Military Retires the Huey icon of the Viet-Nam police action

mlurp · #1 (**permalink**) 02-04-2011, 04:31 PM

There is more of the story but it is the history and is long. My Nam buddy Terry, sent this to me.
His second tour was as a door gunner in an Avation Unit. He was shot down 4 times and on each occasion he and his crew members were picked up by other crews at risk to themselves, as the NVA started closing in.

Once by a Vietnamese Pilot and his crew. Whom he and others helped get into America years after we left.

Quote:

Army Retires Legendary UH-1 Huey Helo

January 27, 2011

YAKIMA, Wash. -- An icon of the Vietnam War, a faithful conveyer of American troops across the globe and savior to countless lost or injured civilians, the Huey helicopter's long Army service is ending.
For the medevac detachment at the Army's Yakima Training Center, that distinguished career concluded Wednesday.

More than 50 years after the first models lifted off, the Army is retiring the few single-bladed UH-1 variants still sitting on the flightline.
Wednesday's retirement ceremony at the training center was a bittersweet moment for the pilots, crewmen and passengers who came to know the Huey as a reliable machine for both combat missions and stateside duties, most notably civilian search and rescue.

Chief Warrant Officer Joseph Long, part of the Training Center's Air Ambulance Detachment, is probably one of the last Vietnam-era Huey pilots serving today. He was recalled to active duty in 2002 because the Army didn't have enough Huey-trained pilots.

Long had the honor of piloting the last formal Huey mission at the training center as part of the flyaway retirement ceremony on the parade ground. Sitting on his left was retired Lt. Col. Bruce Crandall, who received the Medal of Honor for flying 70 wounded troops out of Vietnam's Ia Drang Valley in 1965.

Long said newer helicopters have been threatening to push the Huey out of service for 30 years.

"It just never happened," Long said. "It was always pulling a mission."
The Huey is considered the most widely known modern helicopter, thanks to numerous Hollywood depictions and the characteristic "whoop-whoop-whoop" sound made by the spinning main rotor.

And now I and many others won't have a whoop-whoop-whoop stress attack, which turns us upside down and affects us in different ways, sleep, pulling away from family and friends, eating and so on. Which sometimes last for days or longer..

mlurp · #2 (**permalink**) 02-05-2011, 02:52 PM

Terry was

when he was forwarded this story about his last shoot down, the one I mentioned above.

The govt. at the time didn't want to let more out on our incursions into Laos and Cambodia, thats why it took a while to allow him to become a citizen

And our govt. almost sent Quy Nguyen back to Viet-Nam except that many members of his and other air units supported this Hero, as well as those mentioned below..

Quote:

Vietnamese Hero Gets U.S. Welcome 25 Years After BraveryJanuary 16, 1994|

From Associated Press TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. —

Nearly 25 years after risking his life to save four American soldiers from a sniper-filled Laotian jungle, An Quy Nguyen accepted a hero's welcome Saturday.
"Whatever I did is my duty. I think everybody would do the same as I did," he said at this Northern California air base where he and his daughter, Ngoc Kim Quy Nguyen, were greeted by about 100 well-wishers.

Despite his wartime heroism, which in a separate mission cost him both arms, the former Vietnamese Army helicopter pilot was rebuffed by U.S. officials when he applied for a humanitarian refugee program.

Nguyen attempted to flee Vietnam four times, including once when he tried to build his own boat. He spent more than two years in jail for trying to leave.
"I try so many times just because the U.S.A. land is . . . the land of freedom," Nguyen said. He said he plans to live in San Jose and wants to visit the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington.

On Jan. 17, 1969, U.S. forces had just dropped troops near the Ho Chi Minh trail and were taking off when Army Capt. John Liner's helicopter came under enemy gunfire. The bullets punctured gas and hydraulic lines.

Nguyen said he saw the helicopter on fire. He immediately guided the crippled craft away from a clearing filled with spikes to a safer patch of 15-foot high grass.
The American soldiers hacked their way through the grass toward Nguyen's chopper.
Besides Liner, a Louisiana resident, also rescued were Col. Robert Stratiff, now a retiree who lives in Virginia, and Staff Sgt. Terry _________ who was a PFC at this time, and Pfc. Ronald C. King.

