How's that for a title? "Supporters, Detractors, Education, Ignorance and Stupidity"!!!
I think it's most appropriate as I have recently received some comments from detractors who don't want to hear about the modern day threat from traitors which is clearly where this post will end up. I can't help what the past has delivered any more than I can help what's going on today. Despite that, sometimes people don't want to hear the evidence of things as it might violate their sense or belief in certain things.
I've also received notes from a very well educated historian who helps me with the accuracy of these ramblings. It's not like I'm doing this alone and I want you to know that I do have help with the details even if the help comes after I make the post.
Being somewhat discouraged by a couple of comments from the detractors, I almost decided to quit writing. Despite that, I had a very uplifting comment from my former mentor in flight school that has helped me to get off the "Quit" portion of my thought process and get back on track with the delivery of things that I feel are so important.
He told me that his daughter has been copying the posts and sharing them with her boss who seems to really appreciate the content and the opinion. He and she are not the only ones. It seems that there are many who want me to continue and I have decided to do exactly that.
I want to cover that part of the title that cites education, ignorance and stupidity before continuing with the main scope of things.
There's an old saying down here that goes like this: "There's a big difference between Education and Intelligence just as there is a big difference between ignorance and stupidity". I've used that saying many times before and almost always was successful in applying that kind of statement in specific circumstances.
Let's use Jane Fonda as an example. In today's day and time, where so much information is available at your fingertips, how could you possibly defend anything about Jane Fonda relative to her political activism or treason?
If you have not gained an education about Jane Fonda, you have, in a real sense, remained ignorant of the overwhelming volume of information about her.
All you have to do to cure the problems surrounding ignorance of anything, is to get an education about it. If you don't, and you rock solidly defend her, you are simply stupid.
What's that other saying? "Ugly is only skin deep but stupid goes all the way to the bone". Yeah, that's it.
In any event, my big brother keeps me out of trouble here and I value his suggestions to stay within the lines.........so to speak. I also value Mark's comments because he prevents me from putting out things that are inaccurate. Examples of Bernie's daughter copying the blog and sharing the posts with her boss, is also something of great value to me. With all those things in mind, I have decided to do one of those side step things and place a different editorial in place instead of continuing with the traitor posts.
I will get back to the posts regarding traitors but before I do that, I want to tell a story about a covert operation that I was privy to many years ago. It has to do with traitors but not traitors within our borders. This one came from Haiti and his name was Raoul Cedras.
Before I get into the post, I would ask that you keep an open mind about it, take a quick look at the map of Guatemala, Puerto Barrios, the Caribbean, Jamaica and Haiti. For the sake of understanding, I would ask you to look inside the map of Haiti, find the capital, the airport and a small town named Jeremie that's on the coast closest to Cuba.
I'll be back soon but I have to talk to one of my counselors at the hospital tomorrow before I continue with it. I just want to make sure that the Doc thinks it's okay to post it before I get into the entire story. Thanks to Dew, Bernie, Bernie's daughter, Curt, Mark, Leland and all those who have made comments regarding the blog. I appreciate it.
Tim
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Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Corrections and Thanks to Mark
I made an error in the last post and thanks to repeated historical help from Mark, I am now making the correction here.
Hamilton was not the President. He was heavily involved in political matters and that involvement was the thing that brought Burr and Hamilton to odds with each other.
My original intent with this post surrounded the many traitors we've had to deal with since our beginning. The stimulant that brought all that to the surface came from an editorial that focused on Draft Dodgers and how that action was deemed by many to be the act of a coward or a traitor.
As detailed as historical comments need to be, I'm probably over my head here and should communicate these thoughts directly to those on my email list rather than putting it out on the net.
The amount of medication that I have to take for the brain swelling and other things, have side effects that make it difficult for me to accomplish these things with a clear head. Whether you describe the side effects as being woozy, knocked out, stoned, drunk or in Lah Lah Land, I think you get the idea. It's just tough to do.
Thanks again to Mark and apologies for the error.
Tim
Hamilton was not the President. He was heavily involved in political matters and that involvement was the thing that brought Burr and Hamilton to odds with each other.
My original intent with this post surrounded the many traitors we've had to deal with since our beginning. The stimulant that brought all that to the surface came from an editorial that focused on Draft Dodgers and how that action was deemed by many to be the act of a coward or a traitor.
As detailed as historical comments need to be, I'm probably over my head here and should communicate these thoughts directly to those on my email list rather than putting it out on the net.
The amount of medication that I have to take for the brain swelling and other things, have side effects that make it difficult for me to accomplish these things with a clear head. Whether you describe the side effects as being woozy, knocked out, stoned, drunk or in Lah Lah Land, I think you get the idea. It's just tough to do.
Thanks again to Mark and apologies for the error.
Tim
Monday, July 16, 2012
Washington to Roosevelt? I don't think so.
