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Stories/ Memories /Comments
Hello Guys,
I thought you might be interested in the chatter that's taking place remembering
what happened during your tour with the 128th AHC.
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Doc Daugherty wrote 6/17/04: The aircraft info on #987 that you sent I
believe is the aircraft that Bob Codney was flying when he had the Tailrotor/90deg
gearbox blown off on a mission down south of Saigon somewhere. I think that Bill
McDonald was
along on that mission. You could ask him cause I'm not 100% sure. However, that
is the only loss that we had at that time that would fit the description given.
Those guys were all lucky to get out of that incident alive.
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Information on U.S. Army helicopter UH-1D tail number 63-12987
The Army purchased this helicopter 1164
Total flight hours at this point: 00001883
Date: 04/08/1967
Unit: 128 AHC
This was a Combat incident. This helicopter was LOSS TO INVENTORY
This was a Logistics Support mission for Resupply , to Forward Area.
While in Operations Area this helicopter was Landing at 0250 feet and 080 knots.
South Vietnam
Helicopter took 1 hits from:
Explosive Weapon; Non-Artillery launched or static weapons containing explosive
charges. (57MM RR)
causing Fragmentation Damage.
Systems damaged were: GEAR BOX, TAIL ROTOR, PERSONNEL
Casualties = YES . .
The helicopter Crashed. Aircraft Destroyed.
Both mission and flight capability were terminated.
Additional crash damage
Original source(s) and document(s) from which the incident was created or
updated: Defense Intelligence Agency Helicopter Loss database.
Survivability/Vulnerability Information Analysis Center Helicopter database.
Also: OPERA, UH1P2, 72478, LNNF, JSIDR, FM232 (Operations Report. Lindenmuth New
Format Data Base. Joint Services Incident Damage Report. )
Loss to Inventory
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It took some digging, but I found what I was looking for.....I've
got 2 pictures of The 1st D model witchdoctor burnt up and sitting on the
pad where it was struck by the 122MM rocket. The date of attack was the
night of 29/30 July 1967. If the picture is right, the tail# of the
aircraft was 659917. There were some other aircraft damaged that night. but
I think that the Witchdoctor was the only one completely destroyed.
As for the tail# of Witchdoctor III.....I do not know.
I've got to get my scanner hooked up and running again, and I'll
send you a copy of the picture.
In answer to some of your other questions, I believe that D.
Baker was from somewhere in the south or southwest. He was a tall sort of
skinny country boy. I would think it highly unlikely you'd find him
anywhere up north.
Dr. Lopez was also from up in Bn. and I believe those guys were
part of the 432nd Med? About the only time we saw any of them was if we had
a problem, or if they wanted something.
Some of those guys that were a part of our Maint. Det. were
actually assigned to the 393rd Maint. Det. I think Capt. Tom Moritz was in
charge at that time. Charlie Hill and those guys actually worked directly
for him.
As for orders, yes I have copies of many many sets of orders. I'm
sitting here looking at one right now dated 20 May 67.......Unit Order 39
1. TC 350. Fol Indiv Appointed
MOLER, MYRON V. W2215902 CW2 128th Aslt Hcptr Co APO 96289
apt to; Weight and Balance Officer...................
A little further down the list is:
FALLQUIST, CARL A. W3154574 WO1 128th Aslt Hcptr Co APO 96289
apt to: Repairable Control Officer .....................
I guess I could copy all this stuff and send it to you if you would want.
That probably won't happen till after I get back from Dallas though.
Are you going to come to the VHPA reunion in Dallas? How about the VHCMA
in Indy?
Well, let me know if you want copies of any of these orders.
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Jim Hestand wrote 6/17/04: Aloha, I just read something that I have
lived with for 38 years and had hoped others had forgotten, the Name FLUF!! I
was introduced to General Seniff (sp?) in the Gunslinger Club and at an "Awards
and Decorations" ceremony (thanks Major Kitterman) as FLUF! Every time I saw
him, including the last time I got shot down, he referred to me as "FLUF"!!
There was even a photo of a Female midget wrestler signed "with love to Fluff",
on the Platoon club wall! God, will it never go away? For the record: I am
still Fat (lets say not trim) I am still Little (lets say vertically challenged)
I am still Ugly, but I am no longer a F*****! (In deference to my years and the
fact that I haven't even had a date in 5 years!
Now about Charlie Hill, Charlie himself, told me, while slumped over several
drinks and not a few games of "Liars Dice" that he felt that "they thought he
was too old" to fly guns! As a 20-year-old "Tiger" I thought this was an
outrage! I, of course, didn't think about the fact that he was a very capable
Officer and would be needed to do more important things than just shooting the
bad guys. (all I wanted to do) By the way, the same week that the Navy told
Charlie that "he couldn't be in the Army that he was still in the Navy" and he
sent them a letter that said "I quit, Charlie Hill", I was given a notification
of "Draft Physical" back in Kansas City! Charlie wrote his letter and I wrote
the Draft Board, "just cut the orders and I would be glad to come back to take a
physical"! God ya gotta love it!
Aloha, I remember when Dorr got killed but I think I was still up in I Corp.
