HISTORY OF THE

The new year started off calmly for the Robin Hoods with the first few days spent on "ash and trash" missions. Then on 7 January 1967 things began to happen. Captain Diesing and WO Howe were shot down coming out of an LZ north of Lai Khe. No one was injured, but the aircraft had to be destroyed. LT Wilton and WO Putek also received four hits in their ship.

January 8 brought on the big push - Operation Cedar Falls. C430 found the 173rd Assault Helicopter Company enroute to Dan Tung where they joined five (5) other companies to lift the 1st Division, 25th Division, 196th Division and 173rd Aviation Brigade into the Iron Triangle in what to this time was the largest single operation in Vietnam. The next few days were spent resupplying and lifting the 1st Division units into the Iron Triangle.

Friday the 13th was certainly an unluckily day for the 3rd Brigade of the Big Red One, for on the afternoon of this day our own artillery hit a unit clearing and LZ just west of Ben Cat, killing eight (8) and wounding 34. Robin Hood was called upon to medivac these people out of the area.

14 January will always be remembered as the most tragic day in the history of the Robin Hoods. Today the luck of the unit was broken. After flying re-supply all morning, the 173rd was called on a tactical emergency in the Song Be area. While enroute, the ship flown by Lt Le Grow and WO Ferris, with SP/4 Washington and PFC Epps as crew, suffered a tail rotor failure. The ship spun out of the sky and crashed. It immediately burst into flames with the crew trapped inside. SP/4 Washington managed to get out, but was on fire. The wing man of the downed aircraft was on the spot and quickly medivaced SP/4 Washington. There was nothing to be done for the other three members of the crew as they burned in the ship. Two days later, SP/4 Washington died of burns received in the crash. The men of Sherwood Forest were sad this night, but Robin Hood will continue even through such a disaster.

The remainder of January went slowly for the 173^rd, even though it was filled with many hours of resupply and a few CA’s for Cedar Falls and some work with the 9^th Division in the Bear Cat Area. The memory of our lost friends still hung in the air and also most of the “original” Robin Hoods were preparing to go home.

The night of 27 January livened up the month with a party for the “old timers” that lasted until the wee hours of the morning.

28 January brought about the close of Operation Cedar Falls with outstanding results and highly regarded words of praise from Generals De Puy, Hollingsworth and ?eaman for the Robin Hoods.

Cedar Falls, it was learned, had yielded some 3,294 tons of captured VC rice; 3,550 pounds of peanuts; 7,622 VC uniforms; 421 small arms and 18 crew served weapons. Also 377 Viet Cong were killed, 535 suspects detained and 411 ralliers. And who carried the brunt of the load? Robin Hood of course.

29, 30 and 31 January were spent cleaning up the extractions of Operation Cedar Falls. January had been a long and trying month for Robin Hood, so what better way to end it than a rousing party in the Blue Boar Inn. A fitting farewell and salute to Robin Hood 6, LTC Pim, who was leaving us for an assignment to 12^th Group S-3. Everyone was sorry to see “6” leave as he was an outstanding leader as well as a friend to his men.

February 1 was a full day for Robin Hood. We started the day with two CA’s lifting the 173^rd Airborne in LZ’s north of Ben Hoa. At 1800 hours there was a long overdue awards ceremony with COL Starker and COL Campbell present. Next came the change of command as LTC Pim turned the company over to Major Richard B. Schaefer, the past Executive Officer of the Vultures. A new Robin Hood 6 was crowned.

For the next two days the unit flew ash and trash missions in the III Corps. However, 4 February brought the easy living to a screaming halt. 0630 hours found the Robin Hoods enroute to Duc Hoa to lift the 25^th ARVN Rangers just west of Duc Hoa, along with the Tomahawks. First lift after preparation by the Cross Bows, some fire was received on departure from the LZ. The 10 Tomahawks received fire on final and departure from the LZ and had three ships shot down in the LZ. The Robin Hoods received fire on the approach into the second LZ while on the ground and on departure. The lead ship, flown by CPT Blake and Major Petree took the brunt of the fire getting 21 hits and 3 crew members wounded. CPT Blake was shot in the foot. Major Tetree had a round spent in his helmet and nick his ear. SP/4 Kinoshito, the crew chief, had both forearms shattered by enemy fire. Somehow, Major Petree managed to fly the bullet riddled ship to Hotel 3 and medical aid. CPT Blake was sent to Japan to recuperate and is expected to return to the company. SP/4 Kinoshito was evacuated to Honolulu, his home, where the doctors say he will suffer partial loss of use in one arm but the other should heal all right. This was a great loss to the Robin Hoods as “Pineapple” as Kinoshito was called, was one of the most professional and well-liked crew chiefs in the unit. Major Petree’s ear was patched and he returned to the company that same evening. WO Goodroe, while flying gunship cover was also nicked in the arm, though only slightly. Charlie took his toll of Robin Hoods this day, punching holes in 8 out of 10 ships. However, none were shot down in the LZ and only one had to be left at Duc Hoa. This one, flown by LT Wilton and CPT Culver, had holes in the transmission. Yes, Charlie hit us this day but the wrath of Robin Hood shall fall upon him.