Initially, I thought that I could make a quick point about Character and Leadership by pointing out a few things about the problems our founding fathers had with traitors. I thought that Washington's great and good character would be an excellent place to start as he had traitors to deal with during his time of leadership.
Seemed like Benedict Arnold was a great example of that so I used him as the first victim of my editorial. When I found him to be listed as #1 on the top ten list of American traitors, I felt pretty good about that choice.
Moving on, I began thinking about the time frames that would best suit my purpose and the goal of this editorial so I decided to jump forward to Teddy Roosevelt. I reviewed all kinds of things about the Rough Riders, Speak Softly But Carry A Big Stick, the Panama Canal, our industrial complex, labor, employment, his love of the environment and a few other things.
Just before I was ready to post my findings, I decided to make one more review of history so I hit the ole google button and pulled up a list of all the Presidents and Vice Presidents that served from day one until now. That's when I found Aaron Burr.
I remembered his name but couldn't attach anything specific or traitorous to his legacy. I simply forgot about him and concluded that my memory loss was the reason I decided to jump from Washington to Roosevelt. As it all unfolded, I read the accounts of his life in politics and his place as the Vice President of the United States. I also read about the day he killed Alexander Hamilton in an old fashion duel that took place in 1804. Did I forget to mention that Hamilton was the President of the United States? Oh well. More research.
In any event, I began to think of the time frame that began with the first Continental Congress and Aaron Burr's duel with Hamilton. It was only 30 years. Most of us have kids older than that and from that perspective, I concluded that it was a very short period of time. Seems to me that knowing this would allow one to logically conclude that we had a ton of guys with poor character messing with men of good character during the early days of the United States.
Not wanting to get too far off topic, I decided to do a more thorough study of traitors with the hopes that I might find a shorter route to the main point I wanted to make about "Character" and how that effects us today. If you will remember, all of this began from a focus on the Character of Draft Dodgers and how that demonstration of dis-loyalty or cowardice, still exists in our population.
It seems that we've had a ton of bad people around us from the very first days of our attempts to reach some degree of self determination. Lots of bad people trying to undo that then and apparently, trying to do that now. In the words of my friends Curt Lambert and Bill Reinhardt: "My God, it's a book".
In any event, I think that it's very important that we all take a refresher course in the sacrifices that have been made to keep the United States free from oppression, free from occupation by other Nations and free to operate within the concepts of "One Nation Under God". More than anything, this goal was the inspiration for me to skip from George Washington to Teddy Roosevelt because he was so clear and specific about the things necessary for us to stay on that course.
As time would have it, I have to try and accomplish that in smaller steps because it's pretty difficult to be stoned on meds and keep a focus on keeping the post simple and easy to understand. It's pretty difficult to do that when there were so many traitors out there trying to UNDO everything we were trying TO DO.
With that in mind, I hope you will understand why I'm not able to hit the point in time I wanted to in a very short series of posts. It just ain't that simple. Go to google and type in "The Top 10 American Traitors" and you will see what I mean. For whatever it's worth, Aaron Burr was number 1 and Jane Fonda was number 10. Despite that, there are lots of others in between those two and oddly, no one mentioned after that time.
I'm going to go ahead and post this anyway so that those who are helping me can assist with information here that may be off the mark. The key word here is Mark. He's one of the guys from the Cav that is helping with the informational edit. Hell, it may not have been Alexander Hamilton that Aaron Burr killed, but even if it isn't, two things will happen. Mark will find it, I will correct anything that needs correcting and you will eventually get the point about Character..........both good and bad.
This is the part about historical editorials that are so tough. They have to be accurate and SHOULD be written by someone better able to deliver that accuracy than me.
Seemed like Benedict Arnold was a great example of that so I used him as the first victim of my editorial. When I found him to be listed as #1 on the top ten list of American traitors, I felt pretty good about that choice.
Moving on, I began thinking about the time frames that would best suit my purpose and the goal of this editorial so I decided to jump forward to Teddy Roosevelt. I reviewed all kinds of things about the Rough Riders, Speak Softly But Carry A Big Stick, the Panama Canal, our industrial complex, labor, employment, his love of the environment and a few other things.
Just before I was ready to post my findings, I decided to make one more review of history so I hit the ole google button and pulled up a list of all the Presidents and Vice Presidents that served from day one until now. That's when I found Aaron Burr.
I remembered his name but couldn't attach anything specific or traitorous to his legacy. I simply forgot about him and concluded that my memory loss was the reason I decided to jump from Washington to Roosevelt. As it all unfolded, I read the accounts of his life in politics and his place as the Vice President of the United States. I also read about the day he killed Alexander Hamilton in an old fashion duel that took place in 1804. Did I forget to mention that Hamilton was the President of the United States? Oh well. More research.
