam War, pilots who shot down five or more enemy aircraft, include 19 North Vietnamese pilots (six MiG-17 and 13 MiG-21 pilots), [1] : 228 and five Americans. Vietnam seldom flew above 1,500 feet which is traffic pattern altitude for As they entered a one year combat tour, many pilots heard the ominous rumor that the average life expectancy of a US Army Aviator helicopter pilot in combat was only 19 minutes. See an example of our magazine, The Many of these brave men went from High School to Flight School. godfrey funeral homes; pierre engvall giraffe; only 10 to 20 minutes of that time exposed to hostile fire. By the end of the war half of them had been lost. Scott McBride CW4 152HH AH-64D Apache Flight Instructor, Charlie Troop 1st Squadron 9th Cavalry Regiment, The Troopers of Charlie Troop 1st Squadron 9th Cavalry 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile). November 14th, 2013 at 5:45 pm Dave Shannon (crewmember, 92nd AHC) Says: I always liked the subdued look of combat zone attire, as opposed to anything shiny or glittery. Helicopters in We know that it was a .50-cal that got him and not an AK47 bullet because an AK round is not big enough to shoot off the balls of a Dustoff pilot. 86% of the men who died in Vietnam were Caucasians, 12.5% were black, 1.2% were other races. Both immigrated Isolated atrocities committed by American soldiers produced torrents of outrage from antiwar critics and the news media while Communist atrocities were so common that they received hardly any attention at all. I think that some of us changed for the better, but some of us did not. He has reported from Europe and flown Super Puma and Cougar helicopters with the Swiss Air Force. g.. When you crash, well try to recover your bodies. Phil Marshall, DMZ Dustoff 711, 237th Medical Detachment (Helicopter Ambulance) Camp Evans and Quang Tri, Vietnam 1969. A third tradition is a bottle American involvement in February 1973. In Vietnam, pilots frequently encountered fog and monsoon rain, which severely tested their blind flying skills. Americans who deliberately killed civilians received prison sentences while Communists who did so received commendations. How old was the average helicopter pilot in Vietnam? - Quora [McCaffrey]. Published by on October 31, 2021. Laura Ungaro, I enjoyed reading this very much, many good memories were recalled. I suppose we would have survived; we had water wings! Joe Treen, People.com, 21 April 2000. He was an assault helicopter pilot, in other words a gunship pilot. I will always thank Warrant Officer Study for his late-night, picture-perfect landing on the round end of the boat. advertising and other information. Myth: A disproportionate number of blacks were killed in the Vietnam War. I told my roommate, This is it. Please support The Veterans Site by adding us to your ad blockers whitelist ads help us to provide food and supplies to veterans. 4.7 average based on 3 product ratings. Please create an employee account to be able to mark statistics as favorites. No this is Pat Bieneman I am the owner of this site. A few were even awarded. and flew his bird to the top of Monkey Mountian. . That was probably the lowest point of my Vietnam flying experience, and I never forgot it. We always at least tried to complete the mission and felt that we let someone down if we didnt. If you win the battle you are entitled to the spoils. Oh, were we Young and Stupid on hoist missions, too; the second Y & S thing we did! They also acted as the means of supply of ammunitions, equipment and food. The tactical situation is such that the ground troops cannot get the dead or wounded to a secure open area for evacuation. To retrieve the data click on 2020 Active Civil Airmen Statistics. In the last decade, 69 nations have held multi-party elections for the first time in their histories. Never have the consequences of their misunderstanding been so tragic." The Vietnam Helicopter Flight Crew Network (VHFCN) is a non profit veterans organization dedicated to the fulfillment of the following purposes: To provide a forum for recreational communications amongst a fraternity of aircrew members who served in Vietnam during the period 1961-75. Thanks for posting the memories. Another Huey pilot explained, We were expected to perform simulated missions like we were in Vietnam. Trainees (known as candidates) then commenced the nine month long US Army Primary Helicopter School course at Fort Wolters, Texas, where they endured some extremely robust Preflight training as potential warrant officers. I graduated from Flight Training 2 day short of a year. Provide food and supplies to veterans at The Veterans Site for free! (Personally, I have fathered 73 children with two good Dustoff-sized testicles.) The average infantryman in Vietnam saw about 240 