I met a Bn commander today who had the 2nd/12 during portions of 68. He was telling me of his experiences flying in his C&C. Remembered the pilot well but that was all. I was at Quan Loi when he had that Bn. Nice guy.
I read an email the other day and their was a comment, "I don't remember the gunner's name. " Sorry to say I can't remember most of them either but I wrote this because it just seemed the right thing to do.
Clay Greager
The Door Gunners of Flying Circus
Landing Zone Betty, Quaking Tri Providence, Republic of South Vietnam 1968
I arrived at Landing Zone Betty sometime during April of 1968. I was assigned to a helicopter scout platoon, called "Flying Circus," the unit was attached to Headquarters 1st Brigade, 1st Air Cavalry Division (Airmobile) . The aircraft used for scouting were OH-13's which stood for light observation helicopters. Their primary mission was to scout an assigned area of operations and provide information for the infantry, just like in the days of the horse cavalry. They worked relatively independent of any direct supervision and pretty much did what they wanted. The crew consisted of two people, the pilot who sat on the left and the gunner who sat on the right, he was armed with an M-60 machine gun that was modified to fire as fast as possible and shortened by cutting the flash suppresser off which made it easier to handle inside the cockpit and also made a much louder noise. The aircraft were very old and slow. Due to there old age the H-13's had a hard time even getting off the ground and trying to hold a hover was almost impossible. Imagine hovering over an enemy position and hearing the engine begin to bleed off Because of this the crews traded personal armor for ammunition. Besides it was just to hot to wear regardless of the protection it would give. The only protection for the crew was the machine gun that the gunner used and the flying skills of the pilot.
When I arrived most of the platoon was still in A Shau valley. That was a major offensive that the entire division had participated in and the result was a tremendous amount of enemy killed and equipment captured. It also took it's toll on the scout platoon for they lost two people to hostile fire during that assault. The mood of the platoon was somber and distant and being new I wasn't sure how I would be treated. It was a very diversified platoon, it also had several Huey helicopters to support the ground commanders and these aircraft were called Command and Control helicopters, the others of course were the scouts using the H-13's. The scouts flew constantly, both early morning dawn and evening dusk missions to check on enemy activity, anytime enemy contact was reported they would also respond to suppress and eliminate the enemy troops, additionally they were constantly scouting and answering to the whims of the commanders. Scouting was an every day, every hour job. No matter what the situation was it seemed that the scouts were always first on location. The phrases "scouts up" and "gooks in the open" were often heard and during those times the scouts were operating at their other limits both physically and psychologically. Never again for the rest of their lives would they be able to reach those heights.
This story is about the gunners. The gunners who only flew in those old and slow H-13's. I logged over 150 hours in those aircraft but that was only a fraction of what the regular gunners flew. As Platoon Sgt I had the responsibility of scheduling those young soldiers. Some were good and some were not, no one could tell whether or not a new gunner would make it regardless of what they looked like or said. The only test was flying a mission, that was their audition for lack of a better phrase. Not all made it. This is about the ones that did! When a new gunner was going on a new mission they seemed to always ask if it was a training mission. The answer was always the same, "There are no dress rehearsals in Scouts! "
They sat on the right side of the pilot. Generally they turned sideways and faced out to provide as much protection as they could. The logic was that if the pilot got wounded there would be no way for the aircraft to stay in the air and that was always uppermost on the gunners minds, in reality it was a very real fear, the 13's took both hands and both feet to fly. They had to use their bodies as shields in addition to trying to focus and spot the enemy. There was little room for mistakes or panic. They would spend a lot of time leaning far outside the chopper, firing their machine guns as rapidly as they could, throwing hand grenades when they had the chance and dropping smoke grenades to mark the enemy locations and trying to kill before getting killed. Seeing enemy tracer rounds coming up from the enemy only intensified the situation. They couldn't turn away they couldn't close their eyes, they could only react. There was absolutely no logic in what they did. If they used logic they never would have flown. Scouts always flew very low and very slow. These young men would generally always see the faces and eyes of the men they shot, always see the blood on their bodies as they tried to run away, saw the panic as they would try to stand up and watch the tremors in their legs as they died. They did this time and time again and didn't realize they were doing something that only a very few soldiers would ever experience. And they did it for a long time, almost all of their one year tour. As a matter of fact it became routine. Jump in the helicopter, check the weapon, set back and enjoy the ride knowing that within a few minutes he would probably be taking enemy fire. He did it almost stoically even animated at times. Upon returning from these missions they generally would go to their bunkers and begin to clean their weapons. Sometimes they would join in with the rest of the platoon to drink beer when it was available but mostly hung around with their pilots or by themselves. It seemed that they were unafraid but that was far from the truth. They knew and felt fear but somehow it was masked. The best way I can explain that is I once heard a doctor say that the brain had a way of protecting itself and when things became really bad it just shut down! It seemed that these gunners just acted more on reflex than thought. They seldom were singled out for any medals and yet they were all heroes time and time again. Based on what they did over a long period of time they all should have received and certainly qualified for the Medal of Honor.
When the H-13's were replaced with the new and more modern OH-6's it all changed. The pilots now could control the fire power with their mini-guns and the door gunners became a part of the aircraft. It certainly didn't diminish what they did, it was just different.
These young men left Vietnam and were never heard from again. Not even the pilots they flew with know where they are or how they are. I did run into one gunner that said, "I often wondered if it really happened the way I remember it, I don't think it could have been like that, it just wasn't normal."