In any event, I began to think of the time frame that began with the first Continental Congress and Aaron Burr's duel with Hamilton. It was only 30 years. Most of us have kids older than that and from that perspective, I concluded that it was a very short period of time. Seems to me that knowing this would allow one to logically conclude that we had a ton of guys with poor character messing with men of good character during the early days of the United States.
Not wanting to get too far off topic, I decided to do a more thorough study of traitors with the hopes that I might find a shorter route to the main point I wanted to make about "Character" and how that effects us today. If you will remember, all of this began from a focus on the Character of Draft Dodgers and how that demonstration of dis-loyalty or cowardice, still exists in our population.
It seems that we've had a ton of bad people around us from the very first days of our attempts to reach some degree of self determination. Lots of bad people trying to undo that then and apparently, trying to do that now. In the words of my friends Curt Lambert and Bill Reinhardt: "My God, it's a book".
In any event, I think that it's very important that we all take a refresher course in the sacrifices that have been made to keep the United States free from oppression, free from occupation by other Nations and free to operate within the concepts of "One Nation Under God". More than anything, this goal was the inspiration for me to skip from George Washington to Teddy Roosevelt because he was so clear and specific about the things necessary for us to stay on that course.
As time would have it, I have to try and accomplish that in smaller steps because it's pretty difficult to be stoned on meds and keep a focus on keeping the post simple and easy to understand. It's pretty difficult to do that when there were so many traitors out there trying to UNDO everything we were trying TO DO.
With that in mind, I hope you will understand why I'm not able to hit the point in time I wanted to in a very short series of posts. It just ain't that simple. Go to google and type in "The Top 10 American Traitors" and you will see what I mean. For whatever it's worth, Aaron Burr was number 1 and Jane Fonda was number 10. Despite that, there are lots of others in between those two and oddly, no one mentioned after that time.
I'm going to go ahead and post this anyway so that those who are helping me can assist with information here that may be off the mark. The key word here is Mark. He's one of the guys from the Cav that is helping with the informational edit. Hell, it may not have been Alexander Hamilton that Aaron Burr killed, but even if it isn't, two things will happen. Mark will find it, I will correct anything that needs correcting and you will eventually get the point about Character..........both good and bad.
This is the part about historical editorials that are so tough. They have to be accurate and SHOULD be written by someone better able to deliver that accuracy than me.
Saturday, July 14, 2012
Character and the Foundation of Our Country
It seems that most of us think of George Washington when we consider the beginning stages of the foundation that was built for us to have our freedoms, our own Country. Stories unfold regarding the men, the weather and the lack of logistical support that found so many men without boots or even food in the middle of winter. Those were only part of the sacrifices that were overcome through the good character of men.
Of all the men that took part in those tough times, one in particular, brings about a strange consideration. Initially, he was described as the hero of Saratoga. As a result of that, he earned respect and admiration among the commanders of the Continental Army and he was almost always called for his opinion when strategies for upcoming battles were discussed.
Oddly enough, that man was Benedict Arnold, one of the most notorious traitors in American history. Whether you call him a traitor or a turncoat, his actions typify the point that has to be made about Character. I say that to point out the falsehood and deception that existed when he first came on the scene and how that so radically differed from the realities of who he was.
I can well imagine the shock, in the ranks our men, that came when he joined the British and we discovered that he was a traitor with the worst kind of character. It was clear, when he turned over the plans of the Fort located at West Point, that he was not only a traitor but a traitor who had a specific goal to crush the newly hoped for freedoms of the patriots who were dying for the Continental Army in their pursuit of a United States.
Not only did he have that goal, he was more than willing to participate in the specifics that would bring about the death of Americans who were fighting for their Independence. I suppose that we were lucky to not have more of his type during that stage of our history but despite that, despite the damage he did, we managed to overcome that kind of treachery.
I can't help but think about more modern times and how Jane Fonda played into the role of traitor during our lifetime. Even though she didn't turn over any plans of fortifications or layouts of our fire bases, she did play an important role in the public opinion war that was being waged by our enemy. About that, there is no doubt.
Unfortunately, history has shown that it's clear that there are always people of poor character among us and that the old adage "Be Ever Vigilant" was made for a very good reason.
For no other reason than establishing a point about Character and how careful we must be before we assume that someone has good character, we have rock solid evidence to support claims that sometimes a traitor's best weapon is hidden beneath an appearance of good character,
Before I move on to the leaders we had in the late 1800's, I wanted to mention these things so that the readers would NOT be complacent about this article and assume that I'm on a horn tooting trip to recognize and honor the men that have led us along the way. That's not what this article is about.
I'm not here to entertain, I'm here to share information and present evidence. You may take it any way you wish, you may like it or hate it, but in any event, please try to keep an open mind as there are other tales of this as our history unfolded.
I'm going to move on to Teddy Roosevelt in a short period of time but I just wanted to get this much of it started before I fall off this chair. If you will just hang in there, I will get it done and there is a point here. Thanks for your patience. Tim.
