Five Slicks Shot Down
In November 1968, while in D Troop, 3rd Squadron, 4th Cavalry of the 25th Infantry Division, I flew front seat in Cobra Helicopters on some occasions. On one afternoon, Clay Maxwell asked if I was available to fly the front seat of a Cobra to go out in a flight of two Cobras to cover and protect the picking up a group of infantry men. The 25-30 infantry men were part of our unit and had been inserted earlier in the day to check out an area for enemy activity. We went out with our flight of 2 Cobras and 5 Slicks. A Slick is a troop carrying helicopter, which carries up to 8 troops in addition to a crew of 4. We called ahead and found out that the troops were waiting in the pickup zone for the helicopters.
In flight school they had told us that there are some basic "cardinal rules" that you do not violate if you want to stay alive. Two of those rules were, 1. that you do not use the landing zone where you put the troops in as the pickup zone, and 2. that you do not allow the troops to get to the pickup zone and wait for the helicopters. The reason for these rules is that if you do these dumb things the enemy will figure out that helicopters are coming to pick up the troops and are likely to set in place an ambush for the helicopters. Both of those rules had been broken on this occasion. Just as the warning goes, there was an ambush in the waiting. So from about 1500 feet above the ground we watched the 5 Slick Helicopters go in and hover low to pick up the troops. As soon as the troops were in the helicopters, mortar rounds started hitting them and rocket propelled grenades were fired into the aircraft. Four of the 5 helicopters were shot down on the spot, and never left the ground. One helicopter, though wounded, was able to take off but only flew about 1 kilometer before it went down from the damage it had received. For the next few minutes confusion really reigned. Most of the troops and the crews made it out of the helicopters. There were a few dead and many wounded. The gun ships fired in their support while the surviving troops on the ground set up a perimeter. The armored cavalry squadron was just a few miles up the road. They came charging down the road and out into these rice paddies with their armored personnel carriers and tanks to help secure our people. The cavalry really came to the rescue!! The severely wounded and dead were extracted that night and the next day we were able to get the others out.
There are many rules or commandments that we are given that we should not break. And just as the "cardinal rules" were given to us for our safety and protection, the commandments are given to us for our safety and protection. Many have fallen victim when they have broken the commandments that a loving Heavenly Father has given to his children. Our safety lies in following the commandments!!
In flight school they had told us that there are some basic "cardinal rules" that you do not violate if you want to stay alive. Two of those rules were, 1. that you do not use the landing zone where you put the troops in as the pickup zone, and 2. that you do not allow the troops to get to the pickup zone and wait for the helicopters. The reason for these rules is that if you do these dumb things the enemy will figure out that helicopters are coming to pick up the troops and are likely to set in place an ambush for the helicopters. Both of those rules had been broken on this occasion. Just as the warning goes, there was an ambush in the waiting. So from about 1500 feet above the ground we watched the 5 Slick Helicopters go in and hover low to pick up the troops. As soon as the troops were in the helicopters, mortar rounds started hitting them and rocket propelled grenades were fired into the aircraft. Four of the 5 helicopters were shot down on the spot, and never left the ground. One helicopter, though wounded, was able to take off but only flew about 1 kilometer before it went down from the damage it had received. For the next few minutes confusion really reigned. Most of the troops and the crews made it out of the helicopters. There were a few dead and many wounded. The gun ships fired in their support while the surviving troops on the ground set up a perimeter. The armored cavalry squadron was just a few miles up the road. They came charging down the road and out into these rice paddies with their armored personnel carriers and tanks to help secure our people. The cavalry really came to the rescue!! The severely wounded and dead were extracted that night and the next day we were able to get the others out.
There are many rules or commandments that we are given that we should not break. And just as the "cardinal rules" were given to us for our safety and protection, the commandments are given to us for our safety and protection. Many have fallen victim when they have broken the commandments that a loving Heavenly Father has given to his children. Our safety lies in following the commandments!!
posted by Bruce | 2:47 PM
1 Comments:
Good story, but I wonder if those that died that day, realized that they were breaking a "cardinal commandment." Maybe their bosses knew, but did the soldiers that died know?
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