Foreword

How many of us have sat down on occasion to begin to write a book? Surely, in all our experiences on this earth, there is sufficient material to come up with a best seller. I know that I personally have begun a hundred times or more, only to abandon all hope of completion until I began again, and then once more, again and again. It is not from the inability to put words together. On more than one occasion, while in the Corps, I was called upon to write technical documents of great length, which I did with alacrity, earning the praise of my superiors. But when it was a subject that I really cared about, I found myself unable to get beyond the emotion I felt and put the words on the paper. I propose that we, all together and individually, contribute to the writing of the history of our Squadron. I will act as editor and provide a matrix on which to build the history by summarizing the Command Chronology, a monthly report of the significant events of the time we were in Vietnam. As you read the following summary, I would like for you to think back over those times and see if there are things that you personally might add that would make the document more complete and accurate. Review your letters, citations, and any other written documents that you have which may jog your memory. If at all possible, I would like for you to sit down and make additions and corrections to the Summary, and to include any supporting documentation if possible. If you feel up to it, feel free to completely rewrite any and all chapters. I believe that, together, we can come up with a history which will make the Squadron proud. If your input is not included in the final document, it is not that it will have been totally ignored, but we remember things differently, and at one point, if someone's memory is too much at variance with contemporaneous documentation, it will not be included here, but will continue to live at happy hours for the next thirty or more years. Please send your input and copies of any documents to:

LtCol A. N. Allen USMC (ret)
349 Trahan Rd.
Lumberton, TX 77657

Respectfully, Sam Small

 

December 1-31, 1966

During the period of 1-3 December 1966 HMM-262, under the command of LtCol Ural W. Shadric, deployed to Vietnam. The squadron consisted of fifty-three aviators, five aviation ground officers, and one hundred ninety-three enlisted Marines. The first contingent of the unit arrived in Chu Lai by C-130 on the morning of 4 December seventy-two hours after leaving North Carolina with stops in Hawaii, Wake, and Okinawa. Shortly after arrival at Chu Lai, the Command moved to Ky HA. Flight crews were attached to other squadrons of MAG-36 for familiarization and training and on December 19, moved into the spaces previously occupied by HMM-361. The assigned spaces consisted of South-East Asia Hootches, screened huts with wooden floors and corrugated iron roofs. The rain and red mud tended to make things a little messy, but the accommodations were quite comfortable after some knock-together furniture was built from ammo crates and other scraps. One warm shower and several cold ones were available for all hands. Meanwhile, the seaborne portion of the squadron, aboard the MSTS aircraft ferry, the Core, was wending its way to Ky Ha, to arrive on the morning of the 19th. By December 21 all thirty aircraft had been off-loaded and within two hours of the arrival of the last aircraft, HMM-262 had received its first mission as a squadron in Vietnam. The squadron continued to off-load supplies and equipment for the next two days while continuing to fly missions on a limited basis. On December 26, while participating in support of Operation Sierra by transporting troops, one of the flights from the squadron received the first reported enemy fire for the squadron. The next day, while participating in med-evac and resupply missions, squadron aircraft were again fired upon, and for the first time returned that fire. Starting slowly, the squadron had been eased into combat and received its baptism of fire, but it was not until the next day that the reality of it all began to sink in. At 1102H on the 27th ET-31, piloted by Lts Bill? Young and P. C. "Fingers" James, was orbiting near Antenna Valley west of Danang received the first hit by enemy fire. Later in the day ET-28 and ET-31 took six additional hits during a recon insert out of Marble Mountain. On December 28, two aircraft from 262 accompanied by a VMO-6 Huey participated in a Sparrow Hawk mission in the vicinity of Ap Hai to locate a Recon Patrol, "Pot Pie", who had been out of communication for fifteen hours. The flight inserted a patrol of sixteen division Marines and seven Recon Marines to begin the search. Almost immediately the patrol was taken under fire. The flight continued to orbit the area while the Klondike aircraft provided suppressive fires. After sustaining one DOW and one WIA the patrol requested extraction, which was completed under heavy fire in deteriorating weather conditions. Several hits were sustained by the aircraft. In a Letter of Appreciation, 1st Reconnaissance Battalion Commander, LtCol. D. N. McKeown, credited the following flight crews with saving the lives of the 22 Marines who survived:

 

January 1-31, 1967

The month of January was traumatic to some extent. In order to distribute the rotation tour dates and to provide the squadron with more personnel with combat experience, MAG-36 began to transfer personnel in and out of the squadron. While this was a logical move, it would take a while for everyone to adjust to the new arrangements. The squadron strength remained the same, only some of the people were different After a good start in December, the squadron really got down to work this month. The tempo of operations picked up as the crews and maintenance personnel gained experience in Vietnam. Trained gunners were in short supply, so SgtMaj "Ralphie" Home took time out to become qualified as a left side gunner. Almost all qualified crew members had, by the end of this month, been awarded the coveted Combat Air Crew Wings. The number of awards went up. Multiple Air Medals were awarded to Marines who dreamed of how impressive they would look on the streets of Jacksonville on their return to the States. On a less happy note, eight more Purple Hearts were awarded. Enemy fire began to come in increasing intensity and frequency and started to take on a different quality as well. On January 10, Captain Piatt with his Copilot Captain Wayne Julian approached an LZ at target area BS542866 for an emergency med-evac and took multiple small-caliber hits wounding Captain Julian and his port-side gunner. The wounds were not serious and the mission was completed. Previously, we had only received thirty caliber hits, but on January 24, one of our aircraft received the squadron's first .50 caliber round. The following day, while involved in a Sparrow Hawk Mission into a zone at BS632952, aircraft buno152558 took heavy fire, was struck in the rotor blade by a .50 cal round, rolled to the right and burned in the zone. Three crew members were moderately injured. This was our first aircraft loss in battle. On December 28, while flying a mission in support of Operation DeSoto at target area BS816394, one of our aircraft received multiple small arms hits and was forced to land. The wingman landed and picked up the crew chief, SSGT. Henry Clarence Ivory 1636776/6422 USMC was from Franklin, La.. "C. I." suffered a serious head wound, and died enroute to the aid station. Henry was well liked and had extended his enlistment to go to Vietnam with the squadron. Everyone had known that something like this was inevitable, but the reality of it cast a pall on the squadron for a while. We flew a total of 1706 flight hours on routine missions and in support of Operation Sierra, Operation Seine (with the Korean Marines), Shining Brass, and Operation DeSoto. Multiple Sparrow Hawk (Quick Reaction) missions were flown to add a little excitement to the mix. In all the squadron flew 13850 troops, 635 passengers, and 723 tons of cargo during the month. Considering the conditions and the tempo, the aircraft availability of 87% was outstanding. The total of 1706 flight hours in combat was a new record for CH-46 aircraft.

 

