Diamondhead News Letter Index | home
July 2001 | August 2001 | September 2001 | October 2001 | November 2001 | December 2001 | January 2002 | February 2002 | March 2002 | April 2002
January 2002
“The Monthly Diamondhead”
January 2002
Editor-Reporter-Chief Cook-Web Slave-
Ron Leonard
304-728-7012 rollayo@earthlink.net
Company Stuff:
This month brought several new people to the fold of long lost 25th Aviation Personnel. Newly found personnel for the month. For the Diamondheads Mike Dufour, William Geauboud <Goo-Bow>,Jack Hill, Fran “Ace” Paradise, Jon Mitchell, Don Winters, Don Thomas, Ed Tobita, Ken Goodell, “Mo” Haire the Little Bears we have added, John LaCurran, James Wilkes, and Tom Phillips to HHC .The contact information for these additions can be found on the proper roster on the web page. I have many more phone numbers and addresses posted to the rosters. If they are in red, they still need contacted, andI have mailed post cards so it shuld speed it up allot now since they are all sent.. I have supplied the addresses and phone numbers to call, if you have a notion, pick up the phone and call one. If the notation under the name says <card sent> that means I have mailed them a card but they have not responded as of yet. For additional new personnel, their contact information will be added as I find it, and also posted in red. I have received from several members' lists of company personnel names that I have not listed yet. I don't have the magic numbers for them, so they will be posted as names only until better information is available. That will occur soon.
Joe Finch has finally got his new book “Angels Wing” published. I have read part of it so far and it is pretty good. It realistically portrays the many things all of us did during Vietnam, in particular the “Little Bears”. It reads well and is a mix of history and entertainment and is well worth adding to your libraries. Ordering information can be found on the PX page.
Since the additional memory has been added to the site many more pictures have been added, and many more are In the preparation stages so no further slowdown should occur for a little while, still pictures suck up storage capacity in a hurry.
Medical Stuff
IQ Helps Buffer Post Traumatic Stress, by Amanda Gardner HealthScoutNews Reporter
(EXCERPT) WEDNESDAY, Jan. 30 (HealthScoutNews) -- Intellect appears to be some sort of buffer against the severity of post traumatic stress,says novel new research involving Vietnam war veterans.
The research also confirms that Vietnam vets with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) often have problems with attention and learning.
But the findings in no way minimize the well-documented role of combat stress in PTSD, says lead researcher Jennifer Vasterling. She and her colleagues at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in New Orleans found that the most important gauge for determining the severity of PTSD was the extent of combat experience.
"We don't want anyone to go away thinking, 'If only I were smarter, I wouldn't have gotten PTSD,'" Vasterling says.
"Like a number of other studies, we found that the biggest predictor of whether people got PTSD was how extensive their combat exposure was. And contributing a little bit on top of that was estimated pre-military IQ," she adds. "What it suggests is that IQ might buffer the stress-symptom relationship a little bit."
PTSD is a debilitating disorder that can affect people who have been exposed to severe psychological trauma, such as combat or torture. The National Vietnam Veterans readjustment Study estimates that almost 31 percent of male Vietnam veterans and almost 27 percent of female Vietnam veterans suffer from the disorder at some point in their
lives.
People with PTSD often have flashbacks to the trauma, are irritable, have difficulty concentrating and sleeping, and find their ability to cope with day-to-day life compromised.
The new study, which appears in the current issue of the journal Neuropsychology, essentially had two components.
One looked at attention, learning abilities and memory in 26 combat veterans with PTSD and 21 combat veterans without PTSD. Those with PTSD showed some problems with sustained attention, working memory and new learning. These results held true even after the researchers factored in the level of combat exposure.
Much of the focus in the past has been on the headline-grabbing side of PTSD -- the flashbacks and nightmares. This study draws attention to more mundane but equally debilitating symptoms of the disorder.
"What they're saying is that these things may be making PTSD such a chronic and devastating illness," says Dr. William Apfeldorf, associate professor of clinical psychiatry at Weill-Cornell Medical School in New York City.
"These symptoms interfere with the ability to cope, to get on with life, to recover," he adds. "If you are going to rely on memory, attention and learning to guide therapy [for people with PTSD, then these people are starting out with a strike against them."
The second part of the study measured the "pre-war estimated IQ" in the same group of volunteers. The researchers found that the veterans with higher pre-combat IQ's had less severe PTSD symptoms, even after adjusting for combat exposure.
The lesson here, says psychologist Alan Hilfer, the director of internship training at Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., is that the veterans with the higher IQ's may be "able to look at what's going on and access other resources both within [themselves and interpersonally to be able to ameliorate a situation."
Being "smart," however, doesn't necessarily mean having an IQ of 150. It might mean having access to opportunities and education to help you understand the world. That's a particularly troublesome issue in the case of the men and women who served in Vietnam, many of whom did not have college degrees.
There may be some obvious ways that IQ can translate into better life skills and coping strategies, Vasterling says.
"The literature suggests that if you can verbalize the experience and make it a narrative in some way, this may help you make sense of the experience," she says. Greater internal resources may also help you seek out social support, she adds.
This study has a number of practical implications, Vasterling adds. For instance, military personnel who are likely to serve in a war zone might benefit from learning coping strategies before they leave.
And trauma survivors, not just combat veterans, who feel their concentration and memory are suffering don't necessarily need to worry about these problems on top of everything else. These can be normal reactions to trauma. "A lot of people worry they have Alzheimer's, but it's something that's related to the stress they're going through and
hopefully it will go away," Vasterling says.
"The most important advice for people who have gone through a traumatic experience is to talk about it," says Hilfer. "Expressing it is going to be helpful. People who have less comfort with verbalizing tend to keep stuff inside, and those are the people we worry about."
What to Do: The National Center for PTSD is an excellent site to learn more about post traumatic stress disorder. It also includes information on the National Vietnam Veterans Readjustment Study. And the National Institute of Mental Health also has lots of information about PTSD.
