1963-1971

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Following the US Entry into the Vietnam War, helicopters rapidly became an integral part of almost every phase of the war. This was the first war in which helicopters were used on a large scale hence the need for large number of pilots and crewmembers quickly became apparent.

To fly helicopters, the Army looked for three basic attributes in those selected for flight school.  First, because of the inherently unstable nature of helicopters they needed someone with excellent reflexes, which usually meant someone between the age of 18 and 26.  

Next, because of the hostile environment these aircraft would be flown in, they needed someone who could make quick, accurate assessments of a situation and react accordingly.  Pilots often were required to improvise much like a savvy streetwise person, someone who could figure their way out of a jam in an instant, somehow complete the mission and get the aircraft and crew back home.

The Army also needed someone who could handle the physical and emotional stress of extended dangerous missions that would be flown in all kinds of weather and terrain.  Those selected were for the most part young and wanted to fly  -- often not quite realizing what they were getting themselves into.  Volunteers came forward by the thousands.

Flight training for pilots began at Ft. Wolters, Texas, and continued at Ft. Rucker, Alabama or Ft Steward, Georgia. The training was broken into essentially five segments.  Basic training consisted of simply learning to hover, takeoff and land a helicopter.  In the next phase, they learned how to land and take off from a confined area, how to land on a pinnacle and cross-country navigation.   At Ft. Rucker and Ft. Steward (and Ft. Wolters in the early days), pilots received basic instrument training, essentially how to maintain the helicopter right side up solely through the use of instruments.  Next, student pilots were transitioned into the UH-1 Huey helicopter, which became not only the workhorse, but also the symbol of the Vietnam War.  Finally, students were taught aviation tactics. The flight program lasted a total of 9 very trying months. There was no let up, when a student wasn’t flying they were in class studying aircraft maintenance, proper preflight techniques, military tactics, how to call in artillery fire, first aid, navigation, safety considerations, flight characteristics of the aircraft and much more.

The crewchiefs and gunners were trained at various locations around the US.  Beyond basic aircraft mechanics the training was minimal, because the skills needed to survive in Vietnam were both largely unknown and untrainable.  Gunners were often former infantrymen who volunteered or extended their tour in Vietnam to get the job.  The expectation of fun, adventure and travel brought forward the adventurous and bold.  Fortunately, this was just the kind of person needed for the job.

For the most part, survival skills for both pilots and other crewmembers were learned on the job and taught by those who were still there and had first hand experience.

Most pilots came out of Vietnam with 1,000-1,200 hours of combat flight time.  Despite the best training the Army could give, it took about six months of flying every day for a green pilot to gain enough experience to become an Aircraft Commander (AC).  To make AC was an honor above all else!  A pilot made AC only when the other ACs thought he was ready.

Crewchiefs and gunners were normally assigned an aircraft for which they were responsible--It was their “baby.”  They lived with it constantly, took care of it and sometimes even slept with it.  After a long day’s mission the crewchief and gunner normally stayed on the flight line to pull a daily or 25-hour inspection.  Many times the crew had already missed supper and they knew they would be getting up at a very early hour for another long day.  Many Crewchief's would rather miss food, a day off or anything short of their DEROS than not being with their aircraft when it flew.  They would fly with anyone just to be with “their” ship.  There was a bond here that is difficult for the uninitiated to understand.  It was not unusual for crewchiefs and gunners to extend beyond their normal 12-month tour to make sure their pilots were seasoned, and "their" ship came back in one piece.

Everyone went to Vietnam knowing that they would be placed in harms way.  To the men in the infantry and other units in the field, the helicopter was literally their lifeline – it dropped them off and picked them up; it brought them hot food and mail; it resupplied them with ammunition often under heavy enemy fire; it provided them with light at night to see the enemy and covering fire to help drive the enemy back.  But most importantly, they knew a helicopter would come for them if they were wounded, no matter what, and quickly get them to a hospital.

The helicopter crews knew they were primary targets of enemy fire and could be killed or wounded.  But they all believed deep down that their skills and ability would give them the edge – which was often the case.  Many more made it out than didn't, and only God knows why some were chosen and others not, something many often reflect on, even after all these years.  Maybe that's why the story of the 134th is now coming out.

Every man in the 134th had a job to do and all were important to the functioning of the company, right down to the cooks and mail clerk--maybe especially the cooks and mail clerk!

Helicopters, being complex machines with many moving parts, required very high levels of maintenance.  Failure of a single part could be a life or death matter.  A common saying was “if something hasn’t gone wrong yet, it will”.  The primary duty of almost half the men in the unit was direct maintenance support, a critical role without which there would quickly be no flyable aircraft.  Many long hours were put in day in and day out by the men in the machine, engine, electrical, avionics, hydraulics, sheet metal, armament and paint shops as well as those on Line Crews, PE teams, recovery teams, etc.  It often seemed they received little notice or recognition but their peers and the flight crews knew who did the work and who kept them flying, and that's what really counts.

No more fitting tribute can be paid to the maintenance and support personnel than the following words of Walt Chrobak: former gun platoon leader and XO:

    “One thing about an assualt helicopter unit, there might have been people considered "non-flying" but just about everybody flew.