February 1- 28, 1967

By now we had learned a number of things about our war in Vietnam. First, that the country was not always a sweltering jungle, but at night often became quite chilly as we tried to extract warmth from damp blankets. And second, it really doesn't get easier as time goes by. The initial excitement of being there goes away, but the daily repetition of tasks begins to grind. After a highly productive month in January and one would think we could have rested on our laurels, caught up on maintenance. One would have been wrong! Crews and maintenance personnel learned to subsist on cold C Rations, and catch a snooze when they could. During the shortest month of the year, HMM-262 established a record for CH-46 squadrons in Vietnam by flying 2198.2 hours in support of combat operations. We carried 18,039 troops, 1,093 passengers, and 2,274 tons of cargo. We often forget what makes it possible for an aircraft squadron to fly at all. During the month, maintenance logged 6172 man-hours. This is all in addition to thousands of hours of normal preflight, servicing, and odd jobs. Remember too that some of the maintenance shop Marines also filled in as crew members, as did the clerks and personnel from other offices. General Robertshaw sent his congratulations to the squadron in the following message: FM: CG FMAW TO: MARINE MEDIUM HELICOPTER SQUADRON 262 1. YOUR MONTHLY RECORD OF 2198 HOURS DURING FEBRUARY IMPRESSIVE. ALL TIME HIGH FOR CH-46 IN COMBAT. ACHIEVEMENT MADE MORE IMPRESSIVE BY LACK OF ANY OPERATIONAL AIRCRAFT ACCIDENT WHILE OPERATING STRENUOUS HOURS DURING INCLEMENT WEATHER. RECORD PROVIDES SOUND EVIDENCE THAT OPERATIONAL EFFECTIVENESS AND FLYING SAFETY ARE MUTUALLY SUPPORTING. MY CONGRATULATIONS FOR INSPIRING SQUADRON PERFORMANCE. ROBERTSHAW SENDS. Our Marines began to become almost blasé' about the dangers of their occupation. In spite of multiple incidents of enemy fire and nine more Purple Hearts, a good number of the entries in the Command Chronology read, "fire received from...", " received multiple hits", "continued the mission". There is always some danger to accepting all of the hazards around you as routine, but one cannot exist is a constant state of agitation. The largest number of missions for the month were flown in support of Operation DESOTO, probably the most exciting being on 6 February when our squadron participated in the first heliborne assault on a fortified position. The landing was opposed by automatic weapons fire from the vicinity of BS838388, BS826384, and BS838392. Our aircraft received multiple hits, but the mission was completed without serious damage to aircraft, and without injuries to the crews. The following is a summary of the hours flown in support of various operations during February:

 

March 1- 31 1967

The squadron continued to operate at a high tempo in spite of the toll of February's record flight time. The aircraft availability fell to 68.1%, a natural result of the efforts of the preceding month and the continued exertion under adverse conditions. In spite of this, the month's flight time was 1498.5 hours, well exceeding the averages that would be established for CH-46 squadrons for the entire war. The maintenance man-hours per flight-hour rose from approximately 2.8 in February to in excess of 3.5 in March. At the end March after 102 days of flying in country, the Tigers had flown a total of 5909.5 hours. This translates to approximately seventy-five flight hours per flight crew-member per month. When one considers the briefing, debriefing, pre-flight, post-flight, after action reports, cleaning of the guns, and standby time, there was little time left for all those "additional duties", or anything else.

On the second of the month the squadron decided to hold a beach party. Sgt. Adam Edward Wershing, who had just joined the squadron in February drowned in the surf. It seemed an awful shame for a Marine to come half-way around the world to a combat zone only to drown at a beach party.

Operation DESOTO again was the major effort for the month and the squadron began to provide additional support in other areas by detaching aircraft to Phu Bai and Marble Mountain.

Reports of enemy fire continued to increase. One recon insertion and extraction flight on 8 March received fire from six separate areas during a flight of approximately four hours. Luckily, the quantity of fire most often exceeded its quality, and in this incident, as was most often the case, aircraft damage was minor, and the mission was completed. Even minor damage was traumatic. For years after, we would find ourselves holding our breaths when someone slammed a door or dropped a book. Very often, on receiving fire and checking with the crew to assess the damage, we would have a report of no hits, only to learn later the main spar of a rotor or the sync-shaft had been almost severed by a single round. Recon extracts and inserts, and emergency med-evacs continued to be the most dangerous missions.

If the purpose of recon missions was to discover the disposition of enemy forces, we did as much as the Division and Force Recon Teams to accomplish that mission. The idea was to clandestinely insert a squad sized unit, who would then fan out in the jungle to find the wily NVA. As often as not, the "clandestine" insert resulted in immediate and violent opposition. On 20 March, two aircraft on Mission H-0320-70A, a recon insert, received heavy small-arms fire. As the lead aircraft touched down in the zone, it took eight hits, resulting in four WIA and one KIA in the recon team, and one WIA in the crew. We quickly learned that anything to do with recon would result in an interesting, if not too enjoyable day.

On the twenty-eighth of the month, we lost another of our former squadron members. Cpl. Paul Edward Albano who had transferred to VMO-2 and, on the day of his death, the UH-1 in which he was a crew-member was involved in fighting off an NVA unit which had over-run a Marine company. Although the pilot and one other crew-member died along with Albano, the NVA unit was driven off.

By now school quotas, which were looked on as a bane in the US, were now actively sought. A trip to E&E School in the Phillippines was equivalent to an R&R, a chance to visit a real PX and laze around without any real physical danger.

During the month, the 1498.5 hours flown resulted in the transporting of 6602 troops, 937 passengers, and 1297 tons of cargo, in support of the following operations:

Operation SHINING BRASS 41.2 HRS

Operation DECKHOUSE 6 115.7 HRS

Operation DESOTO 550.7 HRS

In Support of MAG 16 66.4 HRS

Transfers into and out of the squadron continued apace, but would soon slow down as a normal rotation pattern would be established.

April 1- 30, 1967

In April the squadron settled down to what appeared to be a sustainable 1,425.7 flight hours. The availability declined only slightly to 66.1%. The change in the way AOCPs were reported didn't help in the speedy replacements of needed parts. Flight-crew average hovered around seventy hours per month. After a low of three Purple Hearts in March, nine of our Marines were wounded in April. The move to Marble Mountain from Ky Ha on 16 April provided the squadron with amenities that had been previously lacking. We found a well stocked PX, a real O Club and sand, sand, and more sand. We not only tracked sand into our quarters, but consumed it with our food! The winds carried it everywhere, as it drifted into the corners of our barracks and into our beds. We found that plastic bags helped to keep the grit out of our gear. The reflection of the sun from the almost white sand resulted in a permanent squint and the crows feet that appear around most of our eyes even today. The chow improved, and the location on the beach was superb. The little grey crabs scuttling about the beach provided a constant source of amusement. We even had a few surfers, including "Tojo" Toenjes. April Fool's Day saw three HMM-262 and one HMM-165 aircraft on a Sparrow Hawk mission to extract troops from a zone at target area BS352080. On final approach to the zone all four aircraft were hit with small-arms fire. Two aircraft were forced to land at target area BT396169 due to battle damage. One crew member was slightly wounded and the mission was aborted due to continued heavy fire in the zone. The downed aircraft were later recovered. On 5 April a section of aircraft was launched to perform an emergency med-evac at Nui Dong (BS845365). The lead aircraft received small arms hits which resulted in the corpsman's being wounded in the leg. Eight WIAs and four KIAs were extracted from the zone and transported to Delta Med. 6 April saw another combined operation with HMM-165. Seven of our aircraft, together with eight of 165s combined to support a Korean Marine Corps troop lift. In a total of twenty flight hours, 274 KMCs were moved from BS763864 to two separate zones at BS631861 and BS678860. Multiple instances of fire were received without any effect. On the sixteenth, the detachment of six aircraft previously sent to Phu Bai to support Operation Shining Brass returned in time to participate in the movement of the squadron to our new quarters at Marble Mountain Air Facility. 21 April was a big day. A total of 209 sorties were flown, 16,400 lbs of cargo, 479 troops and 16 med-evacs were carried in support of Operation Union. Heavy fire from small-arms, mortars, machine guns and .50 cal weapons was received in the zone at BT052292, resulting in eight aircraft being hit and seven crew members wounded. One aircraft, forced down at Noi Loc Son counted fifty-six bullet holes. Another plane was forced to land at the G-4 pad due to battle damage. On 23-24 April aircraft involved in recon extracts and inserts received enemy fire with no hits on the twenty-third and only one hit on the twenty-fourth During the month, the 1,425.7 hours flown resulted in the transporting of 6,602 troops, and 737 tons of cargo, in support of the following operations: Operation DESOTO 86.0 HRS Operation SHAWNEE 116.1 HRS Operation UNION 78.1 HRS Operation RIO GRANDE 25.6 HRS Operation SEA DRAGON 20.0 HRS SPARROW HAWK OPERATIONS 35.0 HRS Operation SHINING BRASS 126.1 HRS PROJECT DELTA 38.7 HRS. Narrative Summary from the Command Chronology

