Oscar Tristan and me relaxing at Dalat.Our crew chiefs were usually 18 -22 years old and did a commendable job of keeping their birds flyable. If their bird was assigned to a mission, they flew with it manning the door mounted M-60, supervised loading and securing the load, and kept us clear of obstructions in extremely tight LZ’s. When we returned after eight or ten hours of flying they pulled all the maintenance according to the manual, worked off any write-ups we entered into the log book and made certain all was ready for the next day of flying. When their bird developed a main or tail rotor vibration, we went back to the flight line to assist them in “tracking” the blades. They frequently worked late into the night or early morning to get their bird flyable and were there to greet us when we pre-flighted for the next day’s mission. The gunner kept the M-60’s in perfect working order, loaded the linked belt ammunition and maintained the aircraft’s supply of smoke grenades as well as working with the crew chief, acting as his assistant. Sometimes, I wondered when they got any sleep.
We became very close to these guys and did our best to take care of them as far as promotions, decorations and time off was concerned. Our lives were in their hands and we had the utmost confidence and trust in them. Fraternizing of officers and enlisted men was prohibited but we did it anyway, especially if we all had the same day off. We’d invite them to our “hooch” and sit around listening to music and getting hammered. I wish I had stayed in touch with many of them but we all seemed to go our separate ways after our tours were over.
2 comments:
Thanks for the comment and I'll correct the error. So few notes and a bit of a memory problem at this time of my life are my only excuses. Mike Walsh
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