Of all the men that took part in those tough times, one in particular, brings about a strange consideration. Initially, he was described as the hero of Saratoga. As a result of that, he earned respect and admiration among the commanders of the Continental Army and he was almost always called for his opinion when strategies for upcoming battles were discussed.
Oddly enough, that man was Benedict Arnold, one of the most notorious traitors in American history. Whether you call him a traitor or a turncoat, his actions typify the point that has to be made about Character. I say that to point out the falsehood and deception that existed when he first came on the scene and how that so radically differed from the realities of who he was.
I can well imagine the shock, in the ranks our men, that came when he joined the British and we discovered that he was a traitor with the worst kind of character. It was clear, when he turned over the plans of the Fort located at West Point, that he was not only a traitor but a traitor who had a specific goal to crush the newly hoped for freedoms of the patriots who were dying for the Continental Army in their pursuit of a United States.
Not only did he have that goal, he was more than willing to participate in the specifics that would bring about the death of Americans who were fighting for their Independence. I suppose that we were lucky to not have more of his type during that stage of our history but despite that, despite the damage he did, we managed to overcome that kind of treachery.
I can't help but think about more modern times and how Jane Fonda played into the role of traitor during our lifetime. Even though she didn't turn over any plans of fortifications or layouts of our fire bases, she did play an important role in the public opinion war that was being waged by our enemy. About that, there is no doubt.
Unfortunately, history has shown that it's clear that there are always people of poor character among us and that the old adage "Be Ever Vigilant" was made for a very good reason.
For no other reason than establishing a point about Character and how careful we must be before we assume that someone has good character, we have rock solid evidence to support claims that sometimes a traitor's best weapon is hidden beneath an appearance of good character,
Before I move on to the leaders we had in the late 1800's, I wanted to mention these things so that the readers would NOT be complacent about this article and assume that I'm on a horn tooting trip to recognize and honor the men that have led us along the way. That's not what this article is about.
I'm not here to entertain, I'm here to share information and present evidence. You may take it any way you wish, you may like it or hate it, but in any event, please try to keep an open mind as there are other tales of this as our history unfolded.
I'm going to move on to Teddy Roosevelt in a short period of time but I just wanted to get this much of it started before I fall off this chair. If you will just hang in there, I will get it done and there is a point here. Thanks for your patience. Tim.
Thursday, July 12, 2012
The Price of Participation
Most recently, I've been heavily involved in a series of editorials that began with a focus on Draft Dodgers who evaded service during the Vietnam War.
The comments have been all over the place but generally speaking, they all agreed on one thing. That agreement surrounded and focused on the concept of "Character". Whether you agree or not, there can not be much doubt about the reality of a final decision to run and hide instead of answering a call to arms from your Country.
Any way you look at it, the end result was specific and easy to identify. They left the United States to avoid the draft. Even though amnesty was eventually granted, amnesty only protected them from prosecution. It did not remove the decision they knowingly made "not" to support their Country when the call to arms came.
Big Brother joined and served his tour of duty in Vietnam with the Marine Corp. I was drafted but got with the program and ended up flying helicopters as a Warrant Officer in the US Army.
Mark, one of the editorial contributors who also served as a helicopter pilot during the Vietnam war, introduced facts about a Conscientious Objector (CO) that was right on the money. The CO was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his service as a medic. The point Mark wanted to make about this man surrounded his objection to killing another human being but, in spite of that, he made a choice to serve his Country in another area of support. He served despite his objection and he decided to do so instead of deciding to run and hide in Canada.
This disclosure brought up the subject of "Character". There were a number of statements made about character building and how important that is to leadership.
As the editorials continued to come in, more and more points were made regarding the difference in character between those that chose to serve and those who ran away. I found it very interesting to see so many Veterans deliver such a wide and varied opinion about something that was so sensitive to most Vietnam Vets. Once again, Big Brother's influences surfaced.
Not long ago, he and I had a discussion about the Vietnamese who had come to the United States after the war ended. During those discussions, I told him about a loan application I made to the SBA for a loan to fund inventory purchases for a fledgling industrial supply company I owned at the time.
When the loan was rejected by the local SBA authority, I was told it was due to funds that were already committed for use to purchase fishing boats for the Vietnamese Boat People. This effected me for years and set forth an attitude on my part that have never changed much. I simply could not accept that they could have a priority over any Vietnam Veteran. I still don't agree with the use of our taxes in certain areas and in fact, believe that we should have a larger influence in matters of this kind.
In any event, Leland and I both agreed that neither of us harbor any hate or even resentment for the Vietnamese Boat People. Tim Jr even threw in on that one as he worked with a wonderful Vietnamese woman at a restaurant in Baton Rouge when he was at LSU. She was from Nha Be, an area where many of my 11th Cav and 199th buddies had flown over and done recon work for. It's just on the south side of Saigon and used to be a Japanese Navy base and airfield that was used during the Second World War.