May 1- 31, 1967

General Westmoreland sent a message to all hands this month, praising our efforts and courage, which read in part, "...Your achievements mark you as the finest men our nation has ever sent into battle; you deserve the honor, the respect and the support of all the American People--...", and we believed it to a man. The C. O. put it another way, "... Each of you has passed through the "valley", and have proven yourselves to be the toughest "Mothah" there. ..." We believed that too! By the beginning of May the pilot strength of the squadron had dropped to 41. A shortage of helicopter pilots would plague the squadron for the rest of the war. Pilots were not the problem this month though, continued heavy usage and combat damage had reduced the aircraft availability to 52.2% Our Marines were relieved to know that, for the most part, it was half way over, that is they had completed six months of a twelve month tour. Later, the tours would be increased to thirteen months, but those who came with the squadron had passed the "hump". The weather, which had been cool, had warmed and everyone was getting ready for a long, hot summer. On the warmer days, pilots found that sweat dropped from their drenched flight suits, ran down the deck, and pooled in the chin bubbles of the aircraft. Two canteens and salt tablets were becoming the order of the day. The CH-53s finally arrived in country along with HMH-463. The group finally had a real heavy lift capability! We would find though, that these big hummers made an inviting target, and that the Marine Corps would later restrict them from entering areas of known hostile fire. Many a time they were ordered to return their loads to the supply point to be broken down to "Frog" size. "Tiger Tales" reminded pilots that their annual flight time reports were coming due. Flight time was not to be a problem. Many pilots were getting pretty close to their annual minimums monthly, and sometimes exceeding them. The most surprised Marine this month was probably Cpl. Joseph "Joe" Jacobs, who saw his M-3 grease gun take a long slow dive from three thousand feet. Joe claimed then, and still claims, that the gun was shot from his hands. Others have told of sighting a VC in black pajamas carrying a gun on each hip who went by the name of "Hop Along" Fong! May the third saw one of those missions that makes everyone feel good. Two aircraft which had launched out of Phu Bai on a normal resupply mission, but were diverted to the 030 radial at 20 miles from channel 69 to pick up an A-4 pilot who had ejected. The pick up was made without incident. Mission H-0508-11Q on the eighth did not go so smoothly though. On an emergency med-evac in support of "Circumstance" ET-43, the leader of a flight of two, received heavy automatic weapons fire at target area AT812623. The aircraft took eight hits and the crew chief and gunner were both wounded and were evacuated to G-4 hospital. The mission was aborted due to continued heavy fire in the zone and declining weather Fire incidents continued to escalate when on the tenth, two aircraft were engaged in an emergency med-evac to extract 20 American WIAs at BT053385. During the approach to the zone, the lead aircraft encountered heavy fire, resulting in 25 hits and sufficient damage to require diverting to a secure zone. Dash Two continued with the lift and, when joined by another aircraft, evacuated a total of 41 WIAs. The squadron was saddened by the of the death of one of our original members Captain Paul T. Looney on 10 May. He had been transferred to HMM-164 in February. He died during an attempted night emergency extract of a surrounded Marine recon team code-named "Breaker" in the vicinity of Khe Sanh in Quang Tri Province. During the extract attempt, conducted under aircraft flares, his aircraft came under heavy fire from automatic weapons, rockets and possibly anti-aircraft fire. Attempts were made to suppress the fire, but the enemy was too well dug in, and after the aircraft had been seriously damaged, the mission had to be aborted. For his part in the action, Captain Looney was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross posthumously. 12 May saw a tragic incident which would have long lasting consequences. Two H-46 aircraft were detailed to shuttle 4,400# of cargo from Ky Ha to Marble Mountain. At about 1430H the number two aircraft, CH-46 buno 147190, was seen to crash into the ocean. The lead aircraft observed the aft pylon to separate from the aircraft prior to crashing into the sea. Cpl. James M. Akstin, Cpl. William F. Clover, 1Lt Henry Gottschalk, and Captain Jay A. Mitchell died in the crash. 1st MAW grounded all of its CH-46 aircraft within two hours of the incident to inspect all pylons for cracks. Subsequent incidents and inspections revealed an inherent weakness in the aft pylon of all CH-46As and a fix would be devised which would require all of our aircraft to be transported to Okinawa for rework. Mission H-0522-68, a flight of two, was launched on the twenty-second for a recon extraction. On approaching the zone at AT945345, "Mohair" 5-4 received fire. The aircraft was struck by two explosive rounds. One entered the pilot's chin bubble and the other took our one engine and one boost system. The pilot realized that the second boost system was failing (Say a prayer!) and landed a AT 902384. The crew was rescued by 5-3 and returned to Marble Mountain. The aircraft was recovered the next day. We lost ET-40 on the last day of the month when, hot refueling at Tam Ky, it caught fire due to a faulty fuel nozzle. The aircraft was a strike, but there were no injuries. During the month, the 1084.8 hours flown resulted in the transporting of 8250 troops, 937 passengers, and 756 tons of cargo, in support of the following operations: Operation UNION 87.5 HRS Operation UNION II 38.1 HRS Operation SHAWNEE 173.3 HRS Operation HICKORY 44.2 HRS Operation DUVAL 1.6 HRS Phu Bai Augmentation 35.7 HRS Sparrow Hawk Operations 14.4 HRS Project Delta 45.0 HRS

June 1- 30, 1967

On June 15, LtCol Ural W. Shadrick turned over command of the squadron to Major Gregory A. Corliss. Bill had been our commander for a year, welded us together as a squadron, and prepared us for the combat role that we were to assume in Vietnam. After our arrival, he shepherded us through the arduous operations that were to follow. We all knew that the change of command was coming, but all hated to see him go. The transition to the new commander was easier than in most cases, since the new Skipper was our old Exec, and the rest of the officers just stepped up one notch to fill the gaps. Continued hard usage was taking its toll on our aircraft. Aircraft availability became a problem. For the first time our numbers for the month dropped below 50%; 49.0% to be exact. Parts were being scavenged to try to meet the schedule, but, of course, this is a losing game. The fewer aircraft that are available, the harder their usage, and the more likely they are to fail. What we needed material support, and a little time to catch up; neither was available. Although availability was down, the squadron continued to operate at increased intensity. As often as not, fire was received during the conduct of a mission and the enemy seemed to be improving in his ability to hit moving targets. On 5 June, a Sparrow Hawk mission was launched to perform an emergency recon extraction of "Chargesheet" at ZC196651. Intense fire was received in the zone. On the eighth, Mission H0608-68A, a recon insert and extraction mission, "Circumstance" was to be inserted at AT943337, but heavy fire was received on the final approach. On the wave off, the lead aircraft was hit twice and was forced to land at An Hoa. The recon team was returned to LZ Finch, and the wingman returned to An Hoa with a maintenance crew. Repairs were made and the damaged aircraft was flown back to Marble Mountain. On the fourteenth, while working in support of Operation ARIZONA, our aircraft performed combat assaults in two separate zones. Fire was received in both LZs, but only one aircraft was hit. On the fifteenth, four aircraft in support of Operation ADAMS, supported another combat assault. One of the aircraft received two hits while picking up med-evacs at BT163332. Recon inserts and extracts were becoming our bread and butter. On the seventeenth, while participating in its second insert of the day, Mission H-0617-68 ET-30 received minor damage from fire-arms while debarking "Coventry" at AT863287. The aircraft returned to Marble Mountain without further incident. On the twentieth of June, we learned of the death of Captain Gary Thurston Porter, a former squadron pilot then flying with HMM-164. He crashed at sea in CH-46A 150936. One other crew member, Lcpl. Leslie Eugene Engelhart died in the crash. No other details were available at the time, but the real cause would become evident later. The last day of the month was much like the days that went before. Mission H-0630-68 involved two CH-46 aircraft tasked for multiple recon inserts and extracts. On the final flight to extract "Killer Kane" and to insert "Commanche" at AT933303, hits were taken on both of the aircraft. One of the aircraft was able to return to Marble Mountain, while the other had to land at An Hoa, where it was repaired after the arrival of a maintenance party and later returned to base. During the month, the 947.5 hours flown resulted in the transporting of 6,012 troops and 151.8 tons of cargo in support of the following operations: Operation CALHOUN 46.7 HRS Operation ARIZONA 16.5 HRS Operation ADAMS 27.7 HRS Operation COLGATE 12.5 HRS Operation UNION II 13.6 HRS Operation BEAR BITE 38.5 HRS Operation LAM SAM 75 9.3 HRS The squadron received a Certificate of Commendation from CG First MAW for meritorious achievement in support of combat operations from 15 December 1966 to 1 June 1967.

