was several blocks from the Pittman Apartments. The domino theory was accurate. If so glad to know youre well. I asked to take a different test and was able to pass that one! Loud, sudden noises in a helicopter WILL get your undivided attention. [VHPA 1993], The helicopter provided unprecedented mobility. We put him in the back of the cargo compartment with his M-16 and a helmet, hooked him up to the intercom, and we were off. It happened many times, and their names are on The Wall in Washington, D.C. One particular mission I recall was a day hoist. One pilot lost a testicle to a .50-caliber round and was able to father only 44 children (at last count) after returning from overseas. All of these, however, are better than extraction by Medavac, even if it is technically, a form of flying. [Burkett]. [Nixon] Atrocities - every war has atrocities. 1969 After training, they entered transport or gunship platoons referred to simply as slicks or guns. Most would complete at least two combat tours. The best of the best: the portal for top lists & rankings: Strategy and business building for the data-driven economy: Industry-specific and extensively researched technical data (partially from exclusive partnerships). Parameters for authorizing operating a US Navy submarine reactor plant above practicable design limits is Read More, Additionally, 1.3 million of those five million flight hours were accomplished during combat. San Antonio, Texas 78208-0091, Copyright 2023 DUSTOFF Association | Powered by Barefoot Pixel, USAAAD conducts life-saving rescue of two civilians near Mount Adams. Operation Chopper occurred on 12 January 1962 and was the first time U.S. forces participated in major combat in the Vietnam War. While in themselves those landings were not stupid, the way we got there was! There is only one rule in war: When you win, you get to make up the Read more about the planned U.S. Air Force helicopter Vietnam War history sections. The last American troops departed in their entirety 29 March 1973. VHPA Aviator magazine UH-1 Huey Gunship Vs NVA/VC Forces Vietnam 1962-75 is published by Osprey and is available to order here. The average infantryman in the South Pacific during World War II saw about 40 days of combat in four years. It wasnt easy, and I will now confess that my depth perception almost was not good enough to pass my initial flight physical, but I made it. volunteers. o.. As I look back on my own experiences, two things stand out in my mind that I consider young and stupid.. The cables going out . The BSR (Bang Stare Red) Theory states that the louder the sudden bang in the helicopter, the quicker your eyes will be drawn to the gauges. For the latter, a specially equipped H-13 had optional blanked out external vision. They were heavily armed with mini-guns, machine guns, and various kinds of rockets. Event date is used instead of declared dead date for some of those who were listed as missing in action). Section 501(c)(19) of the Internal Revenue Service. With the patient finally on board, the Radio Operator with the ground unit Rogered our departure message with a Thanks a HELL of a lot, Dustoff!. The average age of an employed helicopter pilot is 44 years old. DID after the U.S. Congress cut off funding. I suppose we would have survived; we had water wings! [2]:3, The helicopters transported over 1,000 Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) paratroopers for an assault on a suspected Viet Cong (VC) stronghold 10 miles (16km) west of Saigon. . I knew that if Don got in trouble on the approach, I could not be of much help because of the gunshot wound in my left arm, but we were Young and Stupid and we made it. Your email address will not be published. Their stories are extremely compelling. one of 42 pictures of this helicopter that UPI photographer, Hubert Van Es took Over 900,000 patients were airlifted (nearly half were American). . Please support The Veterans Site by adding us to your ad blockers whitelist ads help us to provide food and supplies to veterans. The Indonesians threw the Soviets out in 1966 because of America's commitment in Vietnam. $36/year subscription. c.. NEVER get into a fight without more ammunition than the other guy. (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. . was typical of the continual commentary from the enlisted crew members. ao.. q.. Having all your body parts intact and functioning at the end of the day beats the alternative. Also, it has been incorrectly reported that two of Kim Phuc's brothers were killed in this incident. Yet undoubtedly every plane in Laos carried opium at some time, unknown to the pilot and his superiors. As a group, we helicopter pilots did what we had to do and then some. By the end of the war half of them had been lost. 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.. From 1965, around 99 percent of each completed class of students were sent to Vietnam. "Average Age of Active Pilots in The United States from 2002 to 2020, by Category*. As an elevator at the reunion hotel was transporting me and other attendees to the Saturday night banquet, another Dustoff pilot stepped on from his floor. Vietnam seldom flew above 1,500 feet which is traffic pattern altitude for . If we had been shot down on virtually any hoist mission, our high hover would not have allowed us to make a safe landing, and many would surely have died. The third seat was installed in our combat aircraft to accommodate the well above average size of our family jewels, which were required to complete most of the missions we flew in Vietnam. To retrieve the data click on 2020 Active Civil Airmen Statistics. I wont make it back.. 