Having established that there wasn't a prejudicial bone in our bodies or in the hearts of most of the guys I flew and served with, we concluded that character is a very important part of the quality of citizens in our Country. With that, the editorial continued.
I began to research the character of men who proved to be such fine leaders of our Country. I began with George Washington and the American Revolution and moved forward. Some quotations of note surfaced during the research phase of that and many great quotes were listed. "Walk softly but carry a big stick" came from Teddy Roosevelt. I researched it and found that it was directed toward the Monroe Doctrine.
"We have nothing to fear but fear itself" came from FDR during the Second World War and, as the quotes continued to surface, I found "Ask not what your Country can do for you, ask what you can do for your Country".
In any event, over time, we've had some really great leaders who possessed really good character.
Having said all of this, I want you to know that I decided to continue with the research and submit character examples to the web site of the Air Cav Troop where all this began. As I moved along and received a number of personal emails wondering if I was okay or wondering why it had been so long since I posted my comments here, I decided to continue with the comments on this blog and simply ask Curt to copy the comments and post them on my behalf to the Air Cav Troop site. Let's just say that I'm either too stupid or too lazy to do the copy and paste maneuver and do it myself. Sticking to this thought process at least allows them to edit my thoughts before not after, it is posted on the Cav site.
Please let me know if you are interested in me doing this here instead of remaining off the Church of What's Happenin' Now and focusing more on the Air Cav Troop site. Thanks. Tim
The comments have been all over the place but generally speaking, they all agreed on one thing. That agreement surrounded and focused on the concept of "Character". Whether you agree or not, there can not be much doubt about the reality of a final decision to run and hide instead of answering a call to arms from your Country.
Any way you look at it, the end result was specific and easy to identify. They left the United States to avoid the draft. Even though amnesty was eventually granted, amnesty only protected them from prosecution. It did not remove the decision they knowingly made "not" to support their Country when the call to arms came.
Big Brother joined and served his tour of duty in Vietnam with the Marine Corp. I was drafted but got with the program and ended up flying helicopters as a Warrant Officer in the US Army.
Mark, one of the editorial contributors who also served as a helicopter pilot during the Vietnam war, introduced facts about a Conscientious Objector (CO) that was right on the money. The CO was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his service as a medic. The point Mark wanted to make about this man surrounded his objection to killing another human being but, in spite of that, he made a choice to serve his Country in another area of support. He served despite his objection and he decided to do so instead of deciding to run and hide in Canada.
This disclosure brought up the subject of "Character". There were a number of statements made about character building and how important that is to leadership.
As the editorials continued to come in, more and more points were made regarding the difference in character between those that chose to serve and those who ran away. I found it very interesting to see so many Veterans deliver such a wide and varied opinion about something that was so sensitive to most Vietnam Vets. Once again, Big Brother's influences surfaced.
Not long ago, he and I had a discussion about the Vietnamese who had come to the United States after the war ended. During those discussions, I told him about a loan application I made to the SBA for a loan to fund inventory purchases for a fledgling industrial supply company I owned at the time.
When the loan was rejected by the local SBA authority, I was told it was due to funds that were already committed for use to purchase fishing boats for the Vietnamese Boat People. This effected me for years and set forth an attitude on my part that have never changed much. I simply could not accept that they could have a priority over any Vietnam Veteran. I still don't agree with the use of our taxes in certain areas and in fact, believe that we should have a larger influence in matters of this kind.
In any event, Leland and I both agreed that neither of us harbor any hate or even resentment for the Vietnamese Boat People. Tim Jr even threw in on that one as he worked with a wonderful Vietnamese woman at a restaurant in Baton Rouge when he was at LSU. She was from Nha Be, an area where many of my 11th Cav and 199th buddies had flown over and done recon work for. It's just on the south side of Saigon and used to be a Japanese Navy base and airfield that was used during the Second World War.
Having established that there wasn't a prejudicial bone in our bodies or in the hearts of most of the guys I flew and served with, we concluded that character is a very important part of the quality of citizens in our Country. With that, the editorial continued.
I began to research the character of men who proved to be such fine leaders of our Country. I began with George Washington and the American Revolution and moved forward. Some quotations of note surfaced during the research phase of that and many great quotes were listed. "Walk softly but carry a big stick" came from Teddy Roosevelt. I researched it and found that it was directed toward the Monroe Doctrine.
"We have nothing to fear but fear itself" came from FDR during the Second World War and, as the quotes continued to surface, I found "Ask not what your Country can do for you, ask what you can do for your Country".
In any event, over time, we've had some really great leaders who possessed really good character.