July 1- 31, 1967

Aircraft availability continued its precipitous plunge. The average aircraft in an up status for the month was 45.4%, half of what it had been just six months before. The after thrust bearings were beginning to fail, rotor blades had problems, and more ominously, cracks began to appear in the webbing around, and depressions appeared in, the mounting flanges of the aft transmissions. All of this required a lot of blade changing, purging of bearings, and structural repair. We did not know it then, but these were omens of things to come. We had arrived with thirty aircraft, but it now took a major effort to launch a ten plane flight in support of Operation PECOS on the twentieth of July. In spite of the drop in aircraft availability, the flight hours for the month was up slightly over June. As if the Maintenance Department didn't have enough to do keeping the aircraft airborne, they also provided support for the troops in keeping their minor appliances in order. Radios, tape recorders, cameras, coffee pots, sun glasses, cigarette lighters, and all manner of other health and comfort items were regularly repaired by our Avionics Shop. Remember that aside from this, and their regular duties, eighty percent of these avionics technicians regularly flew as aerial gunners. This was just one more example to the Marine Corps looking after its own. Most of us packed up all but the absolute necessities in foot lockers for storage in Okinawa. Everything that we owned that we did not use daily was mildewed or molded and promised to rot away completely if left in this tropical environment. The same thing was happening to our skins, what with heat rash and various fungal diseases. Shipping us out to halt this outbreak was not on the schedule though. We tried to combat the skin problems with sunbathing, and of course this itself caused its own problems, as some of our Marines over-did it and ended up sunburned. By now the rotation tour dates had pretty well stabilized so that there were no longer mass transfers into and out of the squadron. Each month some came and some went, and we each waited our turn. One pilot that arrived this month stood out among the rest. Major Dave "Balls to the Wall" Althoff arrived for his second tour in Vietnam. Dave would later distinguish himself as the first helicopter pilot to be named Aviator of the Year by the Marine Corps Aviation Association. The First MAW was still awarding Certificates of Achievement for 200 Missions, a practice which soon would be abandoned as more and more reached that plateau many times over. Incidents of enemy fire on our aircraft decreased this month as did aircraft damage due to this cause. Evidently constant patrolling by the Grunts an Recon teams was achieving results. This month the squadron began to receive missions titled "Khe Sanh Augmentation"and "Dong Ha Augmentation". Helicopters had operated in and around Khe Sanh and Dong Ha since the days of SHUFLY, but this area would take on increased significance as the battle moved its center into Northern I Corps. The major problem at this time was the long flight from Marble Mountain to this northern operating area. During the month, the 994.3 hours flown resulted in the transporting of 6,446 troops and 203 tons of cargo in support of the following operations: Operation PECOS 82.6 HRS Operation GEM 8.5 HRS Operation SHINING BRASS 13.2 HRS Operation STOCKTON 14.4 HRS Khe Sanh Augmentation 86.2 HRS Dong Ha Augmentation 88.3 HRS Project DELTA 18.8 HRS Sparrow Hawk Operations 16.7 HRS Lt. General Cushman sent the squadron a Letter of Appreciation for our conduct in Operation ARIZONA. He closed the letter with the following sentence, "Well done, and good hunting."

August 1-September 5, 1967

By the fifth of September the aircraft availability was up to 94%. There is no explanation for this great increase in readiness, except that at the end of the month, all aircraft were grounded except for emergency flights. The Command Chronology is missing from 1 through 22 August, 1967. A Command Chronology dated 9 September covers the period 23 August through 5 September. The Tiger Tales for the month was published according to the Chronology, but was not listed as an enclosure to the document, and is not included in our files. A Post Operation report is included which is also dated 9 September. I will attempt to locate the missing report and copies of the Tiger Tales if they are available. During this period, the squadron worked closely with the lst Force Reconnaissance Battalion. Tactics were conceived, attempted, and either discontinued or accepted. Two of the notable things attempted were: (1) covert insertions, inserting a team at first light with no fixed wing prep and no circling the zone. (2) rappelling a reconnaissance team into an otherwise unaccessible zone. In the particular topographical area of our operations, the top one-third of all mountains was covered with thick jungle canopy. Travel there for the enemy was not feasible, but the vantage point to be gained would be of great value to the recon team by virtue of its height above the surrounding terrain. Thus, using Marine air power to create a zone where there was once only canopy, this squadron was the first in Marine Corps Aviation History to rappel a team into a zone, then use the same method for extraction. Our Operations Officer, Major Dave Althoff was involved with the planning and coordination of the units involved and the successful execution of these plans. On 8 August 1967, Major Althoff launched as Section Leader of a flight of two CH-46 helicopters on a mission to conduct several insertions and extractions of Marine reconnaissance teams. Upon arrival at the site of his second insertion, he commenced his approach after fixed-wing aircraft and armed helicopters completed their landing zone preparation. The zone was located on a steep slope, surrounded on three sides by hills and partially obstructed by dead trees. After completing a difficult approach and landing, Major Althoff disembarked his team without incident and lifted out of the zone. As his wingman approached the site to disembark the second half of the team, he came under intense enemy ground fire and was forced to wave off. Informed that enemy troops were only thirty meters from the besieged Marines, Dave realized that an immediate extraction was required due to the critically low fuel supply of both aircraft in the flight. Unhesitatingly commencing his approach, be disregarded the heavy volume of small arms and .50 caliber machine gun fire directed at his aircraft and safely landed in the confined landing zone. Calmly waiting in the fire-swept area, he remained in his precarious position for five minutes until the team extracted itself from the nearby fire fight and boarded the aircraft. Then, demonstrating exemplary airmanship, he lifted out of the zone through the hostile fire and departed the hazardous area. Major Althoff was later awarded a Distinguished Flying Cross for heroism for this mission. The time at last came for the squadron to take its turn as the afloat squadron aboard the LPH at the end of August. Aside from its normal flight schedule, every pilot in the squadron field carrier qualified, both day and night, prior to its embarkation. On the twenty-third of August, the squadron chopped to MAG-15, Ninth Marine Amphibious Brigade. All flights that day were in support of the movement of the squadron to replace the afloat squadron, previously HMM-265. Thirteen of our aircraft performed a parade fly-by at Marble Mountain immediately prior to embarking aboard the USS Tripoli, LPH-10. The twenty fourth was taken up with day and night carrier qualification, a couple of administrative runs, and a flight to check out an LZ at YD400460 for a forthcoming operation. Sixteen crews were day qualified, and fourteen night qualified. The Navy celebrated the 5,000th landing aboard the Tripoli. The crew which established this landmark consisted of Pilot- Captain Floyd Keller, Co-pilot Captain Ron Gatewood, Crew Chief Cpl. Leonard Arbour, and Gunner SSgt. Philip "Andy" Anderson. The twenty-fifth and twenty-sixth consisted of administrative flights and further over-flights of the zone for planning of the up and coming operation. On 27 August, Operation BELT DRIVE began. This operation consisted of a battalion sized assault at two separate zones. The first company size lift touched down in LZ Cardinal at 0656H. The second company was landed at LZ Wren at 0747H. No fire or other reaction was observed on either of these landings. Eight aircraft were used to carry the third company into LZ Cardinal and the first wave of that company landed at 1030H. This lift was completed at 1150H. By now we had stirred up enough interest that fire was received from YD 362456. One aircraft was hit, and we continued to fly med-evac, resupply, and administrative missions for the balance of the day. The Commander, Task Group 79.5 issued a "Well Done" for our preparedness, planning and professional execution of BELT DRIVE. For the next three days, medical evacuation and administration missions were flown in support of BELT DRIVE, and on the thirtieth, four aircraft were provided for Dong Ha Augmentation. 31 August was a sad day. Since we had already had more than one CH-46 disintegrate in the air, everyone was waiting for the other shoe to drop. Many had long suspected there were problems with the structural integrity of the CH-46A, especially the aft pylon. As we continued to fly missions in support of BELT DRIVE, the lead aircraft on a med-evac mission , BuNo 152469 en route to the LPH-10, broke up in the air and the whole crew died along with the one embarked med-evac. There were no survivors. The pilot was Major Lawrence Moyer, co-pilot 2dLt. John Merriman, and the Crew Chief was GySgt. Clement Lajeunesse. The med-evac was PFC Danny Wray Engesser. A similar accident took place at Marble Mountain the following day. Operation BELT DRIVE continued in spite of the accident but at 1035H on 1 September, all ET aircraft were recalled and grounded on their return to the ship. From then to through the fifth of September, our pilots flew as co-pilots in H-34s with HMM-362 and in UH-1s with VMO-6. Operation BELT DRIVE was canceled on 5 September at 2000H. During Operation BELT DRIVE the usual problems expected when a new squadron starts to operate off a carrier. The HDC changed missions without the chance for proper briefing of the crews involved. There were problems with frequencies, and in one lift, pilots who were not night qualified on the carrier were required to complete a lift of troops to the carrier after dark. For the period 23 August - 5 September, HMM-262 flew 386.1 hours, carried 2,447 troops and 82 tons of cargo. 163.4 hours were flown in support of Operation BELT DRIVE, carrying 47.5 tons of cargo and 1,405 troops. The rest of the time was in support of Dong Ha Augmentation and I Corps.