The crews flew - they weren’t supposed to, but many of the crewchiefs and a few gunners learned to fly - at least enough to get back to base or on the ground if the two front seats couldn’t continue.

The aircraft maintenance and signal detachment got to work both day and night.  When the flights were over, maintenance began - day or night.  The flight platoon leaders knew when platoon maintenance wasn’t being done because they were reminded at 0200 – “come and look at this”.  The motto of maintenance seemed to be "save the data plate and we won’t have a loss" and they saved more than one aircraft with little more than a data plate. Somehow the men in maintenance also managed to dig wells, pour sidewalks, repair roofs, fix air conditioners and refrigerators, build showers and latrines, and even build small model cannons that actually fired bearings. After a helicopter came back, no matter how damaged, and after it was fixed, maintenance flew it.  They flew the test flight.  They made sure the aircraft wouldn’t kill us - that was up to ourselves and the enemy.  And they didn’t log combat assaults, just test flights.  Mechanics, technical inspectors, sheet metal - they all flew.  They manufactured the door gun mounts for the gunships and the oversized ammo boxes these helicopters carried.  They were outraged that we allowed our aircraft to be hit by enemy fire, but they fixed them and nobody died or was injured from mechanical failure.  Under the conditions they worked in, this was remarkable.

Supply provided us what we needed when we wore it out or lost it.  Where did the "chicken plates" come from - they were too old for issue?  Supply also provided trading material for the scroungers.  They nearly cried when their sunglasses were traded for showers, water heaters, and water tanks - but they gave up their precious sunglasses.  Does anybody recall everybody wearing PX wrap-around sunglasses?  The supply people also flew to wherever they might get what we needed - boots, gloves, beds, lumber, lights, fans, sandbags.

The real administrative people - the clerks, switchboard operator, drivers - made sure headquarters stayed off our back and made sure we got home on time.  They also volunteered to fly to let the flight crews rest - they didn’t have to.  One particular clerk I recall volunteered to fly on a particularly bad day and although it made him proud his mother and congressman wrote to the CO asking why a clerk was flying combat assaults.  The clerk asked to write both responses.

So everybody flew - the cooks who kept a hot meal waiting at night and a hot breakfast in the morning.  The clerks, the supply section, maintenance, communications - Hell, even the CO and XO flew.  We were a team!”

This history is dedicated to those who made it possible, and especially to those who made the supreme sacrifice for their country and compatriots.

The 134th Aviation Company was originally a fixed wing Caribou company but built it combat record primarily as an assault helicopter unit in Vietnam.  To acknowledge its predecessor and namesake, a brief history of the Caribou era is included in this narrative.

The Beginning-1963 

The 187th Transport Airplane Company was formed on 11 February 1963 and picked up its first Caribou from Dehavilland of Canada on 1 March 1963.  The unit participated in the development of the airmobile concept and took part in virtually all of the Army’s air assault tests, such as Swift Strike, Desert Strike II, Hawk Star II, and Air Assault II.  Shortly after Air Assault II, the TO&E and numerical designation of the 187th Aviation Company was changed and a new unit, the 134th Aviation Company (Air Mobile-Fixed Wing) was formed.

Unit Patch
134^th Aviation Company(AM-FW)

At the beginning of 1966, the unit found itself in a less than desirable situation.  Because of the size of its 18 Caribou and the ramp space required for parking and maintenance, the company was divided between Soc Trang and Can Tho in the Delta region of Vietnam.  The Company headquarters, 260^th Maintenance Detachment and the second platoon with nine aircraft were stationed at Can Tho.  The first platoon with nine aircraft and a small maintenance section were located at Soc Trang, roughly 30 miles away.  Living conditions at Can Tho left much to be desired.  The crewchiefs were living in a tin shed with a dirt floor at the airfield and the remainder of the enlisted personnel were living on the 5^th floor balcony at the Delta Hotel, while the pilots were living in three different locations.  Soc Trang living conditions were crowded, but at least everyone was living at the compound, within walking distance of the flight line, mess hall and billeting area.

After the 80 hour flight from Fort Benning to Vung Tau, all of the aircraft were due a periodic inspection and most of January was spent performing maintenance while the unit waited for its equipment to arrive.  Even though the 134^th didn’t become fully operational until 1 February 1966, it flew 744 sorties during January, delivering 450 tons of supplies and equipment and transporting over 5,000 passengers. 

Living conditions in Can Tho improved on January 28^th when the unit moved into its own four story hotel downtown.  The first floor was used as an orderly room and small “COLA” mess.  The enlisted men were housed on the second and third floors and the officers occupied the fourth floor.  The chain of command at the start of the year was Major Ted N. Phillips, Commanding Officer, Captain Raymond J. Riticher, Executive Officer and Captain Gary O. Alton, Operations Officer. There were many different types of missions but the primary one was to support the 5^th Special Forces in the Delta.

On 6 February an aircraft performed an emergency medical evacuation, under extremely hazardous conditions, of one American and six seriously wounded ARVN soldiers from Phu Qoo Island, flying them to the hospital at Saigon.  Had the Caribou not flown this mission several of the wounded would not have survived.  Also during the month of February, 134^th aircraft transported over 3,000 troops in support of tactical operations within IV Corps.  Of the total cargo delivered, 1,322 tons were air landed, 47 tons were air dropped and 38 tons were delivered by low level extraction.  During the month the unit had seven aircraft hit by ground fire, two of which sustained major damage.