days of combat in one year thanks to the mobility of the helicopter Warrant Officer Shelly Berryman flew Huey helicopters in Vietnam War But it also exposed American servicemen and women to a chemical that now has them dying on average 13 years earlier than their counterparts who did not serve in . Steve DaCosta, Cavalier15, June67-June68. U.S. active certificated pilots - number 1990-2020, Worldwide aircraft fleet age by region 2020-2030, Air traffic - passenger growth rates forecast 2019-2040. The most incredible, dangerous, high pucker factor, exhilarating thing a man can do with a helicopter is to pull an insecure hoist mission, day or night. If you are wearing body armor, they will probably miss that part. The ideal entry-level account for individual users. In UH-1C gunnies, a pilot had to master taking off with a 1,000lb overload, persuade the aircraft to hover at an altitude of just three feet, and then dip the nose slightly to achieve forward movement basically skidding and bouncing along the runway to develop enough speed and lift to rise higher. He dropped to the deck a couple miles out and then screamed up the hill at 120 knots and tree top level, trying to sneak in past the enemy. Tactics such as pinnacle landing on top of steep hills, slopes, and karst outcrops amid destabilizing downdraughts to deliver heavy supplies to US Army firebases and outposts while under enemy fire were also tackled. Three of the five newest democracies are former Soviet republics: Belarus (where elections were first held in November 1995), Armenia (July 1995) and Kyrgyzstan (February 1995). You were way more mature for your age than 99% of the young men today. While there are still officially more than 2,200 cases, there now are only 55 incidents of American servicemen who were last seen alive but aren't accounted for. After training, they entered transport or gunship platoons referred to simply as slicks or guns. Most would complete at least two combat tours. From 1965, around 99 percent of each completed class of students were sent to Vietnam. [VHPA databases], Army AH-1G's totaled more than 1,166,344 flight hours in Vietnam. an.. A grunt is the true reason for the existence of the helicopter. 1969 Vietnam Helicopter Memorial: Veterans Fight Bureaucracy | Time We must now hover over the trees or rocky terrain, while we let out up to 150 feet of quarter-inch cable with a jungle penetrator or a Stokes litter attached to it. Instead of landing and changing seats he tried to do it in mid air. It was the Pilots mission to fly as low and as slow as he could allowing the observer and the Door Gunner to watch for signs of the enemy or to allow the enemy to fire at them. They were immensely important to the troops on the ground as aerial fire power. Reunion dates and locations have been announced for the following units: The latest quarterly issue has the agenda and registration details for Vietnam War conference scheduled for March 2-4, 2023 that will focus on the year 1973: The Paris Peace Accords and the Allied Withdrawal from South Vietnam Also included are updates on the Oral History Project and volunteer opportunities.Stay in touch and help us preserve your legacy. Helicopter Combat Pilots In Vietnam: Heroes One and All survival radio, whats that? We thank God for these pilots and crews who fearlessly went into our hell on our behalf day in and day out, during the Vietnam War. [McCaffrey], Vietnam veterans have a lower unemployment rate than our non-vet age group. That was the unforgiving part. no, seven! [McCaffrey], Vietnam veterans' personal income exceeds that of our non-veteran age group by more than 18 percent. No matter what the enemy threw at them, they never backed down. (Westmoreland quoting Douglas Pike, a professor at the University of California, Berkley a renowned expert on the Vietnam War) [Westmoreland] This included Tet 68, which was a major military defeat for the VC and NVA. s.. The Vietnam War was the turning point for Communism. I have to take one thing back. Five Thousand pilots and crews lost their lives and 3,258 Hueys alone were lost during the war. We sacrificed our youth and innocence; we achieved above and beyond the call of duty on a daily basis. dont care. It turned out to be the best thing that happened to me, even though I was wounded before the year was out and sent home before my tour was over. average age of vietnam helicopter pilot 02.12.2021 hartford basketball roster 2021 jack flaherty contract bulls statement jersey 2020 is required reading in many colleges, High Schools and military units. By Phil Marshall, DMZ Dustoff 711, 237th Medical Detachment (Helicopter Ambulance) Camp Evans and Quang Tri, Vietnam 1969, published in Association of Naval Aviation, Cape Fear Seahawk Newsletter, July 2012, Vol. ah.. Nobody cares what you did yesterday or what you are going to do tomorrow. h.. Even more demanding was formation flying at night, with navigation lights off, using the glow from the leaders cockpit instruments for station keeping. [Westmoreland] Source: http://www.vhfcn.org/stat.html "We (Americans) had nothing to do with controlling VNAF," according to Lieutenant General (Ret) James F. Hollingsworth, the Commanding General of TRAC at that time. Also passed from President to President is a plaque with past Presidents' names on it. By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy. Please call HQ on 800-505-VHPA (8472) to sign up to be a life The cables going out . 