September 6 - 30, 1967

With the aircraft being placed in a status that allowed flights in case of emergencies only, flight operations during this period almost ground to a halt. The pilots continued to fly as co-pilots with VMO-6 until an emergency flight of two CH-46s were launched on the twenty-second. The twenty-third and twenty-fourth saw larger flights, but that was pretty much it for the month. Flight totals for the month fell to what would have been only an average day the month before. A total of 52.2 hours resulted in transporting 70 troops and 47.5 tons of cargo. The squadron did all that it could to keep us busy during this period, substituting training for operations. Most of the squadron fam fired the M-16 this month. Average aircraft availability for the month was 74.5% for the month, for whatever that was worth.

October 1 -31, 1967

Training was still the order of the day. Flight crews studied tactics and amphibious operations. Twenty-three officers and seventy-seven men attended the Jungle Survival School at NAS Cubi Point. The squadron off-loaded in Okinawa on the eleventh to begin the CH-46 MOD program. Also off-loaded were thirty-one aircraft belonging to HMM-165, HMM-164, and HMM-265. On the twelfth, the Tripoli departed for Vietnam with nine aircraft, nineteen pilots, and twenty-five enlisted to provide an emergency medium-lift capability to the SLF. Detachment Alpha, "The Poor Devils", led by Major John Alber, had been formed. Greg Corliss was promoted to LtCol this month and Major Althoff became Executive officer in place of Major Alber. In essence Dave became the OIC of the MOD program, not for just squadron, but for all CH-46s in the Far-East. Under his supervision, our men in the mod program quickly processed the aircraft through the four phases of modification and returned them quickly to all the operating units in Vietnam. The Tripoli returned to Vietnam, but the detachment participated in only one emergency ammo resupply in support of Operation KNOX on the thirty-first, carrying 2.7 tons of cargo in 2.0 flight hours before the ship returned to Okinawa loaded with CH-46s for the MOD Program.

November 1 - 30, 1967

The LPH-10 arrived in Okinawa on the third and flew 1.2 hours in off-loading aircraft and on-loading eight modified aircraft. The Tripoli departed for Vietnam on the fifth of November with nineteen aviators and thirty-one men of Detachment Alpha. With the increased operational capability of the modified aircraft the number of enlisted was increased during the month to an average of fifty-four. The ship arrived at the Phillippines on the eighth and flew administrative and training flights. Carrier qualifications and aerial gunnery flights qualified four crews. Instrument training flights were launched on 9 November. By the Marine Corps Birthday, the Detachment was back in business, providing support to the troops in Vietnam. As a birthday present, one of our precious modified aircraft sustained Charlie damage due to an engine failure. The tempo of operations quickly returned to that experienced before the grounding of the CH-46s on the first of September. On the thirteenth, six aircraft participated in operations in support of Operation BADGERHUNT. ET-49 received minor damage to aircraft components at LZ Hawk and was forced down at An Hoa. Parts to repair the aircraft were transported by additional aircraft. ET-38 was also hit but was able to continue the mission. On 15 November one hundred sorties were flown in support of Operation BADGERHUNT. Another aircraft, ET-33 was downed by enemy fire at AT985523. Repairs were made at the site and the aircraft continued the mission. The following day, still on BADGERHUNT, three aircraft were hit by enemy fire which resulted in the wounding of three crew members. Another aircraft, ET-33, suffered the loss of one engine while on an approach to the refugee camp north-west of An Hoa, and crashed in the zone. There were no casualties, but the aircraft suffered substantial damage. On 19 November another aircraft received battle damage at AT806485 but was able to continue its mission. The following day another aircraft received minor battle damage but was able to complete its mission also. On 22 November, another aircraft received hits from AT819543 and AT970335. If it was not bad enough for the enemy to be shooting at us, one of our own, a grunt accidentally fired a shot which struck one of our aircraft in one of its barrier filters, resulting in foreign object damage to one of its engines. The aircraft was able to return to the ship. Dave Althoff assumed the duties of Officer-in-Charge of Detachment Alpha on the twenty-fourth. He had been chomping at the bit to lead The Poor Devils, and now had his chance. Operations continued at a high level for the rest of the month with aircraft receiving battle damage on the twenty-fifth, the twenty-seventh, and the twenty-eighth. In spite of the press of intense operations, battle damage, and accidents, our small maintenance detachment was able to maintain a creditable 67.6% availability during the period while flying a total of 447.1 flight hours. The squadron participated in one named operation, BADGERHUNT, carrying 5273 troops, 2069 civilians, 54 med-evacs, and 242,480 tons of cargo while expending 275.7 flight hours

December 1, 1967 - January 2, 1968

Now operating from the USS Valley Forge, Detachment ALPHA continued operations in Vietnam for the first two days of the month before the carrier departed for Subic Bay. On arrival there the detachment off-loaded and relocated to NAS Cubi Point. For the next two weeks the "Poor Devils" concentrated on crew training and utility flights in support of the SLF. December 17 saw three crews qualify for carrier operations, both day and night, before departing the next day to return to Vietnam. Routine missions in support of the SLF continued to be flown until the twenty-first when Operation FORTRESS RIDGE commenced at 1000H. This operation was a combined heliborne and seaborne assault on designated landing beaches and Landing Zones Eagle, Robin, and Hawk. The concept was to quickly deploy the Landing Force ashore and secure a base in the area of A-3, just south of the DMZ, from which an aggressive search and destroy operation could be conducted. The intent was to capture or destroy enemy forces, their arms and equipment caches, and to obtain intelligence. At the completion of the operation an amphibious withdrawal was anticipated. The initial landings were to be heliborne in order to make maximum use of the element of surprise. Six CH-46 aircraft, supported by three UH-1s were to deliver elements of the landing force into LZ Hawk flying at high speed and low level immediately following an fixed wing bombardment of the zone controlled by a TACA. Following this the same helicopters would make subsequent lifts into Eagle and Robin to provide a quick buildup of troops ashore. The plan went smoothly and as planned. Because of the size of the Valley Forge's deck, and the few aircraft involved, the loading and departure of troops went quickly, even though three of the assigned aircraft proved to be down on turn up and had to be folded and towed. As usual, with a new carrier in the SLF, some problems were encountered during the operation. The coordination of naval gunfire support was lacking, and the guns fired through designated helicopter lanes. Delays were caused when helicopters had to be diverted around the fire for their own safety. Uncoordinated artillery fired, both naval and field artillery continued to be a problem throughout the war, sometimes resulting in disaster. Another problem which occurred had been repeated often and probably still is. The LPH did not keep enough wind across the deck to provide a safe cushion for heavily laden aircraft. The different missions of Navy and Marine helicopter pilots requires a different approach to the carrier, and Navy pilots are often not experienced at operations at near maximum gross weight. Navy operations people are content to just maintain steerage-way and to disregard the wind, because they are more concerned with the difficulties of the maneuver of the task force than they are the difficulties this causes the pilots. Each new carrier had to learn this lesson during each cruise, since, in most cases, this was all new to the LPH commanding office. For our part, inoperative hooks on some of the aircraft caused delays in handling of externals, and some loads which should have been carried externally were made up as internal loads. On the completion of FORTRESS RIDGE on Christmas Eve, the SLF made preparations for another search and destroy mission styled Operation BADGER TOOTH. This battalion sized operation began at 1100H on 26 December with the landing of the sea borne elements of the battalion across Green beach by LVT's. The landing and subsequent helicopter operations were supported by naval gunfire and fixed wing air. LZ Finch was in close proximity to Green Beach and the heliborne landings were commenced soon after the LZ was secure. The operation was continued until its successful completion on 2 January when the troops were back loaded onto the Valley Forge. No total accounting of flight hours is available for the period covered. The totals for the named operations are as follows: Operation FORTRESS RIDGE 96.8 HRS Operation BADGER TOOTH 127.2 HRS