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. As mentioned earlier, there was little protection from weapon fire for the pilots, and with body parts exposed on a third seat, we were especially vulnerable. We all volunteered to do something that only a year or two before we could not have even dreamed that we would be doingsomething that only a very few could ever experience; something for which only a very few could even qualify. 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. On the ground, the troops would look up at Hueys flying over. Laura Ungaro, I enjoyed reading this very much, many good memories were recalled. 20002023 The Veterans Site and GreaterGood. [People]. The pilots who were flying this helicopter, Funds are paid by Greater Good Charities to benefiting organizations as a grant. 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. 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]. pilots in the Vietnam War. 2160250. buzz lightyear of star command complete series (the herbicide was called "orange" in Vietnam, not Agent Orange. "Average age of active pilots in the United States from 2002 to 2020, by category*." Donations can be made here https://www.vhpa.org/donate.htm, The VHPA has a membership of over 16,600 (8,700 dues current) helicopter pilots from around the world out of the The average age of the 58,148 killed in Vietnam was 23.11 years (Although 58,169 names are in the Nov. 93 database, only 58,148 have both event date and birth date. It can be expressed in its mathematical formula of S (suction) + H (height) above ground) + I (interest in staying alive) + T (# of tracers coming your way). Whether they took hits at this time or not is speculation, but he tried another tactic. To all of the brave Pilots and their crews, I can say but three things. The Vietnam War helped medical progress in this area. You will get a sense of what that was like from listening to his stories. approximately 40,000 who served as helicopter [Nixon] No More Vietnams by Richard Nixon. [People], The person who can be seen aiding the refugees was CIA operations officer, Mr. O.B. 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. Myth: Air America, the airline operated by the CIA in Southeast Asia, and its pilots were involved in drug trafficking. a.. Once you are in the fight, it is way too late to wonder if this is a good idea. But as the Army would have it, during Friday night formation of the middle weekend of gun school, 24 of us, including 12 in the gun school, received orders to attend MedEvac school at Ft. Sam Houston, Texas, immediately after graduation. ab.. Thousands of Vietnam Veterans earned medals for bravery every day. Without that commitment, Communism would have swept all the way to the Malacca Straits that is south of Singapore and of great strategic importance to the free world. g.. The picture of a Huey helicopter evacuating people from the top of what was billed as being the U.S. Embassy in Saigon during the last week of April 1975 during the fall of Saigon helped to establish this myth. on VHFCN (http://www.vhfcn.org) , Heli-Vets and FaceBook also another FaceBook site. magazines, a membership directory and a calendar each year and periodically publishes Please create an employee account to be able to mark statistics as favorites. October 20, 2021. Helicopters needed far more hands on piloting than fixed wing types. s.. The VHPA publishes six [All That We Can Be]. Updated: 7 February 2018 af.. [1] "Vietnam helicopter pilots describe the war from the cockpit," YouTube video, posted by "Military Times," April 18th, 2018. Are you interested in testing our business solutions? 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. Values are as of December 31 each year. VHPA Aviator (big file). You were way more mature for your age than 99% of the young men today. They were immensely important to the troops on the ground as aerial fire power. Those of us lucky enough to come home learned from the experience and were, without question, changed men, no longer wide-eyed boys. In the Vietnam War the helicopter became one of the most important elements in the daily operations of our war fighting successes. Oh, Sugar! (Not my exact word.) I could not have been more proud of myself and my flight school classmates for having come this far. The third pilot is retired Col. David Rainey U.S. Army. r.. v.. A free fire zone has nothing to do with economics. Drinking and how not to get caught. Myth: The fighting in Vietnam was not as intense as in World War II. Search: Average Age Of Vietnam Helicopter Pilot. Traditions: The VHPA has developed some traditions over the American-owned airlines never knowingly transported opium in or out of Laos, nor did their American pilots ever profit from its transport. Small, two seat TH-55 Osages were also used. Scared that maybe, just maybe, youll fail your mission where someone else just like you would have succeeded. Even then, there could be no guarantee that the slicks would be able to land and then depart without being targeted by enemy fire. Register in seconds and access exclusive features. Don S. the last (in-country) Masher33, 1971, It is not easy to read this stuff. t.. Here is an example done at the 2005 When I returned to the states later and applied for my military drivers license so I could drive the. Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. You need a Statista Account for unlimited access. Then I did another Young & Stupid thing. History of the founding of the VHPA written by member. Most of our Door Gunners and Crew Chiefs were also 18-21 years old. Correspondence relating to commercial purposes or solicitations shall only be These new battalions eventually formed a sort of modern-day cavalry for the Army. The total of non-pilot crewmembers killed was 2,704, according to records of the Vietnam Helicopter Pilots' Association. Have you ever heard the expression, He was flying the aircraft balls out? That was us. I cannot talk about how tough flight school was, nor can I state what the washout rate was because I did not go myself. Shortly after arriving at Ft. Rucker, Alabama, I learned that those of us with the highest flight grades would attend a two-week gun school near the end of training, while the rest learned formation flying. When I found out that I was assigned to be a MedEvac pilot, I was devastated. The radioman on the ship would tell them Cleared for a port quarter approach. The silence on the radio was the proverbial pregnant pause, and I could imagine the conversation inside the Huey cockpit. Please do not hesitate to contact me. No matter what the make up of the team was they flew in helicopters that were made with the intention of dispensing a superior amount of fire power on the enemy. Congress while the North Vietnamese were very well supplied by China and the Both immigrated how to unhide mouse cursor windows 10; I can tell you what in my opinion made the best pilots. [VHPA 1993] Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association 1993 Membership Directory page 130. Later, the crew became a two-man pilot team. (Personally, I have fathered 73 children with two good Dustoff-sized testicles.) Further proof of these facts can be found at a recent Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association (VHPA) reunion. designed as a helipad. Scientific research has shown that dioxin degrades in sunlight after 48 to 72 hours; therefore, troops exposure to dioxin was infinitesimal. Read the latest issue of the Friends of the Vietnam Center Newsletter and subscribe to recieve future newsletters. "The CDC Vietnam Experience Study Mortality Assessment showed that during the first 5 years after discharge, deaths from suicide were 1.7 times more likely among Vietnam veterans than non-Vietnam veterans. From a military standpoint, it was almost an unprecedented performance. Knowing that my depth perception left little margin for error on the night approaches (especially), I had to totally concentrate on what I was doing and not relax for a second until we were down on that rockin and rollin ship. Use Ask Statista Research Service. Mailing Address: 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? Helicopters in 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. only 10 to 20 minutes of that time exposed to hostile fire. 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). Online membership [McCaffrey], MEDEVAC helicopters flew nearly 500,000 missions. The VHPA has a membership of over 16,600 (8,700 dues current) helicopter pilots from around the world out of the approximately 40,000 who served as helicopter pilots in the Vietnam War. come forward just a little . So, too, can the ones addressed To Whom It May Concern. 79% had a high school education or better. Dario Leone is an aviation, defense and military writer. "In all the years we've been working on this we have found that's not the case." The average age (according to General William C. Westmoreland before the Third Annual Reunion of the Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association (VHPA) at the Washington, DC Hilton Hotel on July 5th, 1986) was 26 The average man who fought in World War II was 26 years of age. No Pilot that I know of ever went into a combat situation without both. . Those brief and simple heartfelt words meant more to me that night than anything else ever said to me during my entire tour. The engine RPM and the rotor RPM must BOTH be kept in the GREEN. . . In closing, I would merely like to state that I am able to write this today in large part because of luck whole lot of GOOD luck and a little bit of good humor. Statista. First, one has to understand what a hoist mission is and why we did them. average age of vietnam helicopter pilot. Fournisseur de Tallents. (May 18, 2021). [The Wall Street Journal] The Wall Street Journal, 1 June 1996 page A15. [Home] [ReunionInformation] [Donations] [OurLegacy] [MembershipServices] [RelatedWebSites] Member