HISTORY OF THE
128TH ASSAULT HELICOPTER COMPANY
1 JANUARY 1966 – 31 DECEMBER 1966
Prepared by
CPT Ernest W.
Goebel, CPT Ronald Stebbins, & 1LT Patrick Barron Unit Historians
Phu Loi, Republic of Viet Nam
APO U.S. Forces 96289
PREFACE
Many long years ago Noah Webster
defined History as a narrative of events, a systematic written account of
occurrences. How dry and boring that sounds!! History is life moved to the past
tense, and there is nothing more exciting than true life. This is even more
engrossing when the story tells of a unit locked in combat half a world away
from home.
JANUARY 1, 1966 dawned upon
the warriors of the 128th Combat Assault Helicopter Company at Phu Loi, Republic
of Viet Nam. That same tired year ushered out DECEMBER 3l, 1966 and the
Tomahawks were still at the same location. That fact remained the same, all else
changed.
How do you capture a year on paper?
What words properly describe the emotions of young men, many miles away from
home for the first time, writing to their loved ones? Do you record the number
of enemy killed and sampans destroyed? Or do you trace growing comradeships
under tropical sun and monsoon rains. Is it a statistical account of an
Airmobile Light Company . . . cargo, passengers and hours flown were such and
such. Can you faithfully record the year to include the danger and excitement of
10 SEPTEMBER around Nha Be and exclude the hearty laughs remembering how
muddy it was at Quan Loi during JULY? How can you put into black and
white what is really written in olive drab, blood red and sky blue?
What are the events that deserve to
be written about or stressed? Are the fierce nightly volleyball games played by
officer and enlisted men alike any more indicative of the Tomahawks than the
fact that the Delta and Bravo model “Hueys” flew 2,800 hours in OCTOBER.
Is it more important from a historical viewpoint that SP/4 Paul P.
Pawlush received the Army Commendation Medal for Meritorious Service in
operations or that his accordion could be heard playing joyfully at the company
parties.
Which are the honors and distinctions that deserve note? Are they the
Distinguished flying Crosses awarded by MG William E. DePuy following Operation
Attleboro, or is the real reward the relieved smile and half wave from an
infantryman, when a Tomahawk aircraft medivacs his wounded comrade?
The answers to these questions are not known. A unit history is like several
eyewitness accounts of the same event. True, all were there, but each saw and
remembers it differently, stressing often opposite viewpoints. Not even a tenth
of what the 128th Assault Helicopter Company did at Phu Loi and all over the
Third Corps area of Viet Nam can be fully related here. However it is hoped that
this Unit History can give a flavor, a taste, an outline of the days and nights
that the Tomahawks lived in 1966. It is intended that those unaware of the
Tomahawks can see a glimmer of what must have happened; it is further intended
to freshen and strengthen the memory of those who lived and made that history.
ORGANIZATION & STRUCTURE:
As for the
arrangement of this History, it has been written according to functions within
the simple framework of a calendar month or QUARTER. We
progress in our narrative through a wide range of activities. These include;
Personnel and Administration, Security, Intelligence, Operations, Training,
Service Platoon Activities, Maintenance Detachment, Medical Reports, Signal
Detachment, and of course General Activities for those “Happenings” which really
do not fit under the usual topics.
During JANUARY
1966, the 128th Aviation Company’s orderly room activities haven’t been any
different than any other unit’s as far as a place to check on guard duty, KP,
passes and leaves. The difference is that our orderly room is a G.P. tent with
liner, two lights and a wooden floor, which was just added recently.
Major William
J. Benjamin, Armor, Company executive officer has his field table in the
orderly room and supervises the activities very closely. His assistants are
First Sergeant Paul L. Lawson and Specialist Fourth Class Robert L.
Slayton, who makes out the morning Reports, types company orders and
policies plus many other important items that are handled through the orderly
room. The unit’s finance records, Forms 66 and 201, are maintained by the
Battalion Personnel Section.
JANUARY 1966
On 11 JANUARY
1966, 14 members of the 128th were awarded the United States Air Medal for
meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight in Vietnam.
Assigned strength for the
128th Aviation Company was 30 officers, 24 Warrant Officers and 134 enlisted
men. The detachments strength will be covered later under their activities for
JANUARY through MARCH.
The unit’s
strength for FEBRUARY was 29 Officers, 23 Warrant Officers and 138
enlisted men.
The month of
MARCH showed a loss of 4 Officers for a total of 25, and a gain of 4 Warrant
Officers, for a total of 27.
SECURITY:
In JANUARY
the 128th completed setting up the inner company perimeter at Phu Loi. It
includes a concertina fence and trip flares that cover the southern and western
boundaries of the unit’s area. Approximately 50 meters back from the fence, 11
bunkers were constructed of sandbags and PSP, which was used to reinforce the
roof from falling mortars.