Subject: Department of Veteran Affairs issues final regulations regarding Civilian Health and Medical Programs
Vietnam Veterans of America - January 31, 2002
Department of Veterans Affairs Press Release New CHAMPVA Regulations Published in Federal Register
WASHINGTON - Regulations that bring several improvements to the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs (CHAMPVA) were published in the Federal Register today.
"I am very happy VA can provide improved financial protection for families of disabled veterans against the effect of an injury or long-term illness," said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Anthony J. Principi.
The new rules will bring financial relief to CHAMPVA beneficiaries and extend benefits to older survivors and dependents of some disabled or deceased veterans who face medical expenses not paid by Medicare or other third-party payers.
One improvement, called "CHAMPVA for Life," actually began in October. It is designed for spouses or dependents who are 65 or older. They must be family members of veterans who have a permanent and total service-connected disability, who died of a service-connected condition or who were totally disabled from a service-connected condition at the time of death. They also must have Medicare coverage.
"CHAMPVA for Life" began paying benefits for covered medical services four months ago to eligible beneficiaries who are 65 or older and enrolled in Medicare Parts A&B. "CHAMPVA for Life" benefits are payable after payment by Medicare or other third-party payers. For services not covered by Medicare or other insurance, such as outpatient prescription medications, CHAMPVA will be the primary payer.
CHAMPVA beneficiaries who reached age 65 as of June 5, 2001, but were not enrolled in Medicare Part B on that date, will be eligible for this expanded benefit even though not enrolled in Medicare Part B. There is no change in CHAMPVA coverage for those beneficiaries 65 and older who do not qualify for Medicare.
In addition, the regulation will reduce the catastrophic cap, or amount of out-of-pocket expenses for CHAMPVA beneficiaries. Under the new rule, CHAMPVA will pay 100 percent of allowable medical expenses after a beneficiary reaches $3,000 in out-of-pocket expenses, a reduction from $7,500.
The rule also provides coverage for school-required physical examinations for beneficiaries through age 17. People can request an application by writing to the VA Health Administration Center (HAC), P.O. Box 469028, Denver, CO 80246-9028.
To be eligible for CHAMPVA, people must be family members of veterans who have a permanent and total service-connected disability, who died of a service-connected condition or who were totally disabled from a service-connected condition at the time of death.
Updates about CHAMPVA are posted on VA's Health Administration Center Web
site at www.va.gov/hac.
---------------------------
.
TFL Claim Processing:
Under the TFL system, once you, the physician, or other provider, submits a claim to MEDICARE, Tricare will collaborate and pay the physician directly for his/her services. The patient will subsequently receive an Explanation of Benefits [EOB], showing what
Medicare paid and what TRICARE paid with a zero balance for the beneficiary. TRICARE will accept Medicare adjudication in the vast majority of cases...i.e., when Medicare pays, so will TRICARE. There are some exceptions; e.g. physical therapists, where TRICARE and Medicare adjudication standards are different, but TRICARE will accept Medicare adjudication for physicians, hospitals, psychologists, etc TRICARE and Medicare have an agreement to share claims and eligibility data electronically on a daily basis. Under this methodology, when TRICARE detects a Medicare claim paid to a particular physician or other provider for a Tricare For Life beneficiary, TRICARE will
automatically process a payment to the same physician or provider to cover the Medicare deductible and co-payment. What this means is that the you, the physician, or other provider, won't have to submit any further paperwork to be paid - and paid promptly by
TRICARE. All you or your doctor has to do is submit your claim to MEDICARE. A claim submitted to TRICARE first would only result in a delay in the claim being payment. [Source: B Gen Bob Clements USAF (Ret) Msg 31 DEC 01]
Citizens Emergency Center: The Citizens Emergency Center [CEC] deals with emergencies involving Americans abroad. This applies to Americans who die, become destitute, get sick, disappear, have accidents, or get arrested. It is also the focal point for major disasters involving Americans abroad such as plane crashes, hijackings, natural disasters, terrorist incidents etc. It can be reached at [202] 647-5225 M-F 0815-2200 & Sat 09-1500. At other times a duty officer can be reached through [202] 634-3600. The CEC working through Embassies and Consulates abroad is a link between a citizen
in distress and his or her family in the U.S.Deaths When an American dies abroad, a consular officer notifies the American's family and informs them about options and costs for disposition of remains. Costs for preparing and returning a body to the U.S. are high
and are the responsibility of the family. Often local laws and procedures make returning a body to the U.S. for burial a lengthy process.Arrests The rights an American enjoys the U.S. do not travel abroad with him or her. Each country is sovereign and its laws apply to everyone who enters regardless of nationality. However, a consul will insist on prompt
access to the arrested American, provide a list of reputable attorneys, provide information on the host country's legal system, offer to contact the American's family or friends, visit on a regular basis, protest mistreatment, monitor jail conditions, provide dietary supplements if needed, and keep the state Department informed.Welfare/Whereabouts Most inquiries are successfully resolved. However, occasionally, a person is truly missing. It is the responsibility of the local authorities to investigate. As in the U.S. sometimes missing persons are never found.
Financial Assistance If destitute, Americans can turn to a U.S. consular officer abroad for help. The CEC will assist in contacting the person's family, friends, or business associates to raise private funds. It will help transmit those funds to destitute Americans. It can approve small government loans to tide a citizen over until private funds arrive. It can also approve repatriation loans to pay for a destitute American's direct return to the U.S. Medical Assistance Citizens who become physically or mentally ill while traveling can seek help from the CEC through their U.S. Consuls. Location of family members, guardians, and friends in the U.S. will be attempted and assistance in transmitting private funds to deal with emergency and/or return of ill or injured Americans to the U.S. by commercial carrier will be provided if necessary.
Travel Advisories CEC issues advisories to inform Americans traveling abroad of conditions or risk which might affect them adversely. They may be heard 7/24 by calling [202] 647-5225 or seen on the State Department Website www.state.gov.
Reunion Stuff: 70Days and counting down
For the benefit of the new guys I am going to repost the reunion Informational Letter. It will save answering many questions again, and remind the rest of you who have not responded by now. If you are planning on attending, we need to know so enough rooms can be reserved.
