Sent: Sunday, February 18, 2001
I joined the Tomahawks the day before Newton, Darcy and Durell
were killed.
I remember that Red Dog 6, LTC Joe Starker, also was in one of the
aircraft
looking for the crash site. At the time I was an "old new guy",
beginning
my second tour. As the new guy I ended up being the Summary Court Officer
for Dick Newton. I gathered up all his stuff and sent it to his wife,
Marjorie, in Washington state. Gracious lady that she was, she wrote back
and asked if I would correspond with her from time to time and keep her up
to date on the guys in the 128th. We exchanged probably a dozen letters
over the next year.
Marjorie's parents were living in Honolulu, and she decided to move there
with her kids. She actually got to Honolulu about a week before I DEROSed.
My wife met me in Hawaii and we spent an evening with Marjorie and her
parents. They were wonderful. I don't know how many of the Tomahawks knew
it, but Dick had a son he never saw. He was born after Dick went to Nam.
The boy was a beautiful 1-year-old when my wife and I met their family. I
am sure that he has grown into a fine young man now.
Do we have anyone living in the Honolulu area? If so, maybe they could
check around to see if Marjorie is still there. She was a very nice lady,
so there is a good chance that she remarried, but it would be great if she
could be contacted and advised about the reunion. She might appreciate the
fact that we still think about Dick.
Hope things are going well for you. Still don't know if I will be able to
make it to Sacramento, but I will be there in spirit if not in person.
I recently ran across some slides of the Tomahawk area taken the day after
the big rocket attack in July of '67. I will scan them and send them to you
in the near future. I also have some Robin Hood pics for you.
Best of luck to you and Doc, and Jim Mann, and all the other Tomahawks. I
have fond memories of Phu Loi and all you guys.
Ben Powell
TO: "Doc Daugherty" gs34doc@hotmail.com
You said in your email :
" Incidently Bill, I would like to take this opportunity to thank you
for
all you have done to put this web site together, and playing a major role
in reuniting the 128th."
It is amazing how all this has come about. My personal web site (which my
son created for me as a Christmas gift - where he put all my old Nam poetry
on a free web site) was discovered by one or two Tomahawks who asked me
if I
could do a web site for the 128th. The next thing you know I got a paid
web
site, so I can have all the room we need, I got hundreds of photos and
contacts from many Tomahawks and Robin Hoods - and the site just
began to
grow of it's own energy. I have now taken my personal stuff and neatly set it
aside on the web, so that one can explore all the rest of it without having
to read so much of my personal stuff, or view my art work etc.
It was all a leap of faith - much like planning the reunion in Sacramento. I
committed to 10 rooms at a hotel without knowing for sure if any one would
come - but trusting that things would work out. Now Bob Codney tells me
that
he will try to be there, as well as several others - I do hope that you can also
be
there as well.
What else is interesting is all the vets coming for assistance, or just to
vent their thoughts to me. We still have brothers out there who have not
made that transition successfully yet. So we have some outreach work to do.
We have had the son of one of our KIA contact us and contribute to the web
site with information and his energy. We have also had brothers, fathers and
other relatives of our KIA visit the web pages and leave me messages. So the
web site is no longer mine (I lost that a long time ago) nor does it just
belong to old Tomahawk and Robin Hood vets - it seems to belong to
many more
people than I had ever envisioned it would. Like I have said, it has taken
on a life of all it's own.
You said in your email:
"I was with the 128th from Jan 67 - Aug 68, serving first as a 1st
Platoon
Slick driver (Tomahawk 19)then as Gunslinger 34. Ed Drake was my CE in
1st
platoon, then he went to maintenance and Garcia took over his ship, if I
remember right. Also remembering that you were in 2nd Platoon, You may be
interested to know the following....
"Toward the end of Operation Junction City, On the night that the
2nd
Platoon lost a/c #744 with all crew aboard, Steve Dillman and I were
flying
the a/c that went out that night and found the crash. My daughter, Darcy,
is named in honor of my best friend who was lost that night."
Go to the web site and click on SPIRITUAL
STORIES then click on VISIONS of
FIRE & DEATH. This is the story of that experience. My web pages show
that
that the craft was #744 and then on another data page I have it listed as
#742 - I need to confirm the correct tail number, but the former crew chief
and I agree that it was in fact #742. Any way, that is not the point.
Captain Richard Newton and Jim Darcy were flying it along with the
lone
gunner - Al Durell ( who was brand new to the unit).
I went out that night with you looking for the crash site. Read my story of
that experience and you will see that more was at play here then meets the
casual eye or even what you think you remembered.
I will now go back and fill in some missing details that I had forgotten
like - you and Steve being the crew that went out there to find the crash
with me. Feel free to add any more details.
I Have talked on the phone to guy who was the regular crewchief on that ship
(742) and he had bad feelings about that aircraft for several weeks prior to
leaving Nam and refused to fly any more on it and did not in fact, fly his
last 3 weeks in Nam - the ship crashed within days of his leaving Nam and he
did not learn about what had happened to his old ship until he read it on
the web pages.
Any way, read the full story of what happened then. I would like to do
another follow-up story with how others experienced that event and how it
effected their lives later on.
I am sending my reply to several others of the Tomahawks since I thought
there might be some interest in our conversation; and perhaps we might get
even more information on this crash or others.
Hope you make it to the reunion so we can all talk... keep in contact.
Bill McDonald
TO: Bill McDonald
From: Bob Codney RCCdelta@aol.com
Sent: Wednesday, February 21, 2001
Bill,
Just had a trip back in time :) First time on the 128th web page and almost
fell over when I saw the photos of our AC and pictures of me as a young
warrant officer.