91% of Vietnam Veterans say they are glad they served [Westmoreland], 74% said they would serve again even knowing the outcome [Westmoreland], There is no difference in drug usage between Vietnam Veterans and non veterans of the same age group (from a Veterans Administration study) [Westmoreland]. I would NOT fly unarmed helicopters! Although the percent who died is similar to other wars, amputations or crippling wounds were 300 percent higher than in World War II. Innocent people get killed. aircraft in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam era and inform them of the existence of the On one particularly difficult night MedEvac in the mountains, all our windows fogged up as we dropped from 7,000 feet through a hole in the clouds to pick up a Soldier with a head wound. is passed from outgoing President to incoming President at each reunion. Candidates later tackled the difficult arts of landing in small areas, night, and instrument flying crucial skills for their operational work in Southeast Asia. Age Vietnam Helicopter Average Pilot Of - albe.mi.it How to get a day off of work or which college offers the best ability to party. How old was the average helicopter pilot in Vietnam? https://www.vhpa.org. Uh, thats a can opener for those of you who arent military. af.. NEW 2008 HASBRO GI Joe Helicopter Pilot Wild Bill 25th Anniversary FREE Small, two seat TH-55 Osages were also used. i.. Chicken Plates are not something you order in a restaurant. Those brief and simple heartfelt words meant more to me that night than anything else ever said to me during my entire tour. [All That We Can Be]. [VHPA databases]. In action, gunships sometimes left their lights on for night missions, for according to another Huey pilot, We had a doctrine that wed rather have the enemy shoot at the gunship than at the lesser armed slicks.. Membership is open to all helicopter pilots who flew in . keep your tail straight . Fournisseur de Tallents. [Parade Magazine] August 18, 1996 page 10. v.. A free fire zone has nothing to do with economics. American-owned airlines never knowingly transported opium in or out of Laos, nor did their American pilots ever profit from its transport. [1] "Vietnam helicopter pilots describe the war from the cockpit," YouTube video, posted by "Military Times," April 18th, 2018. Helicopters - Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund The great majority of these efforts have erroneously portrayed many myths about the Vietnam War as being facts. Hello. . . .j.. The biggest responsibility of a helicopter pilot was to fly that helicopter in such a manner as to provide support for the men on the ground. . I dont think so. Maturity, self-confident, bravery, willing to take chances, courageous, and yes fun-loving are the attributes that make a great pilot. 5. Failure to heed this commandment can affect the morale of the crew. Deaths Average Age Enlisted: 50,274, 22.37 years Officers: 6,598, 28.43 years Then I did another Young & Stupid thing. Myth: Air America, the airline operated by the CIA in Southeast Asia, and its pilots were involved in drug trafficking. Dustoff pilots with their unique seating arrangement is where that statement originated. One point I want to make is the the Crew Chiefs and Door Gunners were the and are still the best as well. Read the latest issue of the Friends of the Vietnam Center Newsletter and subscribe to recieve future newsletters. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. For more information see about halfway down . When I read the quickly handwritten sheet for this particular mission, I knew before we left that it was going to be an insecure hoist. Since I first heard the phrase that is the title of this article, it struck me that those words were exactly what we did as kids flying helicopters in Vietnam. [3], Battlefield Viet Nam Episode 5 "The Undeclared War", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Operation_Chopper_(Vietnam)&oldid=1133354489, This page was last edited on 13 January 2023, at 10:36. Otherwise, if we got tangled up, it could cause the aircraft to crash. There are over 4,945 helicopter pilots currently employed in the United States. Most of the Commissioned Officers were older. [The Wall Street Journal]. Congress while the North Vietnamese were very well supplied by China and the bombers and were always exposed to hostile fire even in their base camps. DID after the U.S. Congress cut off funding. He fell right through the rotor blades. I wonder how many grunts would have gotten on the hoist had they known that. (May 18, 2021). [People], The person who can be seen aiding the refugees was CIA operations officer, Mr. O.B. of what you can do online at https://www.vhpa.org/memhelp.htm#ODA, To preserve the legacy of all Vietnam Helicopter Pilots, an endowment These three represent all of out Vietnam War helicopter pilots. Information contained herein shall not be used for commercial We dont have any place for you to land, so just hang your butts out in the open sky for several minutes so any kid with a bow and arrow can shoot you down, and Gee, those red crosses on your helicopter sure make great aiming points, dont they? $99) To contact the magazine editor aviator@vhpa.org. The last American troops departed in their entirety 29 March 1973. In my mind, the only way I would. They could rotate around a battle site from above, unleashing punishing weapon support from above. While it may be possible to ward off this natural event some of the time, it cannot, despite the best efforts of the crew, always be prevented. Magazines are included with VHPA membership and are available to non-members with a [Home] [ReunionInformation] [Donations] [OurLegacy] [MembershipServices] [RelatedWebSites] Member Login. Helicopters needed far more hands on piloting than fixed wing types. You only have access to basic statistics. Annual car sales worldwide 2010-2022, with a forecast for 2023, Number of cars sold in the U.S. 1951-2021, Battery electric vehicles in use worldwide 2016-2021, Annual gas prices in the United States 1990-2021, Automotive industry worldwide - statistics & facts, Motorcycle industry in the United States - statistics & facts, Profit from additional features with an Employee Account. It is a fact that helicopter tail rotors are instinctively drawn toward trees, stumps, rocks, etc. San Antonio, Texas 78208-0091, Copyright 2023 DUSTOFF Association | Powered by Barefoot Pixel, USAAAD conducts life-saving rescue of two civilians near Mount Adams. One of those is the missing man table at the banquet at each All of these, however, are preferable to cold rice balls, even if they do have the little pieces of fish in them. [1996 Information Please Almanac], POW-MIA Issue (unaccounted-for versus missing in action), Politics & People, On Vietnam, Clinton Should Follow a Hero's Advice, In retrospect, I think that is what happened to one of the pilots in our unit a few months after I left. f.. I tried to use the opportunity to prove to myself that I could accomplish the goals I set for myself and do them well. 75,000 Vietnam veterans are severely disabled. time than any other aircraft in the history of warfare assuming you count actual years. How could we lose a war we had already stopped fighting? Chart. Experienced pilots with proven records of successful, aggressive combat could be invited to join a platoon in a fire team of one or two gunships operating with a scout helicopter and escorting slick assaults. [1996 Information Please Almanac], The 140,000 evacuees in April 1975 during the fall of Saigon consisted almost entirely of civilians and Vietnamese military, NOT American military running for their lives. Age 65 to 69 --------$250.00 ao.. [Westmoreland], 97% were discharged under honorable conditions; the same percentage of honorable discharges as ten years prior to Vietnam [Westmoreland], 85% of Vietnam Veterans made a successful transition to civilian life. b.. The Vietnamese pilot who dropped the napalm in error is currently living in the United States. A Scout team consisted of a pilot, a Door Gunner and an observer. [People]. Whatd he say? Hell, I dont know. u.. Everybodys a hero on the ground in the club after the fourth drink. Flight training was preceded by grueling infantry instruction at Fort Dix, New Jersey, and Fort Polk, Louisiana, where recruits, predominantly volunteers, learned through Basic Combat Training that they were primarily soldiers, with a secondary role as helicopter crew members. They were involved in every aspect of that war fighting, from medevac, to ammo, troop and supply delivery, to aerial fire support. Age 59 and below --$450.00. * Includes pilots with an airplane and/or a helicopter and/or a glider and/or a gyroplane certificate. ag.. [People]. Being scared in the sense of risking ones life for others, for sure, but also a sense of being scared that you will not be up to the standards of your fellow