There has been a reunion countdown counter added to the front page to keep posted on the time left. The response is increasing weekly. If you are planning on attending please let me know if a Diamondhead. I need to know 1: If you plan on attending even tentatively, 2: How many people, and 3:If staying at the Holiday Inn
To all Little Bear Reunion Attendees;
The Little Bear Association Reunion will be held on April 12, 13, 14, 2002 in beautiful, historic Charleston, SC. The reunion hotel is the Holiday Inn Mt. Pleasant, 250 Johnnie Dodds Blvd, Mt. Pleasant, SC 29464. The Holiday Inn, Mt. Pleasant is conveniently located three miles from the famed Historic District just across the Cooper River from downtown Charleston and near most of the tourist sites and only five miles from the sun and sand of the Isle of Palms and Sullivans Island. They also offer more in-hotel facilities for the value spent. A tour representative will be present at registration so attendees can sign up for tours as desired.
A special room rate of $99.00 plus 11% tax has been negotiated for those attending the reunion. This room rate includes Continental Breakfast, newspaper and late checkout for those who join the "Priority Club". There is no cost to join the Priority Club, just ask about it and signup when you register. This rate will also be available for those of you who may want to stay longer in the Charleston area. Many other hotels are available in and around Charleston, however most are $125 to $350 per night, plus tax. The Holiday Inn, Mt. Pleasant is currently undergoing a complete remodeling and will be almost brand new for us in April 2002. All rooms have been remodeled and the common use areas will be completed by November 2001.
Reunion costs (banquet, hospitality rooms, and gratuities) will be covered by registration fees and Little Bear Association funds. Therefore, all Little Bears attendees are expected to be a member of the Association. If you are not a member, please send your membership dues ($25) to our Treasurer:
Terry Mix
4610-176 Avenue S.E.
Bellevue, WA 98006
Registration for the Little Bear Reunion is as follows:
Little Bears (members and guests) - $45 per person
Other Battalion personnel <Diamondhead, HHC etc>and guests - $55 per person
Each attendee will be responsible for their transportation, lodging and other associated costs.
Holiday Inn-Mt. Pleasant reservations can be made from now until March 2002. However, you should make them early to assure your room is available.
Contact: Susie York, Reservations Manager:
Phone 1-800-290-4004 ext. 122
Tell them you will be attending the Little Bear Reunion. The code for our blocked rooms is "COA".You can view the hotel at http://www.holidayinn-mtpleasant.com
A parade and ceremonies is being held at the Citadel at 3:45 PM on Friday April 12, 2002. Reunion attendees are invited to attend as "Honored Guests”. If you would like to attend the Citadel parade and ceremonies, plan accordingly
Below is a list of Diamondheads that are tentatively planning on attending as of today. This list grows constantly, and we are still finding people weekly, so it will grow much more. If you are not on the list and plan on attending let me know ASAP so we have enough rooms blocked and reserved. At this point 95 rooms have been reserved. 30 have been reserved so far so I suggest you take care of that soon. If it over fills the Holiday Inn will make arrangements with other Hotels within a 2-minute walk of the Holiday Inn.
Also do check “The Reunion Bulletin” the link, which is located on the front page of the Web site.
Attendee.............number.............Staying at Holiday Inn
Ron and Carol Leonard-Holiday Inn
Don Cannata-?
Dianne and George Pendleton-?
Danny Driscoll-?
Steve Thorp-?
Bert Rice and wife-Holiday Inn
Ed Schenk-?
Nolan Little and Robyn- Holiday Inn
Ray and Michelle Huntington-?
Bob Seger-Holiday Inn
Art Gravatt-?
Sam Boswell-?
David Stock-?
Charlie Burnett-Wife -Holiday Inn?
Ron White-?-?
George Heneveld- Wife- Holiday Inn
Robert Michaels-?-?
Robert Giaccone-Mary Jo-Holiday Inn
Jerry Boyington-Linn-Holiday Inn
Steve Thorpe-?-Holiday Inn
Gary Tompkins-no-Holiday
Earl Schmuck-?-Holiday
|
Neil Weems-?
Gary Tompkins-?
Ed Schenk-?
Ralph Little and Robyn-Holiday Inn
Rob Amiot-?-Holiday Inn
Charlie Edwards-wife-Holiday Inn
Sal Ambrosia-GF-Holiday Inn
Ron Skamanish-Wife-Holiday
Gonzalo Salazar-wife-Holiday Inn
Al Lewis- Holiday
George Smith-Wife-Holiday Inn
Jack Mosely-Wife-?
Troy Thomas and Paula-Holiday Inn
Fred Panhorst-Wife Holiday Inn
William Connell-Wife Holiday Inn
Richard Eichler-?-?
Don Helmeich?-?
Greg Bucy-wife-holiday inn
Jake Jacobs-?-Holiday Inn
Chuck Moore-alone-holiday
Hayne Moore-brother-no
Jim Remmel-?-Holiday
|
Noticications:
Wolfhounds:
Hi Ron...many thanks to all the Little Bears who supported the Wolfhounds and hauled 0ur asses out of many tight spots. God bless all you guys. How gratifying I find the bond between Infantryman and Helicopter Pilots and crewmen.
Our next reunion is in Savannah in September of 2002. What an honor it would be for me to recognize any Little Bears who came to our festivities. Please contact me for details if you or any of your guys would be interested in attending. You KNOW how welcome you would be!!!!!!
Best wishes for the New Year.
Steve Ehart, President, The Wolfhound Pack shehart@shentel.net
AKA Trojan Alpha 3-6, your push.....(3d Plt. Ldr., A Co., 2/27 Wolfhounds '67-'68)
RLTW
Doolittle Raiders :
Ron:
For those interested, Weekend after our reunion in Charleston,SC
The Doolittle Raiders are having their 60th Reunion here in Columbia, SC during April 17 - 21 2002.It may be of some interest for most aviation Buff, and most of them are in an age that they may not be many more reunions, They trained here in Columbia, SC For those wanting more information, they have a website... www.doolitteraidersreunion.com
Roberto L. Molinary
Door Gunner. SGT E5
Little Bear 66/67
A N N O U N C I N G
Information And Analysis About The Case Of John Walker
News Items:
Friday, January 4, 2002 12:01 a.m. EST
Opinion Journal
WITH FRIENDS LIKE THESE
The Saudi Threat
Riyadh is at the root of much evil.