Having said all of this, I want you to know that I decided to continue with the research and submit character examples to the web site of the Air Cav Troop where all this began. As I moved along and received a number of personal emails wondering if I was okay or wondering why it had been so long since I posted my comments here, I decided to continue with the comments on this blog and simply ask Curt to copy the comments and post them on my behalf to the Air Cav Troop site. Let's just say that I'm either too stupid or too lazy to do the copy and paste maneuver and do it myself. Sticking to this thought process at least allows them to edit my thoughts before not after, it is posted on the Cav site.
Please let me know if you are interested in me doing this here instead of remaining off the Church of What's Happenin' Now and focusing more on the Air Cav Troop site. Thanks. Tim
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
I've been tied up with history
It's been a week or so since I've been here but it's not because I've been sick or anything like that. I've been really busy working on historical things and editorials for the 11th Cav / Air Cav Troop site. You may want to google that and see some interesting stuff from all the guys that flew helicotpers and served as infantrymen in Vietnam. Real interesting stuff there.
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
July 4, 1970, Me and Wollman
I was scheduled to fly as co pilot for Craig Wollman on July 4, 1970. I didn't know it at the time but it would be a day that would live in my head forever and totally change my thoughts of July 4th. We would be flying the Command and Control ship for the Commanding Officer of the 199th that day, a mission that was always referred to as C&C.
The Colonel's Huey had a huge radio in the back that we referred to as "a scrambler". It was so heavy that we normally didn't carry much in the way of weapon systems. It was too big and took up so much room we simply didn't have the room for anything else.
We had the standard M 60's that were crew served by the gunner and crew chief but for the most part, that was it. No mini guns, no 50 caliber machine guns, just a pair of 60's plus 38's and 45's that were personal fire arms typically carried by all pilots.
As we were hanging around, waiting for orders to fly, I remembered hearing the order to "scramble".
We ran to the Huey, took off the air inlet covers, the rotor blade tie down strap, pitot tube cover and, as we were putting on our helmets and bullet proof vests, I saw the Colonel coming out of the TOC and running toward the Huey.
Wollman always had the ship preflighted and had the cockpit start up procedures already partially completed so we only had to hit the battery switch and start the engine. There was no long list of checking things such as "circuit breakers IN, radios OFF, anti collision light OFF and a number of other steps such as altimeter settings and Non Essential Buss in the Normal On position.
He'd already done all that and getting up and on the way was something he could do in a very short amount of time. This would be one of those days that Wollman's experience and Diable's attention to detail lessons proved to be worth their weight in gold when a large battle was underway and men's lives depended on us getting there asap.
One of our convoys had been ambushed and there was a huge ground battle going on between the NVA/VC and our guys. The ambush site wasn't far from Xuan Loc where we were on stand by. It only took a few minutes to reach the battle as it had occurred on the road that went by Fire Support Base "Mace" and wasn't far from our duty station.
Wollman would do all the flying that day and I would do none at all. As a result of that, I had more opportunities to observe the battle than usual. I was doing the cross checks of the instrument panel and reporting to Wollman that everything was in the green.
Both of us were given orders by the Colonel to stay on the west side of the road and told that there were gunships already in the area and already supporting the ground troops. In a matter of minutes, we saw other helicopters in the area and new that the battle was really close to our base.
We weren't going to be airborne very long but we had no way of knowing that. Generally, as I've written before, Wollman would follow the Colonel's orders to take up station at a specific point above and to the side of the battle so he could direct air support or artillery fire while keeping us from being hit by any of the incoming artillery shells.
As was typical for the Colonel, once we arrived at the scene of the ambush and he'd checked the map to determined the artillery lines of fire, he ordered Wollman to take up a holding position west of the road making north to south passes.
This put me in a position where, on the first pass we made over the fire fight, I could look out the cockpit window on the right side of the Huey, see the convoy stopped on the road, the tracers from out guys going into the area where the enemy was and the green tracers coming back toward them from the NVA. It also put me in a position to see a Cobra gunship preparing to make a rocket run on the target area where all the fire was coming from.
Wollman made a turn south but stayed on the west side of the road. I was now on the opposite side of the Huey and couldn't see as well as I could when we made northward passes. When we reached the southern end of our holding pattern, Wollman put us in a 180 degree turn and, as we passed through 090 degrees magnetic, he began to roll out and fly another northward pass.
When we were leveled out and heading north, I saw the Cobra begin it's rocket run. You have to remember that we were on the west side of the road just above and to the side of the ambush and the Cobra was on the east side of the road just beginning to dive on the target. He was right outside my window and I could clearly see the whole thing unfold.
To help illustrate that, try to picture yourself being on one side of an Interstate Highway watching a firefight on the other side of the Interstate. When you do that, try to picture yourself being 1,500' to 2,500 feet above that looking downward. That should give you an idea of the position I was in at the time.
I still had my co pilot duties and couldn't simply keep my eyes out of the cockpit and not pay attention to the instrument panel. A cross check of exhaust gas temperature, torque meter readings, turbine speed (N1), fuel gauge, altimeter and other checks didn't take long but it did take some time away from the direct eye contact I was having on the battle. It only took a second to miss the direct hit on the Cobra but I missed the exact instant the AA hit the gunship.