Aloha, sorry I haven't gotten back to you but the airline "BIZ" can get a little
hectic. I have about two-dozen e-mails to catch up on! I go off on a 4-day trip
and find my file full of letters! The unit Captain Bowles "mortared" was the
113th Black Cats and, as I remember, they moved into the company area behind us
(toward Battalion HQ) that had been vacated by the 116th (they moved to Cu Chi)
Hornets (their guns were the Stingers). This move occurred after we had each
(the 128th and the 116th) had each sent a light fire team up to I Corp. to work
with the 5th Special Forces at Phu Bai and Khe Son). By the way does anyone
remember the "intramural" battle we had with the ARVN Special forces types (and
their American advisors) at Phu Bai? Major stink!!! For some reason I seem to
have been involved with a hell of a lot "Major stinks" during my tour, like
"bombing the Bien Hua motor pool with a mine laying system that was published in
the Stars and Stripes As I write stuff down the more I remember....
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Hello again guys,
All of these stories will be entered into the charts but I thought I would make
a few comments regarding them. I'm going to try to follow the order in which
they were mentioned.
1. I'd love to add to the charts, Bob Codney's and Bill McDonald's
version of the 4/8/66 incident on UH-1D tail number 63-12987, if it was them
that were involved.
2. There was an aircraft, D model 65-09917, that entered the 128th 10/66
and disappears from the company a/c roster in August of 1967. That coincides
with Doc's date of the incident. Ordinarily, the charts would show the ship
being assigned to another unit for duty, service or overhaul. 65-09917 just
disappears from the list so it's probably the right tail numbers for Witchdoctor
II. I'd love to see the pictures when Doc gets a chance to scan them.
3. Don't feel too bad about the tail numbers for Witchdoctor III. 3 days
ago we didn't know the tail numbers of Witchdoctor I & II, but you've added them
to the charts. I know this is asking a lot but would you have any idea when the
D-Model replaced the B-model? If you remember the B-Model during your tour then
they would have been changed sometime between Jan and August 67. The 1st
Witchdoctor, B Model, the tail # (64-13960) didn't leave the company until March
of 68. By the way, I think that the 8mm movies I took when I first got into the
company were of Witchdoctor III. I'll have to run the tape to see if the tail
numbers are on it. I'll let you know.
4. I believe I got the address that I have for Danny Baker from the
unaffiliated VHPA directory.
Baker, Dannie D.
PO Box 216 ?
Brooklyn, NY 11201
Class 65-21
If he was from the south or southwest maybe he moved. You know, some
southern country boys wise up and move north.
5. I decided a long time ago to include the 432nd Med. and the 393rd
Maint. Detachments in the charts. They directly supported the 128th and quite
often flew with us and saved our asses. One of the ACs that I liked the most,
CPT Bill Davis, happened to be the Bn Flight Surgeon while I was there.
6. Regarding your orders,
I'd like copies of everybody's 128th related orders.
I never enter S/S or military ID numbers into the charts but the orders
provide a lot of info and I've already entered the orders of about a dozen guys.
In-fact, if you look at your name cell comments in the charts, you'll notice
that your 4/2/68 Section Leader Assignment, Unit Orders # 21 are in the charts.
I'd like very much to add the orders that you were looking at with Mohler and
Fallquist. I have to retype the orders for the charts and I return to the sender
an MS Word copy of his order. You'd be surprised how much can be learned from
military orders and quite frequently, some of the other guys have lost or never
received their copies and they find them on the charts.
7. Unfortunately, I'm not going to be able to make it to any of the
reunions this year. Maybe the next time one of the reunions is located in the
northeast. You guys should enjoy yourselves and I hope that some new names and
stories get back to me for the charts.
8. Jim Hestand shouldn't be too upset about that nickname. I've been
called a whole lot worse than that. Besides, regardless of how old he is, I
think "FLUF" is
cute
and the story is great for the charts. Maybe if he started using his nickname
he'd get a date.
9. I wasn't aware of Charlie Hill's Navy debacle. If Jim can remember
anything else about Charlie, I'd be glad to enter it into the charts. By the
way, just how old was Charlie Hill when he was in the 128th? Carl "Rock"
Falquist said that Charlie had moved to Florida after retirement and passed away
several years ago. I still don't know the date or cause of his death.
10. If Jim Hestand is able to download the charts, and there shouldn't be
any reason why he can't, he would see that he is correct. The company area
sketch at the bottom of the charts indicates that the Black Cats were to the
north right next to our company area separating the 128th from 11th Battalion
HQ. I am going to enter his comments regarding the 116th move into the company
history section of the charts. Does anybody remember when the Hornets moved to
Cu Chi? If anybody can provide the details why we each sent a light fire team up
to I Corp. to work with the 5th Special Forces at Phu Bai and Khe Son, and the
story about the "intramural" battle we had with the ARVN Special forces types
(and their American advisors), it'd be great for the charts.
11. One of the drawbacks of having the database in chart form is that I
can't search the cell comments to find who sent me the story about the mine
laying apparatus that was attached to one of our choppers and accidentally
bombed Bein Hoa. I think it was one of the EM crew that was on the ship that
day. I'd love to ad the Stars and Stripes version of the story but I'll gladly
accept Jim's or anybody else's version.
12. WO1 DORR GERALD ANDREW KIA 01/28/1967
13. Keep writing down your stories Jim, they're great and if you or
someone else doesn't send them to me for the charts, they'll be lost forever.
OK, I'm done for now. Keep the stories coming.
Later,
Russ
Russellklayton@aol.com
Comments for others on the above:
From Bill McDonald
angelnet@citlink.net
Russ - I do not remember this incident as being one that I was involved in -
although I was shot down a few times in April of 1967 - this one does not
sound like one of mine. The tail number does not ring any bells for me. In the
spring of 1967, I flew mostly with Bob Codney and Edward Ewing so that part is
correct.
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