By March, after two months of combat flying behind them, local commanders had been shown what the Caribou could do for them.  Due to a large backlog of supplies and equipment to be delivered the unit was taxed to the maximum.  Crews were flying from daylight to dark, seven days a week.  Landing at remote strips with no radio contact and being recalled from scheduled missions to participate in a tactical emergency were getting to be everyday occurrences.  During the month, the 134^th moved over 5200 troops in tactical operations.

On 23 March 1966, after completing a full day’s flying, the unit was called on to airlift a Ranger battalion from Can Tho to Soc Trang at night.  Aircraft 62-4165, after being cleared to land by the tower, collided with a VNAF H-34 whose rotor blades were overlapping the runway.  The helicopter was a total loss and the left wing of the Caribou was damaged, but there were no injuries.  The wing was changed on the Caribou and it was flying again within a week.  During one week in March, the unit carried over 3,000 troops in support of combat operations in the IV Corps area.  In this same week ARVN troops killed over 800 Viet Cong by body count.

May was a bad month for the Rough Riders.  On 10 May 1966, aircraft 62-4165, while on a Special Forces airdrop mission at a remote camp at Cai Cai, had a load of rice hang in the rear of the cargo compartment on a low level extraction causing the aircraft to crash.  The pilot and copilot (Cpt. Gil Roessler and CW2 Joe Hudson) escaped with serious injuries, but the flight engineer, SP5 Herbert N. Adams, and the Special Forces rigger on board were killed on impact.  A few days later, another aircraft had a left main landing gear collapse on landing at Bien Hoa.  There were no injuries but the aircraft was down for about a month for repairs.

On 18 May 1966 Soc Trang Army Airfield (AAF) was the target of a mortar attack and three Caribous were damaged.  One aircraft received 76 holes from shrapnel.  On the same day at Can Tho the new living quarters at the airfield were completed and the crewchiefs were the first to move in.  On 29 May, the 134th NCO Open Mess opened and served three hot meals a day.  Breakfast was 40 cents and dinner and supper were 75 cents.  Everyone in Can Tho was drawing “COLA” (Cost of Living Allowance) because no class A mess halls existed in the Can Tho area.

On 31 May 1966 Major Robert L. Landry replaced Major Ted N. Phillips as Company Commander.  Major Phillips had commanded the unit for over a year.

June found the unit well on its way into the monsoon season.  Already many of the strips in the low lying areas were closed and slowly going under water.  While on a Special Forces mission to Don Phue one crew landed at a strip that appeared to be firm but with a few scattered water spots.  However, after landing the crew found the water to be knee deep on portions of the strip.  The cargo was unloaded and when the crew attempted to take off the propellers picked up enough water to drown out the engines.  A maintenance team had to be sent in by helicopter to dry out the carburetors but the crew had to wait until the next day to take off, after the water had receded.

In July, the first platoon at Soc Trang learned that children of the local ARVN 212^th Artillery Battalion needed additional school classrooms and they undertook the project in their spare time.  Plans were drawn, the material obtained, and the platoon worked along with the men of the 212^th Artillery Battalion to construct the school.  The building was completed just one day prior to the opening of school.  In appreciation, a dedication was held on opening day to name it “The Delta Rider School”.

In early August the 134^th was notified of “Operation Red Leaf”, the transfer of the Caribous to Air Force control.  On 13 August Major John F. Tiernan arrived as the first Air Force replacement.  Major Tiernan’s blue uniform put him on the receiving end of considerable ribbing but his good nature and quick wit soon made him a regular member of the unit.  Shortly thereafter, every conceivable type of Air Force pilot showed up to be transitioned into Caribous (B-52, F-100, F4C, Reconnaissance, etc).  Surprisingly, the transitions went smoothly. Also in August aircraft 63-9740 crewed by SP6 Thomas Dawkins and SP5 Harry “Tiger” Colly set a new Caribou record by flying 170 hours during the month.

Unfortunately the Air Force never flew the Caribou like the Army.  They were primarily interested in long-range “throughput” missions while the Army used the Caribou for local support to remote Special Forces camps and similar missions.  After the Air Force takeover, this incredible short field aircraft was phased out in favor of larger, high-speed conventional air transports.  Consequently, the Special Forces and others were left without support.  This was a role subsequently assumed by helicopter units.

More and more Air Force officers and enlisted men began arriving in November and living quarters again became a problem.  Air Force and Army personnel now worked side by side.  By this time almost everyone who came over with the 134^th had reassignment orders and the old saying of “Happiness in Vietnam is DEROS” was finally coming true.  The first large group of officers and enlisted men left on the 17^th of the month, leaving only a small number of Army personnel remaining.

Also in November, Aircraft 61-4161 struck a mound of dirt with the left gear causing major damage while on a Special Forces low level extraction mission.  The aircraft landed at Bien Thuy Airfield with no injuries to the crew.  The left main gear was replaced and the aircraft then flown to Vung Tau for more repairs.