You can do the math and figure out how much distance a Cobra gunship can cover when they are flying at max speed in a dive. I recall it as being 190 knots which is roughly 16,000 feet per minute or 300' per second. I'm sure that's close or at least somewhat in the ball park. In any event, taking your eyes off the Cobra and making a cross check of the instrument panel will allow the Cobra to lose 1,600' feet of altitude in the blink of an eye.
As I finished my instrument check and re-established my vision of the firefight and the Cobra's gun run, I saw the largest fireball I had ever seen as the Cobra hit the ground and exploded. It was huge.
I had no idea how many of the rockets were still in their tubes when the ship hit the ground. It could have been as many as 38 high explosive warheads going off simultaneously. I also didn't know how much fuel was on board but it could have easily been 1,000 pounds of JP 4 jet fuel.
The fireball was very similar to the pictures most of us have seen when the magazine blew up on one of the ships that was hit during the attack on Pearl Harbor. IF you stop a second and think about all the shots you've seen from documentaries presented about December 7th, 1941, try to imagine what it's like when it's not in black and white but in color.
Try also to picture what it might be like if you can hear it, see the red and yellow column of fire rising hundreds of feet in the air and all that happening while you watch the trees move with the incredible force of concussion that's moving at roughly 700' per second.
Add to that, the noise of the blast that hits your helicopter roughly 2 or 3 seconds after the ship crashed. It's a most frightful site and one that would forever be etched in your mind and impossible to erase.
I saw other crashes during my tour of duty but nothing would ever come close to this one. I've tried to explain the effects of things like this before and can only say that "Shock, fear, rage, adrenaline and vengeance" is the most powerful group of emotions that a human can simultaneously experience and that's why I still have these memories.
Wollman and I were both shocked to hear the order that came from the Colonel that said: "Let's get out of here". Even though we later knew that he was right when he gave the order, we were young warriors and automatically wanted to go on the attack. I had only been in Vietnam six weeks when that battle unfolded but I already had the heart of a gunship pilot and simply wanted to roll in and deliver the pay back.
Had we been in Wollman's Nighthawk ship, you can bet your ass that we would have been putting bullet holes in every square inch of the target area unless they'd managed to kill us, too. Despite that, our job was clear and the most important thing of all was supporting the ground troops, something we could not have done if we'd been shot down.
I don't know if Colonel Collins already knew that the other Commanding Officer from the 3rd of the 17th was on station but I do know that the Cobra wasn't from our unit and since we were the closest to the battle when it started, it's reasonable to conclude that it wasn't his primary job as the Commanding Officer of the ground troops and that he was only there to command the operation until the unit's commander arrived.
In any event, every year for 43 years, I go through this on July 4th and wanted ya'll to know that July 4th has different meanings to different people. These are part of mine. Thanks again to Craig Wollman.
Tim
The Colonel's Huey had a huge radio in the back that we referred to as "a scrambler". It was so heavy that we normally didn't carry much in the way of weapon systems. It was too big and took up so much room we simply didn't have the room for anything else.
We had the standard M 60's that were crew served by the gunner and crew chief but for the most part, that was it. No mini guns, no 50 caliber machine guns, just a pair of 60's plus 38's and 45's that were personal fire arms typically carried by all pilots.
As we were hanging around, waiting for orders to fly, I remembered hearing the order to "scramble".
We ran to the Huey, took off the air inlet covers, the rotor blade tie down strap, pitot tube cover and, as we were putting on our helmets and bullet proof vests, I saw the Colonel coming out of the TOC and running toward the Huey.
Wollman always had the ship preflighted and had the cockpit start up procedures already partially completed so we only had to hit the battery switch and start the engine. There was no long list of checking things such as "circuit breakers IN, radios OFF, anti collision light OFF and a number of other steps such as altimeter settings and Non Essential Buss in the Normal On position.
He'd already done all that and getting up and on the way was something he could do in a very short amount of time. This would be one of those days that Wollman's experience and Diable's attention to detail lessons proved to be worth their weight in gold when a large battle was underway and men's lives depended on us getting there asap.
One of our convoys had been ambushed and there was a huge ground battle going on between the NVA/VC and our guys. The ambush site wasn't far from Xuan Loc where we were on stand by. It only took a few minutes to reach the battle as it had occurred on the road that went by Fire Support Base "Mace" and wasn't far from our duty station.
Wollman would do all the flying that day and I would do none at all. As a result of that, I had more opportunities to observe the battle than usual. I was doing the cross checks of the instrument panel and reporting to Wollman that everything was in the green.
Both of us were given orders by the Colonel to stay on the west side of the road and told that there were gunships already in the area and already supporting the ground troops. In a matter of minutes, we saw other helicopters in the area and new that the battle was really close to our base.