BY RALPH PETERS (retired USArmy)
The Bush administration has done a remarkable job, thus far, of counterattacking terrorists physically and psychologically. Pundits complain of imperfections, as they always will, but the administration has succeeded magnificently in a challenging military environment, while cutting through a great deal of diplomatic nonsense and received wisdom that paralyzed America during the Clinton years.
President Bush has reinvigorated America's strategic will and made a useful display of our might. He and his secretary of defense out-generaled our own generals, who had become timid when not defeatist. But all of this administration's admirable successes to date fall short of addressing the obvious source of fundamentalist terrorism, subversion and hatred: Saudi Arabia.
This is an oilman's administration, and long affiliation with energy affairs appears to have blinded an otherwise-superb strategic team to the abundant, well-documented evidence. Far from examining Saudi Arabia's deep and extensive complicity in supporting terror and undermining secular regimes throughout the Muslim world and beyond, the administration reflexively defends the Saudis. I do not believe the administration is intentionally dishonest--only that ties to the oil business and a half-century's assumptions prevent it from facing up to Saudi Arabia's support for, and funding of, the cruelest, most benighted and hate-filled version of one of the world's great religions.
A few months ago, I suggested on this page that the U.S. must overcome its Cold War-era obsession with stability and open itself to the possibilities of creative instability in a world that still has far too many dictators and corrupt, oppressive regimes. When it comes to Saudi Arabia, we get the worst of both stability and instability. While we automatically support the Saudis, no matter how high-handedly they treat us, and insist that they are the foundation of regional stability in the Middle East, the Saudis themselves have engaged in a decades-long campaign to destabilize secular and relatively tolerant regimes throughout the Muslim world.
Instead of an instability that opens the door to freedom, the Saudis foment instability that leads to still-greater oppression, backwardness and bigotry. By funding religious extremists from Michigan to Mindanao, the Saudis have done their best to destroy democracies, turn back the clock on human rights and deny religious freedom to Islamic and other populations--while the United States guarantees Saudi security. It is the most preposterous and wrongheaded policy in American history since the defense of slavery.
Consider, concretely, what the Saudis have done. While the average American newspaper reader knows that the majority of the Sept. 11 hijackers were Saudis, that Osama bin Laden is a Saudi, and that Saudi money funded the attacks on the U.S., this is only a small fraction of Riyadh's misdeeds.
In Indonesia, a state whose only hope for survival rests on religious tolerance, the Saudis have funded and encouraged the most extreme Muslim groups. The syncretic, easygoing version of Islam that long prevailed in most of Indonesia is anathema to the Saudi Wahhabi vision of religion, and the Saudis have tried to undermine social rights, to suppress other religions, to poison the educational system--and even to determine the architecture of mosques. As a result, Indonesia is under externally induced stresses that exacerbate the state's home-grown problems. What might have been an example of how Islam can adapt to the future threatens to become yet another example of how Islam drags a country backward.
Pakistan, seduced by Saudi money, has sown the wind and is reaping the whirlwind. Saudi religious schools, mosques and bribes encouraged fundamentalist movements that have supported terror against the U.S., India and the more liberal elements in Pakistani society. The Saudi vision of anti-Western, crusading Islam essentially took over Pakistan's intelligence services and infiltrated the military, with the result that Pakistani support not only for the Taliban, but for al Qaeda, plunged the world toward Sept. 11. Finally the Saudis were essential sponsors of Pakistan's push to develop "Islamic" nuclear weapons, although the U.S. government ignored the evidence.
Saudi citizens and Saudi funds supported the Taliban's reign of terror in Afghanistan, enabling al Qaeda to become a state within a state. Saudi funds bankroll the fiercest anti-peace terrorist groups in the Middle East and pay the bills for ultra-extremist mosques and Islamic schools from Europe to South America.
Yet our nation's leaders insist the Saudis are not only our allies, but our friends--even as Saudis and Saudi money kill Americans and the Saudis refuse to arrest or even freeze the bank accounts of their implicated citizens. Meanwhile, we cannot use the air bases from which our forces are supposed to protect Saudi Arabia to protect ourselves, our female service personnel must go about in Islamic dress when they leave the quarantine of those bases, and religious hatred of the West is the national diet of information--and Saudi Arabia's only meaningful export other than oil. Our blithe acceptance of this is madness.
Since Sept. 11, the Saudis have mounted a well-funded campaign to convince Americans that they bear no blame for anything. But they're worried. It long has been a Saudi assumption that they could buy whatever influence they needed in America, and they have, indeed, had many an influential American on their payroll, from lawyers and lobbyists to businessmen and out-of-work politicians. They joke about us as they would about prostitutes, and regard us as no better, if more enduringly useful. Their strategy worked as long as the rest of America slept. But the Saudis learned, after the attacks on New York and Washington, that the American people as a whole cannot be bought. Not even with cheap oil.
The same voices that cautioned us to do nothing meaningful against terrorism now warn that any alternative to the current Saudi regime might be even worse. That is a coward's argument. The Saudi cancer will continue to metastasize if we shy away from treating it, and any new government on the Arabian peninsula is likelier to be scrutinized and contained than the checkbook terrorists of the royal family. Why not give change a chance, instead of supporting the most repressive and vicious monarchy remaining on this earth?
We must begin by confronting the Saudis and giving them the clear choice President Bush offered the rest of the world: Either you are with us in the fight against terror, or you are against us. There can be no middle ground--especially not for terrorism's most enduring sponsors.