By the beginning of December only a few key Army personnel were left and the Air Force take over was almost complete.  The remaining Army personnel were kept busy with the final phases of deactivation.  The Air Force was confronted with the problem of moving the entire unit from Can Tho and Soc Trang to their new home at Cam Ranh Bay.  The last Army pilots in the unit flew “Operation Rudolph” on the day before Christmas and air-dropped a Christmas package to every Special Forces camp in IV Corps.  The last officer to sign out of the 134^th Aviation Company was LTC Robert L. Landry.

During the company's tour in Vietnam, it carried 13,700 personnel on troop lifts, flew 26,170 sorties, carried 15,244 tons of cargo, 165,010 passengers, performed 620 medivacs and flew 13,710 hours.  The 134^th Aviation Company was deactivated at Cam Ranh Bay on 1 January 1967.
 

The 134^th was reactivated on 17 February 1967 at Fort Bragg, North Carolina as an Assault Helicopter Company.  WO Orin Nagel was the first person assigned to the company and PFC Ray Wysocki was the first enlisted man and acting First Sgt.  The 134^th with its subordinate units, the 618^th Transportation Detachment and the 832^nd Signal Detachment, was one of four companies being organized at Fort Bragg for training prior to deployment overseas.  Authorized strength was 219 men for the 134^th, 72 for the 618^th and 9 for the 832^nd.  Roughly 75-80% of the men were regular army volunteers and the rest draftees.  The unit picked up its 23 slicks (UH-1D’s) and eight gunships (UH-1C’s), many with consecutive tail numbers, at the factory in April-May and began training.  The commanding officer was Major (later LTC) Richard Kielman, Executive Officer Major John Thorpe, Operations Officer Captain Carl Pritzl and gun platoon leader Captain Walter Chrobak.  Captain Pritzl, a reserve LTC, was on his 3^rd war, having flown with the Army Air Corps in World War II and later Korea.

While at Fort Bragg, Major Kielman held a contest to design a company patch and suggest call signs. Captain Chrobak designed the 134^th crest and suggested the call signs Demon and Satan.  This was changed to Demon and Devil.

Unit Patch
134th Aviation Company (AML), and later
134th Assault Helicopter Company

• 10 slicks in formation under Captain Dave Short flying into a cloud bank and going IFR with everyone peeling off at different angles and climbing to different altitudes (a real chinese fire drill!)

• Everyone growing a mustache and goat-tee in keeping with the “demon/devil” image and Major Douglas conducting “mustache” inspections.  Then being ordered to shave after a general saw a group of 134th pilots at the Officers Club.

• The first large Combat Assault practice run with the entire company --landing in the infield at Darlington Speedway.

• Low level “recons” of Myrtle Beach (and being reported to and chewed out by the FAA).

• Shipping everything, including the equivalent of a good size lumber and hardware store, with the unit equipment to Vietnam (the gun platoon also tried to ship an abandoned car found in a Burger King parking lot but that was one of the few items rejected).  Also shipped were a truckload of Coke machines (later used as refrigerators) donated by a local Coke distributor.

• The introduction of the “Green Mother”, the initiation drink for new pilots--a 12 oz. glass with a shot of everything behind the bar.

Upon completion of training, the 82nd Aviation Battalion administered an ORT (Operational Readiness Test). The test was completed in a minimum of time due to the preparedness of the 134th.  The company far surpassed all requirements and was said to be the most highly trained and professional unit to have been organized at Fort Bragg.

The 134^th was ready for deployment by the first of November 1967.  The CO, XO and OPS Officer did not deploy with the unit since they were all second tour personnel who were several weeks short of the one year requirement between tours.  Captain Chrobak was named acting Commander for deployment.  The unit’s equipment (vehicles, refrigerators, etc.) went through the Panama Canal from Charleston accompanied by WO Ray Labier.

The aircraft were flown as a unit across country (+24 hours of flight time) to Sharpe Army Depot in California where they were loaded onto an aircraft carrier.  Once the entire unit was in San Francisco, they boarded the USNS John Pope for a 21 day voyage to Vietnam.  However, before boarding the ship, the first lift platoon was separated and diverted to Korea as a result of an incident on the DMZ and the need to beef up security. Also on the Pope were the 61^st AHC from Ft. Bragg and the 92^nd AHC from Ft. Campbell.  Another sister unit at Ft. Bragg, the 57th AHC, was deployed at the same time but was flown to Viet Nam on C-141's and arrived two weeks before the 134th.

Some were a bit disappointed with the sendoff from the Oakland pier.  Rather than cheering crowds, marching bands and speeches as in the old war movies, the pier was deserted except for a couple of Red Cross ladies handing out donuts and a small, lonely-looking Army band.  However, the view of the Golden Gate Bridge on the way out of the harbor was a spectacular sight, one still imprinted in the memory of the men who were on the troopship that day.

The voyage to Vietnam was incredibly boring and there was literally nothing to do but sleep, eat, play cards, read and gamble.  No one realized there was a “hustler” in the our midst and by the third day out WO Bob Allen had virtually everyone’s money.  Many men read quite a few novels and any books they could get their hands on.  As an indicator of their desperation, it is interesting to note that a book popular among some folks was Gibbons’ “Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire”, all 2000 or so pages of it.  Although the ocean was calm for the entire trip a few men, especially WO Gus Reali, never developed their sea legs and were seasick for the entire trip.The 134th and subordinate units arrived in Cam Ranh Bay, Vietnam on Thanksgiving Day, 24 November 1967.  Majors Kielman and Thorpe arrived via aircraft just prior to the units arrival.  The company was flown into Phu Hiep AAF on C-130’s but took ground fire on approach and diverted to Tuy Hoa.  Needless to say, this was a rather ominous beginning to the 134th’s war effort.  Once in Phu Hiep tents were set up on the beach adjacent to the area which would later become Hell’s Half Acre.  Everyone pitched in and began building the company facilities.  One of the first things built was an outdoor movie screen between the tents so nightly movies could be shown.

