Vietnam War Stories: Like A Shadow!

120th Assault Helicopter Company, Saigon - 1968 Helicopter night flights in Viet Nam are not for the squeamish. Helicopters are inherently unstable any way, and when you add gunfire, poor visibility and unseen obstacles the combination can be fatal. The night of the 14th of January 1968 we added an ambush and the subsequent medivac. It makes the sweat bead on my brow just thinking about it thirty years later.
      I was a young Warrant Officer Pilot flying for the 120th Assault Helicopter Company in Saigon; we were the unit that had originated helicopter warfare in the early 60's. The war had grown larger every year and by the time I had been assigned to the "Deans" they were primarily a VIP outfit, hauling General Officers and other idiots from Washington to look in on our troops in the field. I knew we were a taxi company, but I had seen plenty of combat, and it was fun to see more of the country than I had seen flying for the 187th Assault Helicopter Company, my first assignment, where we hauled troops and supplies in the never-ending Combat Assault grind. First the Rat Pack Gunships would prep the Landing Zone then the lift ships would bring in the troops, and then we would resupply the Grunts with food, ammo and fresh meat for the grinder and take out the wounded. Then as the sun would start to get low in the sky we would extract the troops and fly back to Tay Ninh to maintain the UH-1H Helicopters, eat, sleep a little and get up before dawn and do it over again.
      At the 120th Assault Helicopter Company I had a room, not a tent, hot water some of the time and the ability to go down to the Cholon area and find some oriental delicacies to dine on. I only had a few months left on my tour in Viet Nam and the change was wonderful. I lived close to my best friend in Viet Nam, Major David Royal Warden our 13th Group Flight Surgeon. Major Warden had flown with me so many times in Tay Ninh; my platoon leader put him on the rotation to give some of the other pilots a break. When David was promoted to Major, he was moved up to Group Surgeon, and his new assignment was in Long Binh just down the road from Saigon.
      "Hotel three tower, Dean 43 at POL for takeoff." I keyed the mike with the floor mike switch, "Dean 43 you are number two for takeoff behind the Razor Back fire team on the ready pad" I looked over to see the heavily loaded C model gunships pulling pitch and dragging their overloaded helicopters into the air. I thought to myself some one must be stepping in crap tonight, the Razor Backs don't fly at night for their amusement. I followed them out and turned east the guns staying low and heading North. I would not want to be on the receiving end of that fight tonight. Captain Payne and his wing were seasoned veterans of the air war; Vietnamese men were going to die tonight.
      It was beautiful and cool tonight, we were empty and the helicopter climbed like a raped ape, and we were through 1500 feet in a matter of seconds. Major David Warden was at the controls and I was trying to figure out just where in Bien Hoa I was supposed to pick up my General Officer passenger. My mission sheet had me picking up at Bien Hoa dropping off at the USARV headquarters, and then I would drop Doc Warden off at his quarters and bring back the helicopter by myself. My Crewchief would love to get some stick time on our short return to Hotel Three in Saigon.
      There was so much helicopter traffic that went between Saigon and Long Bien; there was an unwritten rule of the road, eastbound on the right side of the highway, westbound on the left. Nothing will ruin your day like a midair collision. I was trying to get the armed forces radio tuned in for the crew to listen to. Major David Warden keyed the intercom and in his West Virginia southern drawl pointed out the huge volume of tracers and the concussion rings coming off what looked like a truck convoy stalled on the highway.
      It only took one look to tell the convoy of trucks was being ambushed. The adrenaline hit my brain like a grenade going off. I carried a list of radio frequencies that covered everyone with a radio in South Viet Nam. I looked up the convoy frequency and quickly punched it up on the FM radio.

"Roger Red Rider I am inbound." And with that we dove our UH-1H model right at the ambush! Doc was shooting out the door, my crew was working out with their M-60's, we were kicking the crap out of the ambush and the Viet Cong stopped shooting for a minute and took cover. It would not take the Viet Cong long to figure out we were not a Gunship and continue to press their attack.
      Doc Warden keyed the intercom; "If we don't get him out of there and into a hospital he will be dead in a few minutes. If you can get me close I will get him out of there." Doc Warden was an All-American Football star from Davidson College before going to medical school at Penn. He was as big and strong as a draft horse. "I can get you close."