We flew together and were shot down together :( by that RPG while doing a
supply drop off for the big red one in war zone C.
You were my gunner/crew chief (correct). Young and crazy!!!
Bob Codney, 128th 1966/67 Slick driver and then moved to guns. You
were part
of the crew that flew into hell on the other side of the river at Phu Loi
when CP got shot in the neck and the Arvin officer tried to hide near the
front seat and was hit in the head.
I think I'm correct that the photo's of our AC and the crew shows me about 40
lbs. lighter and no bald spot HAHA.
Warmest Regards,
Bob
Another follow-up message from Bob:
Retired after 28 years in the military, Retired again after being senior VP
to an aviation company here in Phoenix. (took them public) Worked for the
State Dept. in Bosnia for a year plus (worst than VN) currently, Regional
director for an aviation service company, chairman of the board for the
largest 501c3 company in the 3 state area (giving people with disabilities
work), chairman for a foundation, president of a small food company (spice &
slice) Husband (36 years) father to a 31 year old daughter with a 2 year old
grandson, my son is 27 and in quality control at liberty mutual. Trying to keep
busy :):)
Did you read about Rod Hooks?
I will send some photos and stories if my mind can think back that far. I
don't know if you remember, but after I was a gunslinger I received a
commission :( . My last 6 years in the military, I was dep. Cdr. for the
160th The special operations CT unit for the Army. (still killing people
after all these years).
Not much else other than I stayed away from vet groups because of the BS and
lies. Regards, Bob
PS I don't know if I ever told you this, thanks for saving my life we
were in
some tight spots and your MG kept me alive to sin later on in life haha.
From: Bob Warner AJPDCHIEF@aol.com
Sent: Thursday, June 07, 2001
The following are a series of messages from Bob Warner.
Bill, thanks for all of your efforts on
the web page for the 128th. I was
proud to serve as a Crew Chief in the 128th from June 67-June 68. In
fact, I
remember meeting you when I joined the first flight platoon. Because the
maintenance platoon was full, I was immediately assigned to the first flight
platoon, as a truck driver! Only a few weeks later, Smitty (Jerry I
think)
had his thumb shot off on a morning CA and I took his place. The A/C number
was 576. My Aircraft Commander was WO Lyle Gentz and we crashed 576
somewhere
in a rice paddy near Lai Kai. I then took over as CE on 866, until I DEROS'd
in June of 68. I was also one of the guys wounded in the rocket attack on
July 29, 1967 when our new hooch got hit (I had only been in-country for
about a month). Anyway, I came across the web site and just had to write. I
will be keeping up with new developments and will search my files for photos
of our guys & ships. Keep up the good work. Bob Warner CE 67-68.
Hey Bill, it is great to hear from you.
Yes, I was the guy with the shrapnel
in my shoulder and another small piece in my right leg. I did take over 576
after you left, I flew several others prior to that time. My Zippo lighter is
adorned with my last ships tail number - 866 and it is proudly displayed
along with other memorabilia in my office.
As to what I have been up to during the last 33 years, well lets see.
I
finished my enlistment at Hunter Army Airfield, in Savannah, Georgia.
After that I returned to my home, outside of Chicago & went back to school
earning a Bachelors degree in 1973. I was married at the time and we had
three children. I became a police officer in my senior year of college and
retired
from that department after 25 years in 1998. I started as a patrolman and
finished
as the Chief. During that time, I once again returned to school and obtained
my
Masters degree.
I then relocated to beautiful, sunny Arizona where I am the Chief of Police in
Apache Junction (30 miles east of Phoenix) at the foot of the Superstition
Mountains. My current wife and I absolutely love it here and we hope to live
out the rest of our days right here. Our kids are all grown and on their own.
One is married and one engaged. The other is still having too much fun to
settle down! We feel truly blessed. I must admit, I am very surprised to
learn that you are a minister. I recall you as having a pretty mischievous
sense of humor. Go figure, huh? I will look through my pictures and will
forward any that may be of interest. Take care and keep in touch.
Bob Warner
Apache Junction, Arizona
Hi Bill, thanks for your response to my
message. The tail number of my first
ship started to bother me, when you reminded me that 542 was your ship until
you deros'd in November. I knew that I had my own ship before that, so I
started checking the aircraft list on the web site and found that my first
ship was actually 65-09576. That is the one that we splashed down into a rice
paddy in. It had to be sling loaded out, pushed the skids right up thru the
floor. Benny Canella (sp?) of LA was my gunner then. No one was seriously
injured. The AC was WO Lyle Gentz and I do not recall who the peter pilot
was, except that he failed to remove one of the radios when we were being
extracted and I had to wade back thru chest high water and get it! My M-16,
which was the old model with all the extractor problems jammed after firing
one round. Benny refused to leave the aircraft, which was rolled over onto
it's right side (his side was up) until he had expended all of his ammo. He
told me that if he had to clean the guns, he wanted to get his money's worth!
Anyway, thanks for jarring my memory and causing me to do a little research
on the correct tail number. Please feel free to contact me and stop in for a
visit anytime. We were just in SF last November and enjoyed it immensely.
When you post my info on the web site, please show the correct ac numbers, I
think I listed 542 as my first ship rather than 576. Again thanks for
providing the trip down memory lane. I emailed Steve Childs also, do you
remember him? He was the gunner who came over from the 101 st LRRPs. I
haven't heard back yet. Take care, MAC and keep in touch.
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