Vehicles and equipment were picked up at Nha Trang and driven by convoy to Phu Hiep.  This was an unsettling experience for those driving and riding shotgun since they had only been in-country a few days.  The fire truck’s hose compartment was lined with sandbags and manned by 4 men with M-60’s.  Other weapons and plenty of ammunition were kept handy.  Luckily, before the primary living areas and other major facilities were built, a neighboring unit (the 192^nd AHC) relocated to Phan Thiet.  The men of the 134^th then moved into these ready-made quarters (only 7 tiles had to be changed in the Officers Club bar countertop to change 192 to 134!).

Most of the flight crews and their aircraft were initially farmed out to sister units for a few weeks of intense in-country training, some with the 129^th AHC (Bulldogs) at An Son but mostly with the 48^th AHC (Blue Stars) at Ninh Hoa.  Demon 66-16319 (WO “Stork” Hamel and CE SP5 Harold Shonk) had an engine fire on its first flight out of Ninh Hoa but the Blue Star pilot flying as aircraft commander set it down with no damage.  The 48^th had some damn good pilots and the 134^th crews learned a great deal from them.  The Devil gunships were the envy of Ninh Hoa during their orientation.  The 48^th guns (Jokers) still had UH-1B models with twin M-60’s on each side while the Devils had brand new C models with miniguns and two “Frogs” with 38 rockets and a 40 mm grenade launcher, or “chunker”.  In less than a month after arrival, the 134^th was participating in normal operations with one lift and one gun platoon, the second lift platoon not being formed until six months later.

Upon arriving in country all men in the 134^th had standard army issue weapons, primarily M-16 rifles, 45 and 38 cal. pistols.  Shortly afterwards, the gun platoon driver, PFC Harold Long, decided that he preferred one of the small M-1 carbines used by the Vietnamese and traded his M-16 for one.  His punishment was to serve 30 days in the field with the 173^rd Airborne Brigade to learn how to properly appreciate his weapon.  He was sent on a patrol that was attacked one night, and the next morning they found his position surrounded by dead VC.  The 173^rd awarded PFC Long a Bronze Star with “V” and a Combat Infantryman Badge.  Of course, he was very happy when his 30 days with the infantry were up.  After this incident, there were remarkably few problems with personnel swapping weapons.

Being short one lift platoon made the 134^th a bit unusual and the company was not assigned a direct support mission like most assault helicopter units.  Instead, the 134^th was assigned the mission of general support for II Corps, a task which was to last throughout its tour of duty.  Its area of operations extended as far as Dak Pek in the northwest, LZ English in the northeast (north of Qui Nhon), Phan Thiet in the southeast and Ban Me Thout in the southwest.  Backing the Demon and Devil flight crews up was a superb maintenance team that set the standard for excellence for aircraft maintenance during the Vietnam War.

At various times during its tour of duty the 134th supported:  

• 173^rd Airborne Brigade

• Long range recon patrols (LRRPs) from the 173^rd Airborne

• 22^nd and 23^rd ARVN Divisions ands their MACV advisors

• MACV intelligence (“people sniffer” and “Sniffer” missions)

• Special Forces “A” Teams

• Special Forces“Mike Force” units (battalion size and larger units of indigenous troops)

• 4^th Infantry Division

• 52^nd Artillery Brigade

• The six regiments of the two Korean divisions in the area (the 28^th through 33^rd ROK Regiments).  The Korean divisions were the 9^th (Whitehorse) Division and the Capital Division.

Due to its general support mission, the 134^th covered all of II Corps and the flight crews often spent several days at a time with the units they supported, or more often with the local aviation unit having the direct support mission.  Consequently, they came to know the other aviation units throughout the II Corps area very well.  The various aviation units in II Corps and their locations are shown in the following table.

One of the first missions, especially for the Devils, was to support the last stages of the 173^rd Airborne Brigade’s famous battles around Dak To (Hill 875, etc.).

By the end of the year, or perhaps early 1968, there were several memorable incidents:

·    A slick returned from a relatively uneventful “people sniffer” mission and the crew found an arrow sticking out of the tail boom.

·    WO Mike Harding and WO Trainee Hall were working for the Special Forces near Ban Me Thout and picked up a cow at a Montagnard village.  The cow was strapped to a pallet and loaded inside the aircraft (66-16975) with its tail hanging over the pilots console.  After take off the cow became a little nervous and plopped a big pile of manure directly on the console.

·    Lt Stan Gause was on a hot LRRP extraction northwest of Tuy Hoa and one LRRP would not get into the aircraft.  He was standing beside the slick, screaming something unintelligible, and pointing to the ground.  It took a minute or so for the crew to realize the left skid was sitting on his foot.