January 3-31, 1968

Detachment Alpha continued to operate with the SLF until January 10, at which time it with eight aircraft launched to relocate at Quang Tri. At last, the squadron was reunited under the command of Mel Steinberg. Personnel now consisted of thirty-seven naval aviators, five ground officers, and one hundred sixty-seven enlisted. One of the first tasks that had to be accomplished by the squadron on its arrival was to organize and train a reaction platoon to augment the base defense. Primary responsibility for the defense of Quang Tri Base was assigned to 1st Bn. 3rd Marines. Later, the squadrons would be assigned the responsibility for their own defense. The area assigned to our platoon was on the west side of the visiting aircraft mat as shown on the accompanying map. The first actual deployment of the platoon was on the twenty-fourth, when the perimeter was hit by multiple 120 mm rocket rounds. These attacks continued for eight days and included rockets, mortars, recoilless rifle, howitzer, and small arms fire. A total of over 400 high explosive rounds were received during the period covered. On the night of the twenty-seventh, several 120 mm rocket rounds fell within twenty meters of the platoons defensive position, but no casualties were sustained. Only one casualty was received by the squadron by the continuing small arms sniper fire in the working area. Eight aircraft were damaged by incoming. On January 15, the Squadron Civic Action Representatives met with members of the Quang Tri Air Base Civic Action Group to make plans for assisting the local Vietnamese in the celebration of the upcoming lunar new year celebration, Tet. The representatives decided to provide candy, a gift, and a ten piaster coin to each of 505 children of a local school. The mess-hall was to provide a huge cake for the festivities. The gifts were presented by SSgt Stephen E. Daykin, Sgt Joseph DelReal, Sgt Harold L. Collins, Cpl Bernard R. Lee, and LCpl Patrick Benjamin, who received gifts in return, and who attended a program by the children. Little did we know at the time that there were others making more sinister plans for the same date. On the twentieth, while resupplying Hill 881, Captain Bob Ropelewski received a .50 cal hit in his main fuel line. He crash-landed his burning CH-46 in a nearby zone. Two of the crew-members were seriously injured, and the aircraft sustained strike damage. On January 21, the enemy launched the largest sustained offensive yet seen in the two northern provinces. The squadron lost two aircraft in the revetments at Khe Sanh to rocket, artillery, and mortar fire. No casualties were sustained. On the twenty-third, Major Tony Therriault, while attempting to resupply Hill 950, crashed near the zone. There were no casualties, but the aircraft was destroyed. On January the twenty-fifth LtCol Mel Steinberg, his copilot Captain William J. Byrne, crew chief Ernesto Gomez, and his gunner Sgt E. Escarsega, were assigned a medical evacuation mission at Hill 881S. The casualty had a serious head wound. As the aircraft landed, the zone came under heavy mortar fire. Fifty caliber fire began to rake the zone in the vicinity of the casualty and also striking the aircraft. At that point, the Marines who were assisting the badly wounded man to the aircraft, abandoned him and took cover. Unable to see, confused and disoriented, the casualty remained erect and stumbled about the zone. Seeing this, the crew chief, Cpl Ernesto "Gooey" Gomez, departed the aircraft, ran and picked up the wounded Marine and started to return to the chopper. After some yards, Gomez tripped in a small crater and fell. As mortar rounds and machine gun fire continued to rain down, Ernesto used his own body to shield the wounded man from further injury. The gunner of the aircraft, seeing the plight of his crew chief, exited the aircraft, scooped up the casualty and assisted the crew chief in carrying him to the aircraft. All the while, Colonel Steinberg remained in the zone as the aircraft continued to absorb damage. On the crew's return to the aircraft, Mel immediately departed the fire-swept zone for Khe Sanh. On arrival there, Colonel Steinberg determined that the aircraft was unflyable and abandoned the aircraft at Khe Sanh. After repairs performed by Gomez and Cpl Dennis Schneider, the plane was returned to Quang Tri two days later. For his part in this action, Ernesto Gomez was recommended for the Medal of Honor. Colonel Steinberg and his gunner were recommended for the Silver Star, and Bill Byrne for a single mission Air Medal. The medals that were finally awarded were: for Gomez, a Navy Cross; for Steinberg, a DFC; for the gunner; a Silver Star; and for Bill Byrne, the Air Medal. Between the twentieth and the end of the month, twelve squadron aircraft received battle damage ranging from minor to strike damage while flying in support of Operations Scotland, Kentucky, and Lancaster II. No flight totals were available for this period. The weather in the mountains around Khe Sanh was very poor and in one particular incident, Captain Steve Dickey made multiple attempts to evacuate a wounded Marine by hovered in the clouds up the side of Hill 881 until he was driven off by mortar fire. Finally, after dark, Captain R. F. "Yogi" Yeager was able to complete the evacuation on his third attempt to locate the zone in the clouds. Narrative