We must work against the Saudis' campaign of religious hatred and subversion around the world. And we must begin looking for other regional partners, from a liberated Iraq to a future Iran. Finally, we must be prepared to seize the Saudi oil fields and administer them for the greater good. Imagine if, instead of funding corruption and intolerance, those oil revenues built clinics, secular schools and sewage systems throughout the Middle East. Far from being indispensable to our security, the Saudis are a greater menace to it than any other state, including China.
Terrorism is not going to disappear, no matter how successful our military, diplomatic and economic efforts. Those efforts can, however, greatly reduce the appeal of terrorism to prospective acolytes and diminish dramatically its power and reach, while denying hard-core terrorists safe havens.
Our efforts are off to a superb beginning, and there is much reason for optimism, so long as the strength of will of this and future administrations does not waver. But we will not get close to the heart of the matter until we face up to the hateful, medieval, murderous nature of the Saudi vision of Islam. Anti-women, anti-meritocratic, anti-democracy, anti-education in any meaningful, liberating sense, racist and profoundly anti-freedom, Saudi-sponsored religious extremism, funded by all the drivers of those oversized SUVs on American roads, is the most destructive vision in the world today.
Mr. Peters is a retired Army officer and the author of "Fighting for the Future: Will America Triumph?"
New FAA Rule Referencing Baggage Checks for Military
A new rule change by the FAA allows active duty military traveling on official travel or leave be exempt from baggage checks . Just have your orders or leave form on you when you check in and it will save you some valuable time. Authority for this exemption can be found in FAA Security Regulation 108-01-10E 20 Nov 2001 Section 2, Para B1 Selectee Exemptions.
CARTERCOPTER INCHES TOWARD ROTORCRAFT BARRIER
Flight testing continues for the team that aims to break the rotorcraft equivalent of the sound barrier. So far the CarterCopter test aircraft has hit 135 knots and remained aloft for 39 minutes. And that's with a Corvette engine. The CarterCopter uses a rotor for vertical takeoff and landing and a small wing for high-speed cruise. The aircraft is inching toward the Mu-1 barrier, the ratio between the forward speed of the rotorcraft and its rotor tip speed relative to the aircraft. The team is currently looking at a ratio of 0.6.
CarterCopters L.L.C. plans to patent the technology and sell it to certified aircraft and kitplane manufacturers. See the
Web site ( http://www.cartercopters.com/ ).
War Stories:
Since this 31 January was the 34th Anniversary of TET 68, we all remember it had an impact on our lives. This month a few TET stories are in order. Enjoy.
The First Few Days after Tet - The Year of the Rat - 1968
It was fairly obvious that some changes were occurring in the days leading up to January 31, 1968. We were scrambled to near-daily firefights for one thing. This brings back a memory of the gunship jockeys who teased me out of the 25th Battalion Headquarters TOC and into the right seat of a Charlie Model gunship. (I had served as the Battalion Signal Officer and Assistant S-3 for the three months prior to December 1967 after flying with the Little Bears for a couple of months) Capt. Reynolds was one of the encouragers. All of the pilots except Capt. Reynolds were within a month of DEROS and were due for replacement. Capt. Reynolds became the Company B (Diamondhead) Operations Officer soon after I took over the Diamondhead 10 light gunship fire team.
I really wanted more flight time and enjoyed the camaraderie shared among the Diamondhead crews. I surely don't regret the day that I signed on. However, it continues to be a little amusing to me that we went from escorting an occasional Eagle flight or a Chinook heavy load drop-off while these guys were still in country in December '67 to the stuff that we flew daily once I finished my on-the-job training. I remember seeing the south part of Tay Ninh burn a week after I took over the Diamondhead 10 fire team. For night entertainment during the month of January, we flew counter-mortar. In retrospect, we could view the mortar attacks as preparation for the 122 mm rocket attacks that were on the way.
I was assigned the task of serving as a defense attorney for an E-5 from our Division in a court martial case during the month of January and was involved in a hearing on the morning of February 1, 1968 when the Tet Offensive was underway. Based upon my recollection, every one of our gunships took hits and was grounded for repairs that day. We had one crewmember killed, Ed Pike and a couple of wounded that day, but were fortunate that more weren't killed or injured. We had nothing to fly after opening day until February 5 when a replacement aircraft was brought out of depot maintenance. There were plenty of pilots, but no aircraft to fly until February 5. Having missed the excitement on the first day of the Vietnamese New Year, it was the Diamondhead 10 teams turn to standby on Primary on the 5th. The problem was that the team was comprised of one hog since we didn't have a second aircraft to complete the team. The first scramble call came quickly to our field phone in the scramble hooch. Division headquarters had put together a team by adding a wing ship from the Centaurs. We received the traditional call sign, in this case a command and control(CC) chopper, frequency, and coordinates through the field phone and scrambled with the traditional goal of being off the ground in three minutes. That was a challenge since we could not hover and had to take short hops out to the runway so that we could drag and bounce off to get clean air and translational lift. We almost made it on schedule most of the time. I got a kick out of the slick teams from the Little Bears. If they happened to be near the runway as they exited their take-off area, they would cheer us off the ground.
The location for this scramble was the village of Tan Hiep, between Cu Chi, Bien Hoa, and Saigon. The village contained what was left of a regiment of North Vietnamese soldiers and one of our wounded soldiers who was separated from the main force. I could see the tracks of one of our 25th Division Battalions on the outside of the village as we approached the site. The LTC who was circling in the CC chopper explained that withering enemy fire made it impossible to retrieve the wounded soldier and that most of the machine gun fire was coming from a large hooch that was easy to locate from his description. He said that that position contained about 40 enemy troops and that he wanted me to hit it.
When I started our initial gun run, it seemed like the entire village was shooting at us, including some heavy stuff. I knew that it wasn't proper to fire rockets during the break, but the shooting was so intense that I did it anyway. I figured that it would help our door gunner and crew-chief keep the NVA heads down during the break. Besides, we could have hit another enemy position since they were all over that village. I think that we were all glad that it was a bright day because we couldn't see the tracers that well. I didn't hit the hooch until the third pass. When I did, we got a secondary explosion. The wing ship from the Centaurs had broken off earlier. He explained later that it was simply too hot. I'll have to admit that I went nearly blank with the obsession to hit that hooch. It was not a good place to be flying around.