·    Captain Chrobak and Lt Cappone of the Gun Platoon were banned from the 91^st Evac Officers Club for fighting with the doctors.

·    Gunships and slicks went out on deer hunts to obtain meat for the weekly beach parties.  There were also some tiger hunts when the 4^th Infantry Division lost several men to tigers within a couple of weeks.  A few tigers were sighted but they were so quick the crews never got a decent shot off.

·    WO Ray Labier took all of the aviator sunglasses from the supply room and traded them for water heaters for the company showers.  He also “borrowed” the cement from the Air Force to build the sidewalks around the company compound.

A gunship had the company’s first engine failure and the pilot autorotated beautifully with no damage to the aircraft.  However, a Chinook sling-loading it back to Phu Hiep dropped it in front of the maintenance hangar from a height of 10-15 feet.

1968 

After landing and shutting down the aircraft, the crew and six others were ambushed and killed.  The aircraft was set on fire and destroyed.  Members of the crew were CW2 Roy E. Worth, CW2 Guido S. Reali, SGT Ronald R. Loveland and SGT Harold O. Hoskins.  This was a very traumatic experience for everyone in the unit since the 134th was  a close knit group and everyone knew the lost crewmembers well.  The war hit home to all in a very personal way.  After this, aircraft from the 134th were not allowed to land in remote locations without establishing radio contact with ground personnel or positive identification.

In a bizarre twist, less than an hour before the ambush of the crew, WO Trainee Hall and WO Mike Harding had been searching for a MACV advisor with the PF troops and had landed at the same village after smoke was popped on the ground.  However, they did not shut down or get out of the aircraft.  They saw what appeared to be local troops, waved to them (their waves were returned) and realizing their intended passenger was not there, they took off again.

On 14 February, a Demon ship (66-16316) with Lt. Gause, WO Dean Sawyer, SP5 Tom Prout and PFC Les Demorest on a MACV “people sniffer” mission suffered a low level engine failure west of Nha Trang and made a semi-controlled crash in a rice paddy.  The aircraft incurred major damage to its undercarriage but the crew walked away without a scratch.  The ship sat in a cradle next to the hangar for weeks while being painstakingly restored to duty by the dedicated Demon maintenance crew.  Old 316 became famous for spending so much time in maintenance.  The maintenance crew called her the Hangar Queen and built a large crown on her roof.  Rightfully, she should have been sent back to the US for rebuild but Demon Maintenance liked the challenge of such an undertaking and did an outstanding job of restoring 316 to service.

Tet of 1968 was a busy period for the 134^th.  Aircraft were dispersed all over II Corps, plugging holes and supporting units normally supported by others.  Some slicks went to Pleiku to support the 52^nd Artillery Brigade, others to Ninh Hoa, Nha Trang and Qui Nhon.  There were quite a few night flare missions during this period and also a few close calls in getting the flares clear of the aircraft before they ignited.  One slick carrying the 52^nd Arty commander called in artillery fire on 2 companies of NVA regulars brazenly marching in formation down Highway 1 into Qui Nhon, accounting for at least 100 KIA.

Two days before Tet WO Orin Nagel and WO Roger Jones of the Gun Platoon got a few days off and decided to see the sights in the historic city of Nha Trang.  On their second night in town they heard a great deal of gunfire but thought maybe it was just a celebration of the new year.  The next morning when they walked outside their hotel the streets were deserted.  They finally found some MPs who told them that VC “were everywhere in the city.”  Without wasting any more time they hopped a ride back to Phu Hiep, picked up a couple of gunships and headed for Pleiku to join other Devils already there in heavy, and scary, action around the Pleiku, Kontum and Dak To area.

The Devils had a field day during Tet and accounted for well over a thousand VC and NVA KIA.  They were so busy and had so many missions no one bothered to keep count of KIAs.  Missions included fire support for US and ARVN units engaged in house to house fighting in downtown Nha Trang, Tuy Hoa and Kontum (the Devils attacked and destroyed a Texaco station in mid-town Nha Trang as well as a church in Kontum).

At times, 5-6 Devil gunships were working out of Pleiku, supporting ground troops around Kontum and Dak To.  Through an incredible effort, Demon Maintenance was able to provide 3 and sometimes even 4 Devil fire teams during this critical period (100% of the available gunships).  A fire team was sent to Kontum to help the 57^th AHC beat back the NVA who had overran the east side of the airfield and portions of the 57^th’s  compound.  At one point a heavy fire team (3 ships) under Cpt. Chrobak were forced to refuel and re-arm while being shot at from the east end of the runway.  On takeoff they spotted an NVA battalion crossing an open field as it attacked the airfield and unloaded on them.  The Devils had a real turkey shoot and accounted for some 700 enemy KIA during this incident.  There was no way to describe the action except as an incredible slaughter.  Perhaps that’s why gunships with miniguns came to be known as slaughter ships.

In other action during Tet a Devil fire team was directed to fire at a village near Kontum but saw only women and children on reconning the area.  During the recon they spotted a large group of NVA in a nearby tree line and attacked, resulting in some 300 KIA.  In another instance during this time Lt. Cappone led a fire team in attacking a .51 caliber position and had his entire left pylon shot off, losing a rocket pod and minigun.  Amazingly, no one was seriously injured and the gun position was destroyed.