February 1-29, 1968

The nature of our involvement in the war changed during this month. The attacks on the bases during the closing days of January had been a precursor to what would occur, but no one could predict the actual intensity of what was to follow. During the month, the squadron flew in support of Operations SCOTLAND, NAPOLEON, KENTUCKY and LANCASTER II. Operation SCOTLAND took a heavy toll on aircraft and personnel. While reading the following account of the happenings during February, you will quickly realize that the same names tend to recur, the simple reason being that the number of Helicopter Aircraft Commanders had sunk to an unacceptable low, requiring the same pilots to repeatedly perform hazardous missions without proper rest or relief. The squadron's mission during Operation SCOTLAND was to provide four aircraft by day to provide resupply and medical evacuation to the hill outposts surrounding Khe Sanh, 881, 861, 861A, 558, and 960. Two aircraft were also provided for emergency medical evacuation at night. Weather was one of the major considerations during this period. Early each evening, fog and low clouds would roll in and the conditions were often zero-zero until the following morning. Monsoon conditions often prevented fixed wing cover during the day, resulting in many fire incidents from small-arms, .50 cal. and mortars. Most of the fire and hits were occasioned at or near hill 881. Thirteen aircraft sustained extensive damage on the ground at Khe Sanh from rocket, mortar, and artillery attacks. Eight aircraft received serious damage while in the revetments at the combat base, and had to be externalled to Quang Tri. On the night of February 2, 1968 Major Dave Althoff and his copilot Captain "Fat Charlie" Crookall launched as lead aircraft of a section of two. The pilot of the second aircraft was Captain W. L. Barba; his copilot, Captain Bill Englehart. Their mission was to extract an eight man recon team that was surrounded and pinned down by an estimated 100 regular NVA about five miles west of Dong Ha. The weather was miserable; with rain, low clouds and fog, the flight had to rely heavily on instruments to maintain their attitude and position. Due to the dire circumstances of the team, Dave decided to make an immediate extraction without the benefit of air or artillery support. As the lead aircraft commenced his approach, it came under heavy automatic weapons fire. Undeterred, Major Althoff continued his approach, directed suppressive fire by his gunners on the enemy positions, and successfully landed near the beleaguered Marines. As the recon team loaded, the crew continued to provide suppressive fire and the aircraft continued to sustain damage. The loading complete, Dave lifted from the zone only to encounter an increased volume of enemy fire which resulted in serious damage to the aircraft systems. In spite of severe battle damage Major Althoff was able to fly his aircraft to Dong Ha, where the recon team and the crew was off-loaded. Major Althoff was later to receive the Silver Star Medal for his conduct of this mission. On February 13, Dave Althoff with his copilot Bill Englehart leading a section consisting of Captain "Yogi" Yeager and copilot, Lieutenant Doug Morrison, launched from Khe Sanh on a mission to resupply the hill outposts. While resupplying Hill 881, Althoff's plane came under intense .50 caliber machine gun and other small arms fire, and as he lifted out of the zone, 122mm rocket fire impacted the zone and seriously wounded three Marines. Although the rain of fire continued, Major Althoff and his crew quickly returned to the zone to evacuate the wounded, disregarding their own personal safety in doing so. Dave would later receive the Distinguished Flying Cross for his part in this mission. On the fourteenth, Captain Ronald Lynn Gatewood had no idea that he would have what would be probably the most exciting and exhausting day of his life. Some of the hill outposts around Khe Sanh had not been resupplied for as long as three weeks due to weather. Ron launched with his copilot, First Lieutenant Stephen P. Fickel, on the wing of Major Guy L. Larkin and his copilot, First Lieutenant Mike "Moon" Mullen. This was the regular "RON at Khe Sanh flight"; that is the flight would work the day out of Khe Sanh, remain over night and work the next morning there before returning to Quang Tri. The weather had lifted sufficiently to allow access to all of the outposts, and the NVA were smart enough to realize what would happen next. They had mortars registered on all of the zones and were just waiting for the arrival of the choppers. Knowing this Ron unhesitatingly proceeded to deliver the supplies while receiving intense fire in every zone. He completed fourteen resupply missions that day to Hills 881, 861, 558, and 960. During five resupply missions to Hill 881, conducted under heavy enemy fire, Gatewood sustained severe battle damage to his aircraft from .50 caliber machine gun fire, including rotor blade damage. He returned to Khe Sanh, where supervised repairs and continued the lift. Not only the landing zones were hazardous, the LSA at Khe Sanh received withering fire all day long. Gatewood's aircraft had explosive rounds land near his aircraft while he took on supplies on seven separate occasions. For his part in this mission Ron would later be awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. One can imagine the sigh of relief when Gatewood finally delivered his last load, but as it turned out, his day was not yet done. Larry Larkin meanwhile was having problems of his own. While prudence would have suggested maintaining some altitude under these circumstances, Larry was flying around "Low and Slow." He remembers: "My recollection of the mission on Wed Feb 14th was the normal (if anything can be considered normal?), resupply of Hill 861 & 881. Also, believe we took some stuff up to one of the very high outposts. I recall grinding around at low level, and real slow somewhere near 861 trying to locate an external which had been dropped by others. That particular external contained U.S. Mail for the troops on the hill. We were successful at recovering some mail." "Pickling" a load at these altitudes was not unheard of, but recovering an external of mail which had been jettisoned required whatever measures were necessary. Larry continues: "Mike "Moon" Mullen saved our butts on one of the external drops on Hill 881 (N or S???). I made a very fast, and flat approach with an external of ammo. Kept the speed as long as I could and put on the "air brakes". With the nose up very high, and as the Nr (rotor RPM) went through 88%, (it got pretty quiet), "Moon" pulled the manual release, and placed the external load right on. I recall vividly seeing Mullen's big & powerful right arm, with the T handle in his hand, flashing by somewhere in my upper left peripheral vision." That night the same two aircraft with, Larry Larkin in the lead, were launched on a mission to evacuate four casualties of a Marine Company that had walked into an ambush north-west of Ca Lu. After becoming airborne, the flight learned that the terrain in the pick-up area was rough and uneven, and the casualties would have to be hoisted from the zone. Larry's hoist was inoperative so Ron assumed the lead. On the way to the embattled company Gatewood stopped at Ca Lu to pick up three officers who were to be inserted into the zone. The weather was not good, the visibility was limited, and it was dark. Guided into the hazardous mountain zone by an illumination grenade, and assisted by a flare plane, he commenced his approach. Coming to a steady hover over the zone, he lowered the three officers and remained in this exposed position for twenty minutes despite sporadic enemy small-arms and mortar fire. Only when the four wounded Marines were aboard, did he depart for the medical facility at Dong Ha. For his bravery, skill and leadership, Ron would later be awarded his second Distinguished Flying Cross in a single day of flying. Larkin figured by this point that the whole flight needed a good nights rest, " We then flew on down to Quang Tri to refuel. I recall calling the ProvMag 39 command bunker & requesting that we be permitted to remain at Quang Tri overnight?? Negative, return to Khe Sanh. We landed at the revetments at a pretty quiet Khe Sanh, about midnight as I recall, and headed for the CB (SeaBee) bunker(s)." On February 15, the long mission resumed. Larry Larkin continues his narrative: "The next morning, as the fog was lifting, we briefed for the mission(s) of the morning, and headed across the field (runway) to man the aircraft. Because the fog was lifting, the NVA/VC spotters were ready to start their day of work. Just as we (the flight crews were out in the open) Khe Sanh received several rounds of incoming arty. Either one or two of Ron Gatewood's crew members took shrapnel. Once we got to the other side to the revetments, we observed that Ron Gatewood's H-46 had the front glass of the cockpit blown away. The HMM-262 wounded was placed in their medical unit. "Due to the urgency of the fragged missions, "Moon" Mullen, the rest of my crew & I manned our good H-46 and "went to work". I do not recall exactly what we did, but recall some resupply and some medevac work. After some work, not sure how many hours we logged that morning, it was necessary to take on fuel. While setting at the TAFDS single point (refueling) area several rounds came in. One of them hit very close off the port side of the aircraft. Although it rocked the bird, and blew windows out (not sure why that particular aircraft had windows intact), we disconnected, and went airborne. Shortly thereafter, we were relieved, loaded Ron Gatewood's crew, including the wounded crew member, and headed for Dong Ha, and Quang Tri." Larry was also awarded a Distinguished Flying Cross for his actions on the fourteenth and fifteenth, but at this date, he is not sure for which specific actions. On February 17, probed the defenses of Quang Tri Air field with a force of approximately two platoons, but were driven off. Personnel in the living area continued to be plagued by sniper fire and one of our Marines was wounded. On February 20, again flying out of Khe Sanh, Major Althoff with his copilot, Lieutenant William A. Murphy, his wingman W. L. Barba, and Barba's copilot, Captain Brascal "BB" Cole, were engaged in a resupply mission at Hill 881 when the landing zone came under intense .50 cal machine gun fire. A Marine in the zone received serious wounds and required immediate evacuation. Dave, ignoring the enemy fire proceeded directly to the zone and remained there while the aircraft was pummeled by hostile fire until the wounded man was loaded aboard. He lifted from the zone and delivered the Marine to a medical facility. For this action Dave received another DFC. On the same day as the above incident, Ron Gatewood with his copilot Captain George Otto launched as the flight leader of a section which included the CO, Mel Steinberg, whose copilot was Steve Fickel, for a routine Khe Sanh Tet resupply which meant 50 cal and mortars in the LZ. The rules of engagement (we didn't call them that during those days) were that we would not resupply the hills unless we had gun ships and/or fixed wing on station. If the Marines on the hills didn't get water and ammo, they would have been over-run. But as usual when the flight started resupplying the hills - especially Hill 881, the NVA guns and mortars on the ridge line across the way that would come alive. If we had Huey gun ships or fixed wing attacking while the flight made its approach it usually did not take fire. During the most intense times, if gun ships were not working the ridge line to the NW, one could count on mortars in the zone. Gatewood recalls: "We were resupplying when the gun ships ran out of ammo or their replacements didn't arrive on station. I told the regimental ALO that my section would not resupply 881 anymore until we receive more gun ship support and close-air support. Mel either didn't hear me tell the ALO we required gun support or he ignored the requirement. Probably the latter as we all did most of the time - further more he was the CO. Mel continued to resupply 881 et al even though he was taking heavy fire each time he went into the zone. Mel continued to make approaches into the hot zones receiving intense 50 cal and mortars each time. We had more medevacs and Mel answered the call from the FAC. I thought to myself, "Well,**** - he's the CO, if he is going to go into the hills, them I must go also" We made another trip or two until he got shot up and the rest is history". After completing several resupply mission Ron received a call that an emergency medevac was required at Hill 881. Although Colonel Steinberg's aircraft had already received battle damage in the same locale, Gatewood began his approach to the site. He was immediately taken under fire, accepting the damage during the approach and the loading of the wounded Marine. Once the casualty was loaded aboard, he expeditiously departed the zone, and delivered the Marine to a medical facility. Gatewood was later to receive the Air Medal for this mission In the early afternoon of February 24, the enemy fired four 122mm rockets at the squadron flight line, but the missiles over-flew their target, landing in the village across the Thach Han River. This was followed later that evening with a small unit probe of our lines which came to naught. On February the twenty-eighth, a shocking event took place. One of our aircraft was shot down at (XD916522) while en route to Khe Sanh, resulting in a total of twenty-one deaths, all of those embarked. The combat chronology for that month sets the total at twenty three, but extensive research has indicated that number is probably erroneous. Only twenty-four Marines died in Quang Tri Provence that day, and three of these, all 0311's are listed as ground casualties. The narrative which follows was provided by Corporal Kellan "K-Bar" Kyllo, 1966-1968, crewchief of the lead aircraft of a mission involved two HMM-262 aircraft that launched from Quang Tri with the destination of Khe Sanh for the purpose of taking a recovery crew to repair an A/C at the Khe Sanh Combat Base: "... Fred Benigni was the crewchief (of the chase aircraft) but I don't remember which men were the two gunners, the extra crewmembers were members of the recovery team. I was in the lead plane. The HAC (helicopter commander of the lead aircraft) was Capt. Conroy. Major Meixner commanded the chase plane. My aircraft had just crossed over a ridge at tree top level that was thick blanket of fog. When the chase plane crossed the ridge at almost that same spot, the aircraft radioed that they had taken automatic weapons fire. There were no further communications. The aircraft then banked to the right and started to descend towards the valley at a high rate of speed. There was a yellow-white fire in the aft of the cabin that could be seen through the cabin portholes. The fire moved towards the front of cabin and consumed the entire cabin. The aircraft hit the valley floor at full speed. The crash extinguished the fire. We circled around the crash site and considered landing with the Marines we had aboard and looking for survivors. The pilot requested fixed wing support and was told that it wouldn't be available until that afternoon, so we returned to Quang Tri. When a team from another squadron returned to the crash site they said Danny Gard was still alive, we were told he died that next day." LtCol M. J. Steinberg, the Commanding Officer of the squadron, offered the following amplification: "...The pilots of that ill fated aircraft were Major Ed Meixner and Capt Robert Sevell. There were other personnel on board who were not members of HMM-262. They were getting a ride to Khe Sanh. The mission that day was to bring a repair crew to Khe Sanh to recover a battle damaged CH-46 from HMM-262. It was our practice to take a direct route to Khe Sanh but the VC and NVA spotted this route and set up automatic weapons in strategic locations to direct large volumes of fire on our aircraft. To counteract the VC, we altered our flight path to approach Khe Sanh from another direction. The VC spotted this and again set up automatic weapons to shoot at our aircraft. Our aircraft took numerous hits and crashed in flames with one survivor who died later that evening at the Dong Ha medical facility. There was a magnificent effort to recover the crew with 3rd Division marines helicoptered in to set up a perimeter defense around the crash site and VMO-6 providing air cover. If necessary, fixed wing aircraft were standing by. We were not going to leave any one behind. Dave Althoff flew the medevac aircraft picking up the entire crew. Our Flight Surgeon, Drew Morris was with the rescue force to provide immediate medical care...." By the end of the month, it became apparent that new tactics would have to be instigated to ensure the successful completion of our mission while attempting to minimize damage and casualties. The "Strike System" was devised to better resupply the hill outposts around Khe Sanh. The system consisted of an extensive area preparation with fixed-wing aircraft preceded with CS (Tear Gas) and smoke to conceal the flight of eight CH-46 aircraft going into the same zone in rapid succession. Fixed-wing cover continued during the approach and retirement of the helicopters. Weather was a complicating factor in attempting a strike of this nature. In some cases the helicopters were required to carry external loads in IFR conditions in order to reach their destinations. The destination weather had to be VFR with ceilings high enough for fixed-wing support for this all to work. Luckily, changing weather generally provided breaks in the weather to provide sufficient supplies and support for the outposts.

