Top Cat - the Real "TC"
Some years ago there was a television show called “Magnum P.I.”. In the show there was a helicopter, piloted by a black fellow whose initials were T.C. and, in the show he was called “T.C.”. When I was Vietnam my second tour we had the real “T.C.!!
The history of “T.C.” was that he was an enlisted man and went to Vietnam in 1964. Rather than coming home when he finished his tour at the end of the year, he stayed until 1968. During that period of time he took R&R’s but that was it. When he returned to the states in 1968 he went to flight school and became a Warrant Officer. Virtually everyone that went through flight school at that time went to Vietnam with completion of the schooling. So in 1969 T.C. returned to Vietnam as a helicopter pilot.
T.C. became a Cobra pilot and stayed in Vietnam from 1969 to 1972 and I was in the same unit with him. Early in my second tour I flew several times with T.C. Many pilots in the unit had nicknames and T.C. was short for “Top Cat”. He was known as Top Cat because he was the coolest black cat around and he lived up to the name. He was one of our few black pilots.
On one of the first flights I had with TC, we were covering a Scout helicopter and things were pretty quiet. I was in the front seat and TC was flying the back seat of the Cobra. After a while TC told me, “You have the controls.” We were still supposed to be covering the Scout, which was my job in the front seat while TC flew the aircraft. So now TC was going to have me fly the aircraft and as I took the controls I thought TC must have something important he needed to do. I continued to closely watch the Scout until I smelled something I didn’t recognize at first. In the front seat of the Cobra there is a small rear view mirror that the front seat pilot can use to look at the back seat pilot. So I looked in the mirror to see what TC was doing. In the back seat I saw TC with his helmet tipped back on the back of his head, his dark shades on, and him peeling an orange! At that point I said, “TC, what happens if the Scout needs us?” TC answered, “You better take care of it!”
On another occasion while flying with TC, he asked me if I had ever shot rockets from ten thousand feet. We normally shot rockets from two to four thousand feet so I had never shot rockets from ten thousand feet. TC said, “Lets go do it!” We climbed to ten thousand feet, had the Scout throw out a smoke grenade and we dove at about an eighty degree angle shooting rockets. It was a wild ride with TC.
TC’s reputation was pretty far and wide around Vietnam. On another flight with TC we were sent to protect a flight of ten Hueys (troop carrying helicopters) as they made an insertion into an enemy area. Well, the enemy was not supposed to be too bad so no one was too nervous. That changed after TC said to me, “Watch this!” Pilots say, “watch this” when they are about to do something wild and crazy. TC had about thirty five hundred combat hours in a Cobra and he was about to do something really wild and crazy.
Normally Cobra’s protect the flight from above and behind because they can shoot from there and suppress enemy fire. At the point TC said, “Watch this”, we were above and behind the flight of Hueys. We now started a rapid descent behind the flight. When the flight reached an altitude of about seventy-five feet above the ground, we were about thirty feet above the ground and behind them. At that point TC started firing rockets under the flight. The rockets flew under the flight and came out in front of them and started hitting the ground. The rocket motors were still burning when they passed under the flight and they could see the rockets flashing by and impacting in front of them in the landing area. The lead helicopter pilot called with a shaky voice and asked, “Is that you TC?” People in other units knew that only TC would do wild and crazy things like that. He was the only one that had the skills and nerve to do that!
I have always wondered if the character “TC” in “Magnum P.I.” was named after the real McCoy, Top Cat of the D Company, 229th Aviation Battalion, 3rd Brigade 1st Cavalry Division. He was a cool cat and deserved the name. Jim Ware was one great Snake Pilot (Cobra pilot).
The story that I was told when I joined the unit was that TC struggled through flight school and barely made it. But TC kept trying until he became not only a great Cobra pilot but a very respected and good friend to all. It doesn’t matter whether we are top in our class or not. What matters is whether we give up or keep trying to do our best. If we keep trying and do our best we will some day become a “Top Cat”!
The history of “T.C.” was that he was an enlisted man and went to Vietnam in 1964. Rather than coming home when he finished his tour at the end of the year, he stayed until 1968. During that period of time he took R&R’s but that was it. When he returned to the states in 1968 he went to flight school and became a Warrant Officer. Virtually everyone that went through flight school at that time went to Vietnam with completion of the schooling. So in 1969 T.C. returned to Vietnam as a helicopter pilot.
T.C. became a Cobra pilot and stayed in Vietnam from 1969 to 1972 and I was in the same unit with him. Early in my second tour I flew several times with T.C. Many pilots in the unit had nicknames and T.C. was short for “Top Cat”. He was known as Top Cat because he was the coolest black cat around and he lived up to the name. He was one of our few black pilots.
On one of the first flights I had with TC, we were covering a Scout helicopter and things were pretty quiet. I was in the front seat and TC was flying the back seat of the Cobra. After a while TC told me, “You have the controls.” We were still supposed to be covering the Scout, which was my job in the front seat while TC flew the aircraft. So now TC was going to have me fly the aircraft and as I took the controls I thought TC must have something important he needed to do. I continued to closely watch the Scout until I smelled something I didn’t recognize at first. In the front seat of the Cobra there is a small rear view mirror that the front seat pilot can use to look at the back seat pilot. So I looked in the mirror to see what TC was doing. In the back seat I saw TC with his helmet tipped back on the back of his head, his dark shades on, and him peeling an orange! At that point I said, “TC, what happens if the Scout needs us?” TC answered, “You better take care of it!”
On another occasion while flying with TC, he asked me if I had ever shot rockets from ten thousand feet. We normally shot rockets from two to four thousand feet so I had never shot rockets from ten thousand feet. TC said, “Lets go do it!” We climbed to ten thousand feet, had the Scout throw out a smoke grenade and we dove at about an eighty degree angle shooting rockets. It was a wild ride with TC.
TC’s reputation was pretty far and wide around Vietnam. On another flight with TC we were sent to protect a flight of ten Hueys (troop carrying helicopters) as they made an insertion into an enemy area. Well, the enemy was not supposed to be too bad so no one was too nervous. That changed after TC said to me, “Watch this!” Pilots say, “watch this” when they are about to do something wild and crazy. TC had about thirty five hundred combat hours in a Cobra and he was about to do something really wild and crazy.
Normally Cobra’s protect the flight from above and behind because they can shoot from there and suppress enemy fire. At the point TC said, “Watch this”, we were above and behind the flight of Hueys. We now started a rapid descent behind the flight. When the flight reached an altitude of about seventy-five feet above the ground, we were about thirty feet above the ground and behind them. At that point TC started firing rockets under the flight. The rockets flew under the flight and came out in front of them and started hitting the ground. The rocket motors were still burning when they passed under the flight and they could see the rockets flashing by and impacting in front of them in the landing area. The lead helicopter pilot called with a shaky voice and asked, “Is that you TC?” People in other units knew that only TC would do wild and crazy things like that. He was the only one that had the skills and nerve to do that!
I have always wondered if the character “TC” in “Magnum P.I.” was named after the real McCoy, Top Cat of the D Company, 229th Aviation Battalion, 3rd Brigade 1st Cavalry Division. He was a cool cat and deserved the name. Jim Ware was one great Snake Pilot (Cobra pilot).
The story that I was told when I joined the unit was that TC struggled through flight school and barely made it. But TC kept trying until he became not only a great Cobra pilot but a very respected and good friend to all. It doesn’t matter whether we are top in our class or not. What matters is whether we give up or keep trying to do our best. If we keep trying and do our best we will some day become a “Top Cat”!
posted by Bruce | 4:21 PM
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