The next few days continuing through “Tet” were light for the 173^rd and they took advantage of a little time off to rest and relax a little. This also gave maintenance a chance to catch up on the aircraft. After “Tet” the unit went back to work full scale, flying everything from ash and trash to CA’s with the Aussies out of Vung Tau.

However, on the 17^th of February things began to happen again. While working for the 2/28^th Infantry, 1/16^th Infantry and 1/2^nd Infantry on a CA LT Cornett suffered a tail rotor failure in the refueling area at Phouc Vinh. The aircraft rolled over and crashed. Luckily, no one was hurt.

Then on 20 February after a quiet day of standby, Robin Hood was called out on a Tac Emergency in the Bu Dop area. An outpost was being overrun and the 173^rd was called upon to lift ARVN Rangers into the area from Song Be. On the first lift into the LZ sniper fire was received on departure. On the second lift the number four ship, flown by WO Jewell and WO Hartman, was shot down by intense fire and crashed into the LZ. All the crew got out with the exception of SP/4 Wegman, the gunner, who was pinned beneath the aircraft. Despite the enemy sniper fire, LT Wilton and SP/4 Visel showed the courage of Robin Hood as they rigged a sling to hook to WO Springers and WO Foster’s ship to lift the downed aircraft off the trapped gunner. The enemy fire became so intense that the radios and guns were removed from the downed ship and it was destroyed by Air Force fighters. LT Wilton, WO’s Springer, Foster and SP/4 Visel were recommended for the Silver Star for this show of courage and heroism in a very adverse situation.

22 February will long be remembered as the largest assault ever put together against the Viet Cong. Seven Assault Helicopter Companies and five infantry brigades teamed up for Operation Junction City.

3 March found the Robin Hoods on a CA in the Tan An area with the 199^th Infantry Brigade. There was some sniper fire received in the PZ but none of the ships reported any hits.

4 March started another series of incidents for the Robin Hoods. While enroute to Minh Than for a CA, the ship flown by WO Golden and CPT Keller suffered an engine failure just north of Lai Khe. The Robin Hood professionalism showed through again as WO Golden put the aircraft down in a small hole in the woods. There were no injuries to the crew and only minor damage to the ship.

Then on 7 March while re-supplying out of An Loc, WO Howe had a low-side governor failure and the aircraft crashed and rolled over. No one was hurt but the ship was severely damaged.

The next few days were fairly quiet with III Crops ash and trash missions and routine CA’s hauling everyone from the 9^th Division to the 15^th ARVN Rangers.

16 March was a very long day for the 173^rd. At 0200 hours the horn blew and by 0215 10 Robin Hoods, a light fire team and a C & C ship were enroute to Tan Tru on a tactical emergency. We picked up units of the 9^th Division at Tan Tru and proceeded to the landing zone. As the first flight of 5 lifted out, Charlie started dropping mortar rounds into the area. A round exploded directly beneath the no. 3 ship in the second flight flown by WO Springer and WO Broadhurst causing it to crash into the landing zone. Again the Robin Hood luck held and none of the crew was injured other than a few minor scratches and bruises but the skids were severely spread and the aircraft had to be extracted by Chinook. There were no other incidents and due to the alertness and professionalism of the Robin Hoods, their first night CA was a complete success. Also, all pilots and crews were recommended by the ground commanders for an award.

It seems as though the Robin Hoods handled this first night CA so well that they were given another the 24^th of March. The unit was up at 0100 hours for a 0200 crank and lift south of Saigon. The lift went off as planned and without incident, so the Robin Hoods were off from 0330 until another CA at 0630. The Ton Son Nhut Officers Club was a sad looking place for about 3 hours with all the Robin Hoods asleep on the floor and between chairs.

For the remainder of March, the Robin Hoods flew III Corps ash and trash and carried out routine missions throughout the III Corps area in their usual explicit manner. The highlight of the last week of the month of March being pay call in Sherwood Forest.

Follow-up on some of the action mentioned in this report submitted by Mark Brown

http://www.goiv.com/cowboy/air_ops/65-09986.HTM

Webmaster: You might consider adding these links to the 173rd Unit History for first quarter of 1967. The info provides some interesting detail to an event mentioned by Unit Historian Bunton as it happened in March of 1967.