I woke up a little after we made the hit and when the CC commander gave up a good deal of praise for doing so. I made two more runs at additional targets and hit those as well before we took the first serious hit. A 12.7 mm round hit two rockets it the starboard rocket pod, causing them to explode. Our door gunner took some scrapnel into his leg from the busted pod. He let us know that he was hit. The chopper was in a crab since the two rockets were still burning in the pod. The entire instrument panel lit up and we lost our radios immediately. It took me a short time to make the assessment that the explosion had probably cut through the wiring harness, causing the panel to light up. After deciding that the ship would probably continue to fly, we pulled off and I jettisoned the rocket pods as soon as we got away from the village and could get low enough to see where they were going to hit when I dropped them.
We headed straight for the 25th Infantry Divisions Hospital pad at Cu Chi. I couldn't radio the tower of course, so we all looked carefully to be sure that we weren't interfering with anyone's final approach. The helipad team from the hospital was very reluctant to bring out the stretcher. The gapping hole in the side of the chopper was still smoking and was easy to see since I had landed so that the door gunner was on their side. I motioned several times for them to come on out before they finally did. Once they got XXXXXXX(our door gunner) inside, he was patched up quickly.
The XXXXX Battalion was able to get the wounded soldier out of Tan Hiep while we were still on site or soon thereafter, so this story ends up well. I still have s real problem with the number that Oliver Stone did on the 25th Infantry Division with his fabricated “Platoon.” I certainly do not believe that we knowingly left a single man in the hands of the enemy. In fact, every effort was consistently made to do otherwise.
Dave Henard, Lt at the time
TET-68 Mind Pictures
Thinking of being very small
The 3/4 Cav hauling ass to Ton son Nhut to shore up the defenses
Ed Pike was hit in the chest with a .51 and was dangling form his monkey strap..the tailboom was crimson in his own blood
After the first hour we had no aircraft flyable.
Playing bunker guard at Ton Son Nhut, I don't get paid to be no damn grunt..
There is to damn many of them,..where is our ride out of here
Ron
Being in that ditch along the airfield rockets and mortars going off everywhere wishing that ditch was deeper ...
The sky being lit up like daylight...
Wishing I was on the other side of that road at the Ops Command Bunker...
Hot shrapnel falling all around you....
Jim Minson
STRETCHER!!!!
YOU MEN SPREAD OUT!!!
DON'T RUN WHEN INCOMIN!!!!
SET UP HERE AND DON'T KILL GI'S
YOU, YOU , YOU COME WITH ME..........................WHERE'S YOUR F****** GUNS?....GET GUNS DAM IT!
WATCHING THE VIKINGS TAKE OFF THROUGH A BLANKET OF 50'S.
WHO'S IN CHARGE!!!!
GET DOWN!!!!
FIRE,FIRE,FIRE!!!!
MAKING AN ASSAULT TO THE RUNWAY AT CAN THO. AT NIGHT WITH CROSS FIRE FROM BOTH SIDES.
WATCHING THE AMMO CANS PILE UP TO 14 FEET HIGH(GOT PICS OF THAT).
A HUEY BURNING FROM A DIRECT MOTOR HIT IN THE REVETMENT.
THE SILENCE ON THE PERIMETER AT 3 IN THE MORNING.
AW SHIT NOT ANOTHER MORTAR ATTACK.
SEE HIM? NO. F*** I KNOW HE'S OUT THERE. LISTEN. SQUINT EYES TRYING TO SEE THRU THE BLACK.
IT JUST GOES ON AND ON
DID YOU HEAR? A PILOT IN THE 336 GOT HIT IN HEAD WITH A MORTAR AND HIS ROOMMATE FLIPPED OUT?......CAN'T BLAME HIM FOR THAT.
THANKS RON I NEEDED THAT.
I BETTER STOP NOW OR I WON'T SLEEP TONIGHT.
papalowe
A 101 COMANCHEROS 71-72 zorba
121st AHC SOCTRANG TIGERS 67-68 WRECKER2
67-11 A-3 1st woc
CWO2 Lowell L. Eneix
NOOOO SHIT SHERLOCK! :^)
Actually, most times it was a long time ago in a far away land, other times, it was just yesterday...............
Smitty 25th avn
For us, it always will be....TET 68
Jay Marion 25th Avn
Flight,
Doc Warden and I usually spend Tet together. It is sort of our unbroken commitment to each other.
I would not be here with out the skill and daring of David Royal "Doc" Warden Jr., and I wrote this story several Tet's ago right after Doc and I had spent the evening talking about that week in our past.
I have rewritten this story several times, but this is the first draft and with all of its warts it place I am submitting this for you all to read 34 years after the fact.
Tet 68
Incoming in Saigon, my sleepy brain never really sleeps.My bed is on the first floor, I am instantly awake, I can tell the
difference between incoming and outgoing in my sleep. That was definitely incoming.
I had just transferred to the 120th Assault Helicopter Company, flying out of Hotel-3 in Saigon from a serious kick ass line outfit, the Blackhawks or 187th Assault Helicopter Company in Tay Ninh, we got rocketed all the time there. I knew the drill. Get as many of the helicopters in the air as you can, and if you can scrounge a crew take a gunship. Warrant Officer helicopter pilots can and will fly just about anything that has rotor blades on it and I was running full speed through the confusion to the heliport to get at least one helicopter out of harms way.
Captain Payne is waving both arms over his head standing in front of his Razorback C model gunship, she was running and I dove in and strapped the chopper to my ass and we pulled pitch off the Hog pad. We are into the inky dark in seconds looking for mortar tube flashes, but what we see is a sea of little lights showing thousands of NVA and Viet Cong heading for the airfield, the lights stretched out into the night. I don't scare easy. This sight was unnerving.
