Phu Cat Medivac Chopper

US Army medical evacuation helicopter landing on ramp at Phu Cat, Vietnam - 1972. I think the aircraft is a variety of a Bell Huey. Not sure how much protection was guaranteed from enemy fire by the white paint job and red crosses. Doors on chopper are open with two crewmembers watching for arrival of some patients. I had an experience to be on a white DC-9 medivac jet with red crosses ... nicknamed the Nightengale it was equipped with medical gear, and configured to accommodate hospital stretchers.

Jakarta Good Deal

The Good, the Bad, the Ugly … got to see a huge range of places given the variety of flying tactical airlift. Here our C-130 crew had a fortunate “good deal”  trip to Jakarta, Indonesian to include some moments of relaxation and fun. Pictured is part of the crew (Captain Ed, Flight Engineer Tony, and Loadmaster Jim) sitting in courtyard of hotel we stayed at for a few days. Tropical plants, rock garden, thatched canopy sitting area, and a cooler of cold beer … not too shabby. You can see we all decided to buy local headgear … black velvet Nehru-like caps. A funny follow up: after a few beers someone leaned up against the large center post supporting the thatched canopy … it must have been rotten at ground level, and over it went. Fortunately the beer did not get damaged. What even happened to that hat?

Drop Zone

US Army Drop Zone team launching a red balloon to help gauge wind direction and velocity – SEA 1973. In right of photo a jeep equipped with radios is used to communicate with a C-130 overhead carrying airborne troops ready to make jumps into the DZ. The wind information coupled with aircraft altitude, direction, and airspeed would allow the C-130 to follow the appropriate track over the DZ for the jumps. In addition the calculations would determine when to go “Green Light”.  Prominent RED-GREEN lights were next to both paratroop doors on either side of the C-130 … in the cargo area aft of the wings … RED light was on approaching drop point. The Jumpmaster would be stationed at the door with the jumpers queued up toward front of plane. A switch in the cockpit (which also had small red-green lights) would be toggled over from RED to GREEN signaling time to jump ... definitely something not to screw up. Yellow smoke grenades were sometimes deployed at the DZ during the jump to clearly mark the target, and give paratroopers an indication of current wind conditions.

Phantoms at Ubon

Failed to label this slide, but believe it is at hot and steamy Ubon??? Airbase in Eastern most part of Thailand – 1972. Ubon was just west of Laos, and just north of Cambodia, and was home to F-4 Phantom Fighter Squadrons flying missions into Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam. Pictured is row of Phantoms parked in revetments … I believe these are USAF F-4C models that were extensively used in Vietnam War along with newer F-4D versions. These aircraft could max out at over 50K pounds, and could approach 1,500 mph. Their pilots had many MIG kills to their credit.

Deadheads

Two deadheads in back of C-130 – 1972. Deadhead was term used for a crewmember hitching a ride, and not part of the crew flying the plane. The guy on left was a flight surgeon, and the other was my friend Dave who was a navigator on another crew. You could always tell crewmembers as they constantly were using their hands to illustrate different positions of aircraft in flight. I suspect this was not a deadhead flight to Vietnam from our R&R duty station at CCK Airbase, Taiwan … those flights were always packed full with deadheads and heaps of cargo on pallets, and there was always competition to find a comfortable spot in back of the C-130 for the very long flight. Best option was to find a spot to lay down on top of some soft cargo … some would even string up a hammock on occasion.

Airlift at Phu Cat

Crooked and blurred, not one of my highest quality photos, but this shows one helicopter giving another a lift at the end of a cable. I think it might be a Bell UH-1 Huey and a CH-47 twin rotor Chinook? Reminds me a bit of movie Apocalypse Now where the Naval River Boat was carried into the river mouth by one of Major Kilgore’s rotary aircraft. This was at Phu Cat, Vietnam – 1972.

Saigon waterways

This aerial slide that I scanned simply had “near Saigon - 1972” written on it … made me wonder exactly where.  Given the distinctive meandering ox-bow river formations, I figured I could easily locate the place on current maps. Probably butchered these names, but it looks like photo taken south of Bien Hoa, looking to the South where the Song Dong Nai and Hha Be Rivers meet. Interesting that the current 2011 Google Satellite map shows that the river island in this 40 year-old photo has been breached at the narrow point … splitting it in two. Having some geology background this is a natural occurrence for meandering rivers. Off to the southwest would have been Saigon. I assume our C-130 was about to turn right (to the west) for a final approach into Tan Son Nhut Airbase, Saigon.

Vietnam thunderheads

Although beautiful to look at from the C-130, these bad boy thunderheads were nothing to flirt with as they ruled the skies. Thunderstorms very quickly could form under the hot unstable air especially in the afternoon over Vietnam. They could top out at over 50,000 feet, well above our cruising altitudes. Dodging these weather systems was a must … even flying close in the clear air under the expanding thunderstorm anvils lurking above could place the aircraft in severe turbulence and even hail. “Sucker hole” was a term used by pilots to describe small tempting clear-air spaces between thunderstorm cells that could quickly disappear once you entered into them. Plenty of sick bags were needed on such days if we were hauling green passengers even when keeping a healthy 20 mile distance rom the clouds.

Roadmap to home ... NKP

Fortunately place/time was written on most of my SEA 35mm slides taken about 40 years ago … not a priority, as flying, smoking, and drinking sadly engaged most of waking moments … maybe an exaggeration, but inherently true. Sure, some places in photos are recognizable, but others not so much so. For this attached photo a bit of pre-GPS map work could have located the place … BUT given the mileage signs in this particular snapshot it’s unique beyond any other photos in collection. This is Nakom Phnom Airbase, Thailand. I think it really illustrates the remoteness, both physical and emotional, of our presence away from the USA … a shock to a previous young civilian lifestyle. It’s not a hop, skip, and jump from home, nor a place where most really wanted to be, at least at this point in time. Realizing this spot is much different to those in rugged, overrun hot zones in Vietnam, for me it nonetheless graphically underlines impact of being in a different place during time of war on foreign soil. "ASYLUM" and "ENOUGH" somehow crept in to the sign makers phyche.