      There were two sets of high power lines running down the north side of the highway, we would have to go over one set of wires, but under the other set, to keep from exposing ourselves to the fire.
      "Put your hands on the controls and follow me through, if I get hit you can take over the flying." I could feel his hands lightly on the controls. We were not able to fire our M-60's because the men in the trucks were all on the North side of the road shooting back.
      It would be suicide to turn on the landing light, so I had the crew hanging out the door looking for wires and the ground coming up. My crew guided me in and while we were on short final Doc Warden unbuckled his harness and stepped out on the skid. I could not see anywhere to put the helicopter on the ground so I terminated my approach at a very low hover and Doc jumped down and ran over to the truck with the wounded man in it.
      When the Viet Cong realized that there was a helicopter on short final, just behind the trucks, they threw everything they had at us. I was close to the lead truck and I could see bullets impacting all over it and I could see bullets ricocheting off the road under the truck. Most of the fire was going over us and our helicopter was unscratched so far.
      Major David Warden is the coolest man I have ever seen under fire. He gently pulled the wounded driver out of the driver's seat, holding him in his massive arms like a baby. The volume of fire being poured at my flight surgeon was horrific, I thought for sure I was going to see my best friend die in front of my eyes. He then ran down the embankment straight at the helicopter. I turned the helicopter so the door was facing him, and when he got real close, he jumped in the helicopter still cradling the driver in his arms. All 250 pounds of him hit the floor with a thud. I did a pedal turn and went out the way I had come in. Watching the green tracers streaking down both sides of the helicopter, listening for the pop in the earphones that signify a bullet strike to the aircraft.
      Doc had the wounded driver (David Berry) cradled in his arms so he could breath and not move around and injure himself more. I called the 24th Evac hospital and told them the nature of the wounds and they sent a team out to the pad to wait for us.
      My Crewchief had trained as a medic and with Doc Warden holding David Berry the two of them kept him alive until we touched down at the 24th Evac.
      The men on the hospital pad stood by and watched as Doc Warden carried the wounded David Berry into triage. I moved the helicopter off the active pad and shut down to look for battle damage. We were unscratched, however there was a huge pool of darkening blood on the floor of the aircraft.
      When I went into triage to look for Doc Warden, they had already taken David Berry to surgery and Doc was cleaning up a huge gash in his leg. I said to Doc "when did that happen?" he looked up over his glasses and said, "I don't remember when, I did not feel a thing. I thought all the blood was coming from David Berry." Doc continued to dress his own wound while the triage nurses exchanged pleasantries with the Doc.
      So with one leg cut off Doc's fatigues, fresh bandages, and the blood cleaned off the floor, we went to Long Bien to look for our passenger.
      The General officer's aid ran up to our helicopter and started chewing my ass for being late. I was just coming off an extreme adrenaline rush and could give a rat's butt. I had the crew shovel some of the spent brass off the seats for the General and his aid to sit on, but I had them leave most of it rolling around on the floor for them to either get the picture or bust their butts on---didn't care which one at that point. With a full pitch take off we landed at USARV headquarters in a matter of minutes.
      Doc Warden had me take him back to the hospital so he could check in on David Berry. When Doc had checked David Berry's dog tags, he found out David Berry was a Mormon, just like the two of us.
      Doc Warden called CW3 William Koerner, our Mormon group leader, and the two of them gave David Berry a blessing. In that blessing, Bill Koerner asked our Father in Heaven to restore David Berry's eyesight and to have him made whole again. David Berry was unconscious his head wrapped in bandages. Bill Koerner did not know the neurosurgeons had just suctioned out the part of David Berry's brain that is called the optical lobe. I thought it was a pretty big order even for God.
      David Berry came out of the anesthetic and he was blind. I sat and talked with him about his family in Los Angeles, and the grocery store his father owned. He did not know what he would do to help at home with the family business not being able to see.
      Two days later I stopped in to see how David Berry was doing, when I walked up to his bed he sat up and said, "You are taller than I expected, I can see you like a shadow.
      David Berry's vision improved every day.