Despite a wide variety of dangerous missions and nightly mortar attacks on Phu Hiep itself not a single man or aircraft was lost during the Tet offensive.  Considering the missions undertaken by the 134^th this was quite an achievement.  Contrary to public perception back in the US, Tet 68 was a major victory for US and Vietnamese forces.  The NVA attacked all major cities, expecting to be welcomed and aided by popular uprisings but this did not happen.  Instead, they were cut down in the thousands by the infantry, artillery and aircrews from assault helicopter units such as the 134^th.

Just after Tet, six Devil gunships under Captain Chrobak were returning from an extended assignment at Pleiku and stopped at Lane AAF to spend the night.  The crews attended a party that evening (and may have consumed a drink or two) when they were suddenly ordered to Phu Hiep immediately.  There was a layer of low clouds along the route so Captain Chrobak, being an expert navigator, decided to take the flight VFR on top of the clouds and then descend over Phu Hiep airfield.  He led the group on a compass course back to Phu Hiep and then began a descent through the cloud cover.  On breaking out he spotted a group of lights and began his approach.  However, after a few minutes, the flight realized they were making an approach to a fleet of fishing vessels several miles off shore.  After a little embarrassment, they located Phu Hiep and arrived uneventfully.

In April 1968, the 134^th was given the direct support mission for two battalions of the 173^rd Airborne.  One battalion was located at An Khe and the other in the Phu Hiep area.  A forward detachment of 2 gunships and 2 to 4 slicks was sent to An Khe and personnel rotated every 45 days.  While there, the detachment also frequently supported a Special Forces “Mike Force” unit of 3 battalions of Montagnards based at An Khe and the gunships provided road convoy escort and Highway 19 security from An Khe Pass in the east through Mang Yang Pass in the west.  For a period of roughly 9 months the two Devil gunships were the only guns between Qui Nhon and Pleiku and were called on to support any unit operating in the area.  The First Cav had pulled out a couple of months earlier and there were no aviation units left at An Khe during this period.

The First Cav had left tons of ammunition and supplies scattered all over An Khe to which the Demons and Devils helped themselves.  Initially the detachment did not have any vehicles.  However, those small flat-top “mules” (a version of a jeep) that each platoon had as part of its original equipment came in very handy.  Four people could easily lift one and it would fit nicely into the cargo area of a D/H model.  The detachment took several of these to An Khe.  At Phu Hiep the crewchiefs often got into trouble for drag racing the “mules” on the flight line and the flight crews loved them.  Unfortunately, these convenient, transportable, little vehicles were replaced later in 1968 with standard jeeps and ¾ ton trucks.

During this period the Devils “owned” the highway between the An Khe and Mang Yang Passes and had a free fire zone “the size of Rhode Island” (roughly 10 km either side of the highway).  It was a gun pilot's dream.  The Devils worked very closely with the other combat units along Highway 19.  These included 1/50^th Mechanized Infantry, C Company, 1/69 Armor, and 3 batteries of 105 mm artillery in the 3 fire bases along the highway.  There was a great deal of fire power but only one fire team of gunships and 3-4 slicks.  It was an exhilarating time and there were many varied and interesting missions.

On a number of occasions, Devil gunships prevented ambushes of road convoys on Highway 19 by catching the VC off guard as they made preparations.   The daily recon by fire missions hindered VC/NVA activity and the Devil fire team at An Khe often accounted for 5-10 KIA per week solely from its recon missions.  The Devils’ presence significantly reduced enemy activity along that most dangerous portion of the highway near Mang Yang Pass.

In early April 1968, WO Cliff Barnes (the aircraft commander) and WO Bob “Missy” Brooks were flying support for the “Convoy Commander” at Fire Base Schuller along Highway 19 between An Khe and Mang Yang Pass when they were shot down by ground fire.  They managed to land next to the highway and crawled into a ditch but were not far away from the enemy troops who brought them down.  Luckily there were gunships nearby, a vehicle with a quad fifty and Air Force fighter bombers.  All three were called in to attack the enemy positions.  Both pilots were slightly wounded and some passengers were seriously wounded.  They could hear the shrapnel from the bombs buzzing through the air and it was pretty scary for a while.  The gunner, SP4 __?__Webb?, had previously been in the infantry and did a great job, keeping the crew down and where they should be.  After half an hour or so, they were picked up by a slick and the wounded medivac’d.

Later that same month, WO Barnes and WO Dean Sawyer, were resupplying a ROK unit in a single ship LZ east of An Khe when WO Barnes was hit in the leg by small arms fire.  The bullet severed the main artery in his leg but he continued flying and made it back to the medivac pad at An Khe where he passed out from loss of blood.  He lost more than four pints of blood and almost died but fully recovered later back in the US.

1969
 
During 1969, the 134^th absorbed the 832^nd Signal and the 618^th Transportation Detachments. The company was also redesignated from the 134^th Aviation Company (Airmobile Light) to the 134^th Assault Helicopter Company.

The commander of the 134^th was still Major Robert Chancellor until April 23, 1969 when Major Charles Teeter assumed command.  Major Teeter commanded the unit until October 10, 1969 when he turned it over to Major William Hensley.