Login. u.. Everybodys a hero on the ground in the club after the fourth drink. Occasionally, the gunner and crew chief had to exit temporarily to reduce the weight sufficiently for take off. I never forgot the reverence with which that statement was made, as I began to form a survival plan of action in my mind. Myth: The war was fought largely by the poor and uneducated. [People.com] Vietnam 25 Years Later, by [Westmoreland] Source: http://www.vhfcn.org/stat.html In all, a very scary time for our country. Member The 1990 unsuccessful movie "Air America" helped to establish the myth of a connection between Air America, the CIA, and the Laotian drug trade. [McCaffrey] 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 . Epilogue: Most people who see photos of Dustoff Hueys in Vietnam observe only the outside of the aircraft. Sometimes, being good and lucky still is not enough. The Vietnam Helicopters Memorial Tree was dedicated in 2015 and honors the helicopter pilots and crew members who died while serving in Southeast Asia from 1961 to 1975. I suppose that is what kept most of us going in the daily risk of flying helicopters in combat in Vietnam. During his two tours in Vietnam, Col. Moore flew 2,752 combat medevac mission and transported 2,952 wounded men back to the medical help they needed. Thank you for your Service and Insight! How could we lose a war we had already stopped fighting? tail number N4 7004, were Bob Caron who lives in Florida and Jack (One has to realize that there was virtually no protection for the pilots from the front and little from the sides or underneath.) 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). 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. Terry Clark? In addition to an annual reunion held around July 4th, members keep in touch informally About 12,000 U.S. military helicopters spent 7.5 million hours above Vietnam, flying 2 million missions. Another tradition started in 1988 is a "Cobra" In the movie We Were Soldiers and Young the Lift Pilot was portrayed by Snake and To Tall. applies to subscribers): Age 80 and above ---$75.00 That knocked the rotor blades off and the TH-55 went in., Successful candidates then progressed to the Contact Phase at Knox Army Heliport, Fort Rucker, for specific training on the UH-1B, C, and D, followed by the Tactics Phase at nearby Lowe Army Helioport, which prepared them for realistic combat conditions. See an example of our magazine, The Over the ten years of the war, Operation Ranch Hand sprayed about eleven million gallons of Agent Orange on the South Vietnamese landscape. A little more than 12 days later, Operation Chopper commenced. Many times when either our troopers on the ground or another unit was facing enemy fire these brave men would come in with weapons blazing either destroying the enemy or allowing the ground troops to attain and then maintain superior fire power. The average time lapse between wounding to hospitalization was less than one hour. a31 road closure alton; cdw insurance for rental cars; hygro cotton bath towels; Hello world! If you ask people who live in these countries that won the war in Vietnam, they have a different opinion from the American news media. Available: https://www.statista.com/statistics/919100/aviation-industry-average-age-of-active-pilots-in-the-united-states-by-category/, Average age of active pilots in the United States from 2002 to 2020, by category*, Available to download in PNG, PDF, XLS format, Number of pilots active in the airline industry 2019-2029, Share of female pilots by major airline 2021, Global opinion on how long the aviation industry will take to recover 2021, U.S. student certificated pilots - number 1990-2020, Number of pilot licenses in China 2018-2020, by type, Employment by registered airlines in the United Kingdom (UK) 2015-2020, by position, Employment profile of pilots worldwide 2020-2021, Job seeking status of pilots worldwide 2020, U.S. active certificated pilots - average age 1993-2020, U.S. aviation industry - average age of active pilots by category 2002-2020, Methods used to increase the potential supply of female pilots 2020, Global civil aviation training market size 2017-2021, Dependence of pilots on flight deck automation worldwide 2019, Downward pressure of automation on the role of pilots worldwide 2019, Methods used to reduce flight operations costs 2020, Pilots' plans to change jobs globally 2021, Difficulty to ensure stable supply of qualified pilots over the next decade 2020, Air traffic - passenger volume forecast by region 2037, Forecast of new pilots in the global aviation industry by region 2021-2040, Demand for new pilots in the commercial aviation industry by region 2021-2040, Projected pilot shortage globally by region 2029, U.S. aviation industry - number of active pilot certificates by age and category 2020, U.S. aviation - industry number of active pilot certificates by age 2020, United Airlines - pilot expenditure 2012-2021, JetBlue Airways - pilot expenditure 2012-2021, Delta Air Lines - pilot expenditure 2012-2021, Number of pilots active in the airline industry: by region 2017, American Airlines - pilot expenditure 2012-2021, Pilot deficit in U.S. commercial aviation 