The 128th
Aviation Company was responsible for manning 4 of the bunkers each night
with a crew of four. When notified of a possible attack, the Service Platoon and
the Maintenance Detachment manned the remaining bunkers not occupied.
Only light sniper fire was
encountered during JANUARY, resulting in one warrant officer receiving a
superficial flesh wound.
On 30 JANUARY
1966, Phu Loi Army Air Field (AAF) was mortared (approximately 40-50 rounds) but
no ‘Tomahawk” aircraft, equipment or personnel was hit.
During JANUARY the unit had constant problems with civilians and ARVN
personnel drifting into the area selling items and just looking around. These
individuals were taken to Battalion for proper clearance and handling.
INTELLIGENCE:
The bulk of enemy
activities and capabilities were given to the flight crews during briefings.
This was adequate in view of the fact that enemy locations change frequently and
no cities, town, villages or terrain features are considered safe. Reports of
enemy automatic weapons are also plotted on a map in operations for the pilots
to study before going on a mission.
1st QUARTER, JANUARY – MARCH 1966
Throughout the
QUARTER, on missions, the Tomahawks received, small arms and automatic
weapons fire daily, but was fortunate to have only one UH-1D downed by enemy
fire.
OPERATIONS:
The 128th
Tomahawks started off on the New Year fully trained, fully equipped and
eager to perform its mission of combat airmobile assaults. The previous
QUARTER was slow, due to maintenance difficu1ties on aircraft; however, this
did permit ample time to train and completed necessary adjustments in equipment
and personnel.
JANUARY 1966
The QUARTER started off with
the "Tomahawks" participating in a combat assaults on 3 JANUARY 1966,
with augmentations from the 116th Aviation Company and was attached to
the 1st Aviation Battalion, 1st Infantry Division, for a Combat
Airmobile assault mission southeast of Phuoc Vinh, just on the edge of “D” zone.
The flight consisted of three f1ights of 10 UH-1D's for a total of 30 slicks.
Three Fire teams escorted each flight into the LZ and out of it. As the slicks
arrived at the LZ, the fire teams began stacking up over and around the LZ until
as many as 12 gunships were orbiting the LZ. If ground fire had been
encountered, the gunships would not have had sufficient airspace to maneuver to
be fully effective. The lesson learned from this is obvious, the closer the
interval between flights, the less armed escort required.
The next significant operation the
Tomahawks were fortunate enough to have participated in, was “Operation Crimp".
This was a clearing operation to prepare the area for the arrival of an element
of the 25th Infantry Division. On the morning of 8 Jan 1966, 60 UH-lDs, 16 or
more gunships, UH-lB unit recovery ships along with the necessary C &. C ships,
departed Phu Loi AAF for Lai Khe under the control of the 1st Aviation
Battalion, 1st Infantry Division. Landing at the PZ (pick-up zone) each UH-1D
was loaded with 7 U.S. troops, which were from elements of the 3d Brigade, 1st
Infantry Division. The flight departed Lai Khe at 0700 hours for the LZ in the
vicinity of Trunt Lap and the Hobo Woods area. There were fifteen slicks in each
flight, flying staggered trail flights, 1 and 2 abreast and 3 and 4 were
abreast, in trail behind flight l and 2.
The purpose of
this was to place the maximum number of troops on the ground at one time,
because enemy resistance was expected. Eight armed helicopters escorted flights
1 and 2 and 8 armed gunships escorted flights 3 and 4. The LZ was pre-struck by
B-52s and Tac-Air. However, Tac-Air was not allowed to strike the village west
of the LZ. When the flights made their final turn into the LZ and started to
decelerate, VC ground forces opened up with automatic weapons and small arms
fire from all sides, to include the village. Two slicks and one gunship from
the flight immediately to the Tomahawks left were shot down just short of the
LZ. These 3 aircraft were later recovered. However, 2 CH-47s were badly shot up
in the recovery mission. On the second lift into the LZ, the gunships initiated
suppressive fire as the slicks turned final, lacing the area with 40mm, 7.62,
and rockets. Needless to say no fire was received on that lift.
The interesting part of
the operation was the fact that the gunships flew over and around the LZs after
the Tac-Air pre-strike, but did not receive any fire. It was evident that the
Viet Cong elected to wait until the slicks arrived, rather than to fire at the
gunships and disclose their hidden positions. After the initial airmobile
assault into the area, slicks and gunships continued to support the operations.
The action was heavy during the entire operation and several of the Tomahawks
took hits, but not injuries.
CONTINUED HISTORY
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