On 20 January 1969, the company participated in a major Combat Assault with the ROK Capitol Division. The operation consisted of three phases over 9 days.  A total of 10,196 troops were lifted and 1,365 hours were logged for the operation.

On 6 February 1969, the 134^th conducted a Combat Assault with ROK units near Phan Rang.  At the landing zone, the VC were waiting in spider holes for the incoming aircraft.  The lead ship was hit by ground fire and crashed in the LZ while another (66-16326) was destroyed by a B-40 rocket as it landed.  CW2 William M. Harrison, the AC with 24 days left in country, was killed by shrapnel from the B-40.  The crewchief, SP4 John Baxter, was hit numerous pieces of shrapnel and also took a hit in a leg that had to later be amputated.  The last ship (66-16319) in the 3 ship formation went around the crashed lead ship.  As it did, it was hit by a hail of fire and a round hit the gunner, PFC William Ogden,in the neck killing him instantly.  The rest of the crew somehow escaped serious jury and managed to get the badly damaged ship back to Phan Rang Air Base.

On the 27th of February, the An Khe commitment ended and the detachment returned home to Phu Hiep after almost a year of outstanding support to the 173^rd Airborne and other units in the area.  During the previous 12 months the Devils had performed an incredible job in preventing ambushes and protecting convoys on Highway 19 from attack.  This mission was turned over to the newly arrived 238^th Aerial Weapons Company.

One night in early 1969, a Devil gunship (66-15019 with SP5 Gene Molek and SP4 Tifis Flinn) was returning from the LZ English area and a .51 caliber gun locked onto them.  They were already at several thousand feet and immediately began climbing.  Those green tracers looked as big as basketballs as they gracefully closed in on the ship with what appeared to be rapidly increasing speed.  It wasn’t until the ship passed 10,000 feet (maybe a gunship altitude record) that the tracers began to arc underneath the aircraft.  The .51 caliber was most likely a radar controlled gun and the Devils were very lucky to escape with no injuries.

On March 27^th aircraft 66-16701 had a transmission failure at 1500 feet over Song Cau, south of Qui Nhon, with 3 passengers on board.  The crew consisted of CW2 Robert Yalden, WO1 Gordon Soeder, SP4 Miguel Delacruz and SP4 Robert Bernard.  CW2 Yalden was able to autorotate but landed with forward speed on the beach near the ocean.  The skids caught in the wet sand and the aircraft flipped end over end several times, finally coming to rest upside down in two feet of water.  Five of the seven people on board were injured but none seriously.  The aircraft was destroyed.

In early 1969 an incident occurred that was particularly sad.  Two slicks and a Devil fire team made a LRRP insertion northwest of LZ English using one slick for a decoy insertion and one for the real one.  Roughly 10 minutes after the insertion the gunships were called away on a Tactical Emergency and one of the slicks diverted to another mission.  While returning home the remaining slick heard a faint radio call for help from the LRRPs.  They had been ambushed immediately after insertion and only two of the four LRRPs were still alive.  The AC asked the crew if they wanted to go back and attempt an extraction without gun cover or a backup slick and all voted to go back.

The remaining LRRPs were surrounded by the VC and pleading on the radio for help.  The slick arrived on station and the LRRPs were not in a position where the ship could land.  The slick began taking intense fire at that point and the gunner’s (SP4 Curt Easterbrook) M-60 jammed.  The AC broke off and was circling back when on the LRRP frequency they heard an American moaning, then Vietnamese voices, a single gunshot and then silence.  The moaning, Vietnamese voices and gunshot still haunt the dreams of Easterbrook and the other crewmembers even after all these years.  May God bless these unknown LRRPs.  The LRRPs had more guts than anyone alive.  They performed an important and incredibly dangerous job, probably the single most dangerous job of the entire war.

Any helicopter crew would always risk everything to pull LRRPs out of a bad situation.  A failure was the worst thing a crew could imagine and the few instances of failure cause nightmares to the crews involved to this day.  They could not help but feel they were somehow responsible despite all possible efforts to get the LRRPs out.  God bless them.

Around May a 134^th slick, without crew, was loaned to Air America.  The ship was flown by two Army pilots on temporary assignment to Air America.  They flew a mission to a small compound roughly 30 minutes inside Laos occupied by US Marines, some sort of long range patrol.  On take off the ship was shot down just outside the compound and both pilots killed in the crash.  Another 134^th ship with a maintenance officer and SP4 Larry Davenport was sent over to recover parts from the downed aircraft.  As they stripped the partially burned ship of useful parts they took sporadic enemy fire, returned by the Marines, and again on leaving the compound.  It hardly seemed worth the long flight, effort and danger to retrieve a few parts.  But then, crazier things happened sometimes!

A few weeks prior to the above incident, SP4 Davenport had attended a turbine engine course in Vung Tau.  While there he became friends with two fellow maintenance types from Australia.  One night they had a few beers and one of the Aussies remarked that he’d sure like to have one of those loach (OH-6) engines for his dune buggy back home.  After a few more beers, the three men then proceeded to the airfield, spotted a loach parked on the ramp and quickly removed its engine.  In a spontaneous gesture of hospitality to an ally SP4 Davenport then presented the Aussie with the turbine engine which he took back to his compound for shipment home in his hold baggage.  Next morning the loach pilot was a bit surprised when he attempted to start his engine.