We weren't going to be airborne very long but we had no way of knowing that. Generally, as I've written before, Wollman would follow the Colonel's orders to take up station at a specific point above and to the side of the battle so he could direct air support or artillery fire while keeping us from being hit by any of the incoming artillery shells.
As was typical for the Colonel, once we arrived at the scene of the ambush and he'd checked the map to determined the artillery lines of fire, he ordered Wollman to take up a holding position west of the road making north to south passes.
This put me in a position where, on the first pass we made over the fire fight, I could look out the cockpit window on the right side of the Huey, see the convoy stopped on the road, the tracers from out guys going into the area where the enemy was and the green tracers coming back toward them from the NVA. It also put me in a position to see a Cobra gunship preparing to make a rocket run on the target area where all the fire was coming from.
Wollman made a turn south but stayed on the west side of the road. I was now on the opposite side of the Huey and couldn't see as well as I could when we made northward passes. When we reached the southern end of our holding pattern, Wollman put us in a 180 degree turn and, as we passed through 090 degrees magnetic, he began to roll out and fly another northward pass.
When we were leveled out and heading north, I saw the Cobra begin it's rocket run. You have to remember that we were on the west side of the road just above and to the side of the ambush and the Cobra was on the east side of the road just beginning to dive on the target. He was right outside my window and I could clearly see the whole thing unfold.
To help illustrate that, try to picture yourself being on one side of an Interstate Highway watching a firefight on the other side of the Interstate. When you do that, try to picture yourself being 1,500' to 2,500 feet above that looking downward. That should give you an idea of the position I was in at the time.
I still had my co pilot duties and couldn't simply keep my eyes out of the cockpit and not pay attention to the instrument panel. A cross check of exhaust gas temperature, torque meter readings, turbine speed (N1), fuel gauge, altimeter and other checks didn't take long but it did take some time away from the direct eye contact I was having on the battle. It only took a second to miss the direct hit on the Cobra but I missed the exact instant the AA hit the gunship.
You can do the math and figure out how much distance a Cobra gunship can cover when they are flying at max speed in a dive. I recall it as being 190 knots which is roughly 16,000 feet per minute or 300' per second. I'm sure that's close or at least somewhat in the ball park. In any event, taking your eyes off the Cobra and making a cross check of the instrument panel will allow the Cobra to lose 1,600' feet of altitude in the blink of an eye.
As I finished my instrument check and re-established my vision of the firefight and the Cobra's gun run, I saw the largest fireball I had ever seen as the Cobra hit the ground and exploded. It was huge.
I had no idea how many of the rockets were still in their tubes when the ship hit the ground. It could have been as many as 38 high explosive warheads going off simultaneously. I also didn't know how much fuel was on board but it could have easily been 1,000 pounds of JP 4 jet fuel.
The fireball was very similar to the pictures most of us have seen when the magazine blew up on one of the ships that was hit during the attack on Pearl Harbor. IF you stop a second and think about all the shots you've seen from documentaries presented about December 7th, 1941, try to imagine what it's like when it's not in black and white but in color.
Try also to picture what it might be like if you can hear it, see the red and yellow column of fire rising hundreds of feet in the air and all that happening while you watch the trees move with the incredible force of concussion that's moving at roughly 700' per second.
Add to that, the noise of the blast that hits your helicopter roughly 2 or 3 seconds after the ship crashed. It's a most frightful site and one that would forever be etched in your mind and impossible to erase.
I saw other crashes during my tour of duty but nothing would ever come close to this one. I've tried to explain the effects of things like this before and can only say that "Shock, fear, rage, adrenaline and vengeance" is the most powerful group of emotions that a human can simultaneously experience and that's why I still have these memories.
Wollman and I were both shocked to hear the order that came from the Colonel that said: "Let's get out of here". Even though we later knew that he was right when he gave the order, we were young warriors and automatically wanted to go on the attack. I had only been in Vietnam six weeks when that battle unfolded but I already had the heart of a gunship pilot and simply wanted to roll in and deliver the pay back.
Had we been in Wollman's Nighthawk ship, you can bet your ass that we would have been putting bullet holes in every square inch of the target area unless they'd managed to kill us, too. Despite that, our job was clear and the most important thing of all was supporting the ground troops, something we could not have done if we'd been shot down.
I don't know if Colonel Collins already knew that the other Commanding Officer from the 3rd of the 17th was on station but I do know that the Cobra wasn't from our unit and since we were the closest to the battle when it started, it's reasonable to conclude that it wasn't his primary job as the Commanding Officer of the ground troops and that he was only there to command the operation until the unit's commander arrived.
In any event, every year for 43 years, I go through this on July 4th and wanted ya'll to know that July 4th has different meanings to different people. These are part of mine. Thanks again to Craig Wollman.
Tim
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