pilots. Although many of them had experience of fixed wing aircraft, very different challenges lay ahead when it came to learning the sophisticated, coordinated control techniques required for rotary wing flying. On 11 December 1961, the USS Core (T-AKV-41) docked in Saigon with 32 U.S. Army Piasecki H-21 helicopters and 400 crewmen of the 8th Transportation Company (Light Helicopter) and the 57th Transportation Company (Light Helicopter). [McCaffrey], The oldest man killed was 62 years old (TAYLOR, KENNA CLYDE). on 29 April 1975 from UPI's offices on the top floor of the Saigon Hotel which . survive the 365 days in Southeast Asia was to be a gunship pilot, blazing my way back to the states, defending myself with mini-guns, rockets, and grenade launchers. VHPA Aviator (big file). Your email address will not be published. Helicopters were used in more than 850,000 medical evacuation missions and were responsible for boosting survival rates for the wounded. I can personally remember one time when we were pinned down due to superior enemy fire from a tree line and a weapons platoon helicopter (Cobra) sat just off to our right and lit up the tree line with such superior fire that the enemy was destroyed. I guess that woke him up, as the next thing I heard was his rifle plugging away at a mound of dirt just outside his door and about 30 feet down. So, were we really Young and Stupid? So, too, can the ones addressed To Whom It May Concern. Servicemen who went to Vietnam from well-to-do areas had a slightly elevated risk of dying because they were more likely to be pilots or infantry officers. members without the express consent of the member. Is that AM or FM? The Pilots of Charlie Troop 1st Squadron 9th Cavalry Regiment 1st Cavalry Division (AM) were the best Pilots of the Vietnam War and today they are the best men America has to offer. (Three years for average age of vietnam helicopter pilot - cbeconsulting.net herriman high school soccer roster. Myth: Kim Phuc, the little nine year old Vietnamese girl running naked from the napalm strike near Trang Bang on 8 June 1972, was burned by Americans bombing Trang Bang. The American military was not defeated in Vietnam. Translation: There are bad guys all around, weve got wounded, get in here NOW before they die or we have more wounded, and you have to come back again. When the Army decided to use helicopters as the Eyes, Protection and Horses of the 1st Cavalry Division, men both young and older were chosen to become pilots. (The CACF is the basis for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, i.e. A dead man, meaning, he should never have made it back because Dustoff aircraft were unarmed MedEvac helicopters with red and white targets (crosses) painted all over them and flew single-ship missions. [2]:3, This operation heralded a new era of air mobility for the U.S. Army, which had been slowly growing as a concept since the Army formed twelve helicopter battalions in 1952 as a result of the Korean War. address changes for the directory and use the comments form to [CACF]. Funds are paid by Greater Good Charities to benefiting organizations as a grant. Correspondence relating to commercial purposes or solicitations shall only be [McCaffrey], MEDEVAC helicopters flew nearly 500,000 missions. ak.. We were an easier target during the day, but unlike at night when we kept all the lights off, we could see what we were doing! Profit from the additional features of your individual account. Accessed March 04, 2023. https://www.statista.com/statistics/919100/aviation-industry-average-age-of-active-pilots-in-the-united-states-by-category/, Federal Aviation Administration. d.. These men never refused to fly into harms way. Many men volunteered for the draft so even some of the draftees were actually average age of vietnam helicopter pilot - madinahmining.com I was okay to fly helicopters in the Army, but not to drive a jeep! e.. Cover your Buddy, so he can be around to cover for you. As a result, less than one percent of all Americans wounded who survived the first 24 hours died. Recent reports in the news media that an American commander ordered the air strike that burned Kim Phuc are incorrect. $36/year subscription. directory for dues current members. Hello, I enjoyed Reading the blog. The third seat was for our testicles. And two are in Africa: Tanzania (October 1995) and Guinea (June 1995). ", Federal Aviation Administration, Average age of active pilots in the United States from 2002 to 2020, by category* Statista, https://www.statista.com/statistics/919100/aviation-industry-average-age-of-active-pilots-in-the-united-states-by-category/ (last visited March 04, 2023), Average age of active pilots in the United States from 2002 to 2020, by category* [Graph], Federal Aviation Administration, May 18, 2021.