2016-2026, Southwest Airlines - pilot expenditure 2012-2021, Airline pilots worldwide - average age 2016, Number of pilots in the airline industry: per aircraft type 2016, Number of drone pilot licenses in China 2014-2019, Number of new pilots in Finland 2017, by type, Number of helicopter pilot licenses in China 2014-2019, Global share of pilots whose mental health was affected by the pandemic 2020, National and international commercial air traffic in Morocco 2016-2019, Number of bird strikes caused by military aviation Australia 2006-2015, Find your information in our database containing over 20,000 reports. bombers during World War II most often flew missions lasting many hours with I have to take one thing back. It Number of helicopter pilot licenses in China 2014-2019; Global share of pilots whose mental health was affected by the pandemic 2020 ; If I had gone down over land, I probably would not have taken my weapon with me. reunion. Harnage, Our single-engine UH-1H Hueys did not float in the water very well. looking good. webmaster@vhpa.org Age 70 to 74 --------$150.00 Failure to heed this commandment can affect the morale of the crew. The Vietnam War was the turning point for Communism. The Pilots of 1st of the 9th Cav were and yes still are the best. Without his heroic actions that day we, the Grunts, would have been in severe situation as we were running out of food, ammo and our radio batteries were almost dead. My opinion is that he was as afraid that he could not complete the mission, as much as he was afraid to die. As one of those troopers on the ground, I can honestly say how proud I am to have served with Brave men. to incorporate the statistic into your presentation at any time. Age 59 and below --$450.00. sent to webmaster@vhpa.org whereupon They will always be our heroes, our Angels in the Sky.. As soon as he stepped from the left side to the right, the aircraft tipped. I can throw a rock in there, its so close! was the rest of my thought. In June of 1967, Marine officers destined to become fixed-wing pilots began reporting to Air Force bases for flight training. Thanks for posting the memories. There were many of the Warrant Officers that were in their 18,19, and 20s. herriman high school soccer roster. Maybe we could have used our survival radio once we were in the water or forced down over the jungle. 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. Deaths Average Age Enlisted: 50,274, 22.37 years Officers: 6,598, 28.43 years Life member rates based on age are as follows (also It is unfortunate that many helicopters never had the opportunity to fulfill their one true mission in life, simply because someone forgot this fact. [Westmoreland] Approximately 70% of those killed were volunteers. . The UH-1 evolved from a 1955 US Army competition for a new utility helicopter. years. h.. XV, Issue VII. The initial Army designation was HU-1, which led to the common unofficial nickname of Huey.. With a fair amount of apprehension, it was now the moment of truth. Could we really do what we had been trained to do, without letting anyone down? [1996 Information Please Almanac], POW-MIA Issue (unaccounted-for versus missing in action), Politics & People, On Vietnam, Clinton Should Follow a Hero's Advice, am.. Do not fear the enemy, for your enemy can only take your life. is passed from outgoing President to incoming President at each reunion. Many men volunteered for the draft so even some of the draftees were actually information contained in this publication shall not be distributed to non-VHPA a colleague is looking for a helicopter pilot nicknamed chicken man, who spent some time around Solid Anchor in about 1971. I enlisted in the (WOFT) Warrant Officer Flight Training. 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. They explained the trajectory of the weapons fired from an aircraft, especially when firing in a turn., Fort Rucker trained 120 aviators on its gunship aerial weapons course for the UH-1B in 1965. [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. It was a "civilian" (Air America) Huey not Army or Marines. First of all, there was landing on the Navy Hospital ships, USS Repose and USS Sanctuary, in the South China Sea, very near the Demilitarized Zone. During a hoist mission, we flew with one finger on a button on the cyclic stick that operated an electric solenoid. Owned and operated by CharityUSA.com, LLC. survival radio, whats that? The movie and a book the movie was based on contend that the CIA condoned a drug trade conducted by a Laotian client; both agree that Air America provided the essential transportation for the trade; and both view the pilots with sympathetic understanding. Profit from the additional features of your individual account. solicitation purposes, or any correspondence related thereto. ad.. Show publisher information We fought to an agreed stalemate. 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. Most of the Commissioned Officers were older. I told my roommate, This is it. In Vietnam, pilots frequently encountered fog and monsoon rain, which severely tested their blind flying skills. e.. Cover your Buddy, so he can be around to cover for you.
average age of vietnam helicopter pilot