We can see a huge volume of fire concentrated on one of the gates and open fire on the human wave attack. We are expended in seconds. Flying low over the bunkers dropping hot brass on the MP's, cutting swaths in the wall of NVA. I finally get the MP's on the radio. They are pinned down fighting for their lives, we tell them we will be right back and make the two-second trip to rearm just across the runway.
We rearm as fast as the crew and the armors can lay the linked ammo in the trays. The rockets all have to be seated and extra M-60 barrels for the Crew Chief and Gunner, we are off.
We fight hard and the volume of fire from the NVA never lets up one bit. I am worried about the MP's, but I can see the tracers coming out of their positions. We covered a jeep full of ammo, so they could keep fighting.
As day was starting to make the sky pink in the East, we finally took so many hits to that helicopter that we could no longer keep oil in the engine and she started to burn on short final to Hotel-3. Now I am out of the Gunship business, but still in the fight.
The 120th AHC flew most of the generals and dignitaries around Saigon and the South part of Vietnam, and so had some beautiful new UH-1 H Model C & C ships with center radio consoles and leather seats. So when the company ran out of Gunships, with the help of the Crew I took the center console out of the C&C helicopter and made a ammo hauling monster out of that clean new
ship. Now I needed a copilot, so I flew the helicopter down to the Long Binh area to look for Doc Warden. Doc was the Flight Surgeon for our aviation group, and had flown 500 plus hours with me at the 187th Assault. I hated to admit it but he was as good as any line pilot in Vietnam, and better than most, Doc had never been to flight school. Major David Royal Warden Jr. MC was sitting in his ambulance on the Black Jack Pad, I had him strapped in and on the intercom in seconds. Doc, we are out of pilots again. Can you
fly today? Doc looks over and smiles, when the chips are down, Airborne Ranger Doc will pull you through, I was already pulling pitch.
I knew the men in the BOQ were almost surrounded and trapped inside with no weapons, (a ruling coming from drunken fights in the back area) I could hear them on the radio, so we loaded cases of pistols, clips, rifles, and ammo.We had to hover over the roof and drop the heavy boxes, right through the roof to the trapped men below, while a Playboy Cobra gunship team flies cover for our exposed hovering helicopter. The NVA open up with a .51 cal and hit one of the cobras killing the pilot, one of my roommates from Flight School Class 67-3, Roger Cameron. It is starting to be a long day.
The MP's have fought hard and are still holding the perimeter, there are bodies everywhere. We finally get a chance to pull the wounded back from the outer bunkers and move some larger machine guns out. Our usually spitshined MP's look like grunts in the field, and fight like grunts in the field. They made us proud. The NVA threw everything they had at the MP's and could not budge them. The fight was not over by far, but we knew we could handle anything they could throw at us and hold.
With the aid of Doc Warden, I flew 26 straight hours in a helicopter, got 4 hours of sleep on the floor of the helicopter and cranked it up for another 20 hours. I am sure I could have never survived with out the help of Doc Warden at the controls. We took hits on one helicopter until something vital was hit, then we would find a replacement and keep on flying. I knew from flying for the Blackhawks, the most important thing in a fire fight, is to keep the ammo coming to the men in contact.
I never looked at an MP the same the rest of the time I was in the military.The ones I knew held against impossible odds and a volume of fire unknown before the Tet offensive. If they had not have held, we would have been overrun no doubt about it. When you have seen a MP standing on a bunker radio in hand directing fire, like I have, not caring about his own safety, you know why they held.
Wayne R. "Crash" Coe
The C & C Helicopter was General Abrams bird, and he never complained.
PRELUDE - January 30, 1968
Since arriving in country on November 23, 1967, this has proven to be such a strange war. As a UH-1H (Utility Helicopter) driver with the 92nd AHC in II Corps, I expected to be doing a lot of formation flying and carrying troops into combat, but so far this hasn't been the case. The airlift platoons have mostly been involved in single ship operations, doing all kinds of ash & trash missions. We have supported Americans, Koreans, and Vietnamese. The only big operation so far has been with the 1st Bde, 101st AB Div conducting Operation Klamath Falls in the area from Phan Thiet to Bao Loc to Da Lat. We flew a few combat assaults of Vietnamese Rangers. We also hauled chow, water, ammo and flew quite a few missions with a "people sniffer". Many monkeys lost their lives because of that great invention.
As a unit, we feel very lucky so far. We have lost only 1 aircraft and crew. Our gun platoon leader (Sidekick 6) and his crew were KIA during a night mission on December 7, 1967. (Only 2 weeks in country)
The support ship mission for the Military Assistance Command Viet Nam (MACV) to Da Lat has been a great one. The old "French Resort" town is beautiful. Huge mansions line spacious avenues. Many restaurants are downtown. To top it off, an all girl's college is across the street from the MACV helipad. Life seems great here. There is no evidence of war.
Today, my crew and I (Stallion 505) flew 3.3 hours supporting MACV near Phan Rang. We carried mail, food, supplies, and did a few recons along the coast. Kind of a short day, but the unit is having a company party later and we are looking forward to it.
Wouldn't you know, upon arrival at Dong Ba Thin, the Operations Officer says that we have flare ship standby tonight along with 2 Sidekick crews (UH-1C Gunships). I parked our ship in the "hot spot" and we loaded up 40 MarkV Flares. No beer for the crew tonight, but the steaks were good! Shortly after 11:00PM we hit the sack in the alert shack.
SHOCK - January 31, 1968
A tremendous explosion rocked the alert shack shortly after midnight! The alert siren went off and we heard numerous other explosions as we ran to the ship. Along with the Sidekicks, we started the aircraft and took off in under two minutes. I saw that several Hueys were burning on the north side of our airfield. To the east, at Cam Rahn Bay, the entire fuel storage area appeared to be in flames. We climbed to 6,000 feet and began to drop flares over Dong Ba Thin. I dialed in the Armed Forces Network (AFN) radio and there were reports that bases were being attacked all over the country.
With the light from our flares, the Sidekicks looked for targets of opportunity. Sadly, none were found. There were no in-coming mortar rounds, rockets, small arms fire, or ground attack. At least 5 Hueys were burning in their revetments. After 2.8 hours of flight, we were ordered to land, refuel, reload with flares, and standby. The rest of the night was quiet.
