Joe Hight

Joe was my room mate in Tay Ninh. When we initially arrived there to take part in the invasion of Cambodia, we lived in a tent with 12 other pilots. It was hot and horrible. I have refused to sleep in a tent since that time. That was 1970 and Joe was on his third tour of Vietnam. He was the Aircraft Maintenance Office in Command and could fly Hueys, Cobras and the Hughes 500C that we used as scouts on hunter killer teams. By that time, Joe had pretty much seen and done every thing a helicopter pilot could do. As a maintenance officer, he had a ton of connections in Saigon and before I knew it, we were out of the tent and moving into a 40 foot long cargo trailer that Joe had managed to get from his buddies in Saigon.

Joe had it spotted on the airfield where all the helicopters were parked. It was a perfect target for the NVA and the Viet Cong but we had revetments all around and only a direct hit on our trailer would have taken us out. He found a refrigerator so we had cold cokes. He also managed to get some fans from the PX so we had moving air that helped with the 100 degree heat. He managed to get his hands on a shipping crate for rotor blades and before long, we had our own outhouse. Joe made sure we lived better than anyone else on the base. It was as good as it could get in a combat zone.

As a maintenance officer he had a lot of test flights that were required before the helicopters could be released for combat. I became his test pilot and flew a lot of different helicopters to make sure they were okay. During that time, I had opportunities to talk to Joe about his previous tours. The following is my favorite story of the war.

During Joe's second tour, he had to fly Cobra gun ships to Saigon to have the avionics worked on. On the north side of Saigon where the river makes several turns, there was an area that looked like a key hole. It became known to all pilots and air traffic controllers as "The Keyhole". It was very close to MACV headquarters which was somewhat similar to the Pentagon of South Vietnam. All the fat cats were stationed there.

The South Vietnamese Army had an officers club there and by the time Joe landed and delivered his cobra to the avionics shop, he discovered that  he would have to spend the night in Saigon. Since it was always hot, Joe went to the ARVN officers club to get a cold drink. Unfortunately, they refused to let him in. We were dying by the hundreds during 1968 and Joe was furious that they wouldn't let him in.

During Tet of 68 Joe was called to Saigon to help repel the NVA and VC that had already entered the city. As he flew over the Keyhole enroute to the area that was requesting gunships, he looked down and saw the ARVN officers club. He rolled the Cobra over, attacked the officers club and put a pair of 2..75 high explosive rockets through the front door. With that story and some I had learned earlier when I was flying Nighthawk Gunships with the 199th Light Infantry Brigade, I learned the Jumpin' Joe Hight rules of engagement.  They served me well.

I could write a book about Joe but time doesn't permit that today. I have to go to the hospital to visit a friend who is here from Leesville. I hope this story will allow you to appreciate the kind of character Joe was. He was a fine man, husband, father and friend. I will miss him and so will so many men from the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment. So long old friend.