March 1-31, 1968

The strike system devised at the end of February continued to provide a workable solution to the resupply of the hill outposts surrounding Khe Sanh. We continued to be plagued with bad weather which often required the aircraft to climb out IFR, often with external loads, and join up on top prior to departing on a mission. More often than not, the aircraft continued to receive high volume enemy fire on the run-in to the zones. In addition to the resupply missions, we flew multiple recon inserts and extracts. Both fixed wing and UH-1 gunship support were utilized on these missions. The close support of the Hueys while in and around the zone was quite effective in suppressing enemy fire. On March 8, LtCol Mel Steinberg, while flying an emergency resupply mission out of Khe Sanh, was notified to divert to an emergency medevac mission to pick up casualties at Charlie Med at Khe Sanh. He landed and picked up seven wounded Marines while rockets rained down on the landing zone. On lift-off, it was determined that the number one boost and number one SAS were off-line due to battle damage. Even so, Mel decided to attempt to fly to Dong Ha rather than return and land at Charlie Med which was still under fire. Maintaining low level flight because of the boost problem, the aircraft came under fire from a location at the base of Hill 950. Steinberg called for fixed-wing support, and so covered, continued to Delta Med at Dong Ha. On March 14, while resupplying Hill 861, Captain Greg Rengel with Captain Stephen Stegich as copilot, took hits in the cockpit, cabin, and engines, resulting in loss of both engines. Greg flew aircraft to the best of his ability to a controlled crash which prevented the loss of any lives. Major Althoff made an immediate landing in the vicinity to evacuate the crew. Both pilots had to be evacuated to the United States due to their injuries. On the fifteenth, the only attack of the month occurred at Quang Tri airfield. Twenty-one 122mm rockets were fired into the base, with no injury to personnel or damage to aircraft. On March 25, while attempting to extract the recon team "HARBOUR QUEEN", LtCol Steinberg took numerous hits and immediately lifted out of the zone, streaming transmission oil from his forward transmission. He executed a successful emergency landing two miles west of Dong Ha. His wingman, Major Herman R. Bolen, landed and evacuated Steinberg and his crew. Another aircraft extracted "HARBOUR QUEEN" at 2330 the same night. Mel's aircraft was repaired and returned to Quang Tri the following day. On the twenty-eighth, Captain Clayton S. "Snoopy" Snear Jr. with Captain Donald J. Hager as copilot received battle damage which resulted in the loss of both engines and the number one boost. Clay autorotated the aircraft to a safe landing in enemy territory. The crew removed the guns and radios from the aircraft and were extracted by helicopter. The continued flying into hostile fire during the last two months was taking its toll in both men and material. Aircraft could not be repaired or replaced as quickly as they were being damaged or destroyed. During a 60 day period there were a total of 43 casualties, 21KIA, and five evacuated to the states. At the end of the month, the squadron had only eleven Helicopter Aircraft Commanders. Finally the arrival of eight CH-46D, alleviated the aircraft problem for a while, but shortages of aircraft and experienced air-crews would plague the squadron for some time.