Nguyen's last mission was Sept. 17, 1970, when he was flying a special mission and was bombarded by enemy fire.

The attack set his helicopter ablaze and in his attempt to land, Nguyen's arms and right leg were severely burned. Surgeons at a field hospital amputated both arms below the elbow.

Nguyen was later captured by the Viet Cong and forced into a labor camp. He was thrown out after nine weeks because without use of his arms, Nguyen could not feed or clothe himself.

Retired Air Force Col. Noboru Masuoka led the effort to bring Nguyen here with the help of several U.S. senators and military friends.

The U.S. government has granted Nguyen temporary admission, humanitarian parole, which only lasts a year. He could face deportation in January, 1995.

I understand Quy Nguyen remains a citizen as well as his daughter.. Terry asked me to not use his last name and thats why there is no link to the story.

bfd · #3 (**permalink**) 02-05-2011, 02:58 PM

I would like to take this time to say I teach my children that all vietnam vetrans are HEROES. I tell them why it is important to hold those who would give everything in the highest regard.

mlurp · #4 (**permalink**) 02-05-2011, 03:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bfd

I would like to take this time to say I teach my children that all vietnam vetrans are HEROES. I tell them why it is important to hold those who would give everything in the highest regard.

I don't consider myself a Hero, that goes to the ones who got the medals and those who never came home standing up.

But I do think todays warriors are all hero's..

Gaffer · #5 (**permalink**) 02-05-2011, 03:13 PM

I can't count the number of times I flew in Hueys. That chopping sound always meant we were either going out somewhere in an air assault or getting pulled out or resupplied. Or it meant a medivac was coming in or reinforcements. The chopping sound could definitely give you flash backs. More often than not that sound, for me, was a relief. Sorry to see the old work horse go but they have newer and better choppers now.

mlurp · #6 (**permalink**) 02-05-2011, 03:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gaffer

I can't count the number of times I flew in Hueys. That chopping sound always meant we were either going out somewhere in an air assault or getting pulled out or resupplied. Or it meant a medivac was coming in or reinforcements. The chopping sound could definitely give you flash backs. More often than not that sound, for me, was a relief. Sorry to see the old work horse go but they have newer and better choppers now.

I always thought it would get an upgraded engine and some more blades added...

But your right newer and better sent the Huey into full retirement, A great platform for those that flew in them.

And even years later a mind mess for many of them.... I won't miss it myself.

Gaffer · #7 (**permalink**) 02-05-2011, 04:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mlurp

I always thought it would get an upgraded engine and some more blades added...

But your right newer and better sent the Huey into full retirement, A great platform for those that flew in them.

And even years later a mind mess for many of them.... I won't miss it myself.

My only bad memories from it were going into hot LZ's, otherwise it was always good feelings from hearing and seeing them.

My first ever time on a Huey was to go into a hot LZ in the iron triangle In Operation Cedar Falls. Until that time I had never even seen one up close.

mlurp · #8 (**permalink**) 02-06-2011, 05:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gaffer

My only bad memories from it were going into hot LZ's, otherwise it was always good feelings from hearing and seeing them.

My first ever time on a Huey was to go into a hot LZ in the iron triangle In Operation Cedar Falls. Until that time I had never even seen one up close.

Like I and thats why it takes a day or so. And how I try to handle it. But at times I don't react like I would prefer.

All of vets have some stressors they just handled them differently.

Game started so later guys,

762nato · #9 (**permalink**) 02-07-2011, 03:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mlurp

I don't consider myself a Hero, that goes to the ones who got the medals and those who never came home standing up.

But I do think todays warriors are all hero's..

ditto

762nato · #10 (**permalink**) 02-07-2011, 03:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gaffer

My only bad memories from it were going into hot LZ's, otherwise it was always good feelings from hearing and seeing them.

My first ever time on a Huey was to go into a hot LZ in the iron triangle In Operation Cedar Falls. Until that time I had never even seen one up close.

To this day the sound of a Huey sends me back there for a few seconds.

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