AFTERMATH - January 31, 1968
Daylight has returned and what we see is frightening. 3 of our aircraft have been destroyed and 1 has been damaged by satchel changes which had been tossed in them by sappers. The 608th TC Co has lost 2. The VC had successfully penetrated our perimeter which was manned by Korean soldiers. We will not again feel safe! Reports are coming in that many bases and cities have been over-run, to include Nha Trang, Ban Me Thuot, Qui Nhon, Da Nang, and Hue. The first battle of the war, in Da Lat, is going on now. The Sidekicks are going to Da Lat! We will no longer get to R&R there.
My crew and I fly 9.1 hours today. We see things that we didn't think could or would happen. Numerous helicopters destroyed or damaged, many bases attacked or over-run, too many dead and wounded. The New War has begun!
Jim Koch
92nd AHC (Stallion 505)(Nov67 - Aug 68)
Your account of the night when everything broke loose is the same one I have been telling for years. Never thought that I would talk to the dude that lit us up like a fooball field at the Super Bowl.
The Koreans would also come out to our Det just before night and then after dark, they would go out west of us on ambush patrol. Also they would fire random Artillary. Fire.at different times. That night we were in our Hutches when a loud Boom ,boom. boom. One of us made the statement that the Koreans were sure close. WE walked out the door, saw the flash @100M off our fence ,heard the SWOOSCH go over our heads ,then behind us saw Cam Ranh going up in flames, the flashes sure wasn't Korean's. Slim and I ran and got on top of the bunker.and got on the net radio with DBT (TOUGH SWING 28) and all stations reported in and were being hit. WE could see where the flashes were but all we had was M-14s and a M-60. and so far the mortar team had fired over us and not at us. We asked for the Reaction team but got word --No luck -that you had lost choppers and that the A.F. runway was out and the Koreans had taken hits. There was no more fire from the tubes so we stayed frozen and watched. THEN --these flares lit us up like 12 noon. Slim & I hugged the top of those sand bags and I could see every goosebump on his arms. Man did we try to look like a sand bag. We stayed untill day break and nothing else happen. We loaded up on the old 2 1/2 ton and headed for DBT to eat breakfast. When we got down to the entrance,there were two barricades on the road with GI's & clay mores and as we turned in to the mess hall everyone was still in full field gear Then they told us that they were still under Red Alert and were looking for the Sapper team ,so we went back. We were very lucky!!
James "Barney" Reynolds
Det. 2, 330th Radio Research Co, ASA
Bunker mate's M16's bolt locks up,so he panicks give him a box of grenades,after along toss it goes off in front of the bunker,he threw it straight up in the air.No one was hurt was quite funny later.
Dale Fritts 25th Avn
Flying into Hotel 3, while 51 mm tracers are following you into down wind - gettin' closer.
Spending the night at Hotel 3, in a UH-1D, with two nurses, needing to go to Cu Chi. Tower won't clear us for departure due to excess ground fire.
Rob Amiot 25th avn
Returning from Hong Kong R&R 1700 hours 30JAN68
Planning to stay that night in Saigon with Jim Weeg at U-8 company BOQ,but saw Little Bear courier bird landing at Hotel 3 and decided to catch a ride to Cu Chi instead
Mortars and rockets every 45 minutes after midnight
After first couple of attacks, sleep in bunker
Flying 14 hours A/C time one day
Shut down at infantry bn CP one day; 5 days to DEROS. Sniper in tree starts firing at us; Carl Muckle and I unassed the ship in record time;paddy dike for Carl, nothing for me; new sprint record to nearest foxhole, rounds hitting dirt beside my feet, jumped in on top of the grunt; called in Diamondhead guns,they shot sniper out of tree
Zippo track hit by RPG near Trang Bang, exploded, top panel of track body up to our 1500 ft altitude
Jim Jaap lowering M-16s to people on roof of U-8 company BOQ in Saigon during night 31JAN68 because Victor Charlie occupied lower floor; glad I changed my mind about RON in Saigon
If I had been coming back from R&R one day later, I would have been stuck in Hong Kong another week (tough duty) before charter flights were allowed into Tan Son Nhut
Riding with the Old Man in his jeep from flight line to ops; C-130 landed and offloaded fuel blivets, the rockets came in to try to get the
130; Old Man , driver and I lying in the ditch by the road 'til counterbattery fire started
Hugh Bell
This is an interesting thread,
We were refueling at DakTo right across the runway (a 9-iron shot) from the Ammo Dump when the NVA mortared two C-130's off-loading ammo. Both Herky Birds were hit in the process, stored ammo was cooking off and all Hell broke loose in a matter of seconds. I was monitoring both the IC and the FM tower freq.
We'd come in "dry" but had taken on about 1/2 a "tank" when the festivities began. I saw it and yelled at the CE and Gunner that we had "incoming, drop the hoses and cap it off, didi, didi", got them on board and called forward that the ramp was up ready for flight. We exited poste haste!
Meanwhile, from the the DakTo Tower, a Conex box on some telephone posts just to our west came:
"All fixed-wing aircraft cleared to the active. All rotary-winged aircraft cleared for flight. DakTo Tower is off the F**kin' air!" Followed by a blur leaping out the side of the Conex to the ground about 15-feet below. And, to the ATC's credit, he never broke stride betwixt the "tower" and a nearby bunker.
Point being: if MY pilots hadn't gotten out of there I'd have left them in the LZ:-))
Mac
Taking off from Tan Son Nute lying on a strecther on a C-141 and watching F-4's wag their wings as we left VN airspace and headed out over the South China Sea toward Japan.
Brian D Piggott x]:-})
C Trp 3/17 ACR
Scouts Charliehorse 16&17
Tay Ninh 67-68
"We few, we happy few, we band of brothers,
For he today that sheds his blood with me, Shall be my brother."
-Wm Shakespeare-
Well guys Until next month..keep a smile on your face and your skids out of the TreesJ--Ron