It was sunny and beautiful that day we departed
It was Ft Carson, which is where we started
We flew through that day and throughout the night
Da Nang Air Base would be our next sun light
Then in to a 130 all strapped to the floor
Off to Camp Eagle, my ass is sure sore
The Chinook we then rode rattled and whined
By now our bodies were numb, but not so the mind
The thought were racing for what was in store
There was no running from this, the Viet Nam War
This trip to Evans, as boys we started
But by the Grace of God
It was as Lancers, and men, we departed
Bill G.
Lancer 655, CE
During the 1971 invasion into North Vietnamese strongholds in Laos, the
Lancers continued their heroic performance during the most intense combat in the
Vietnam War. As a Lancer pilot in that campaign I would like to relay just one
moment in one day of Operation Lam Son 719 and honor two particular Lancer
crews. Due to continuous battle damage of American air power supporting South
Vietnamese troops, helicopters as well as their pilots and crew gunners were
becoming scarce and right seat pilots were quickly promoted to Aircraft
Commanders. CW2 Robert Schnedler and myself had only weeks before been promoted
to AC and flew
together that day in the second aircraft when two Lancer helicopters were
assigned to resupply a South Vietnamese unit in a desperate situation. As was
the case frequently in that campaign there weren't enough flyable gunships
available and this mission of desperation required the Lancer aircraft to
accomplish it without minimum protection into a beleaguered South Vietnamese
Army position on the verge of being overrun by an overwhelming enemy force. CW2
Glenn Marr, the senior
Aircraft Commander on the mission, piloted the lead aircraft and flew his cargo
of badly needed ammunition to the South Vietnamese almost depleted of means to
defend themselves. CW2 Marr's aircraft was in clear view of the enemy and was
hit repeatedly by enemy fire but he steadfastly held the aircraft in position
until all the cargo was out of the aircraft into the hands of the desperate
South Vietnamese. He flew his crippled aircraft away from the deadly landing
zone for a short
distance before he was forced to put it on the ground near an abandoned South
Vietnamese position; a small circular berm line in the open from which the same
troops he had just resupplied had deserted due to overwhelming enemy mortar
fire. As was the case in practically all such situations the second aircraft
into the LZ would likely receive even more intense and accurate fire from the
enemy. CW2 Marr's surprise landing resulted in the enemies peaked awareness of
another approaching aircraft. Mortars began exploding onto the South Vietnamese
position and
enemy fire greatly intensified. The crew of chalk two knew the enemy had enough
time now to load and aim RPG and heavier caliber machine guns on the spot
obvious to everyone this helicopter would very soon fly to and pause to unload
their cargo of sandbags and barbed wire. Any approach pattern to the LZ was
unobstructed from enemy view and would put chalk
two low and slow directly over the enemy encircling the South
Vietnamese. Ten seconds from the South Vietnamese position, chalk two was
receiving direct hits from from enemy troops in the open that were moving toward
the South Vietnamese position. Precise fire from chalk two's gunners was the
only means they had to protect themselves and this Lancer crew fired effectively
on enemy near and under the aircraft. There was little doubt chalk two would be
shot down before reaching the South Vietnamese and worst could very well crash
violently into their
position. At that moment chalk two heard the mayday call from CW2 Marr that he
was going down. All desperate factors considered, chalk two broke off their
fatal approach to find and protect their Lancer brothers only five hundred yards
away. CW2 Marr's downed aircraft was quickly spotted and chalk two landed
attempting to remove both crews from a seemingly inescapable situation. Under
enemy 51 caliber anti-aircraft fire, chalk two, with all Lancers aboard, avoided
being shot down and escaped for all to fly again that same day back into Laos.
As often was the case, Lancer pilots had to quickly analyze incredible risk and
take action to save the most and lose the fewest. That day CW2 Marr and CW2
Schnedler took calculated risks and through skill and bravery gave the desperate
South Vietnamese a chance of survival. It is my view that these Lancer pilots
and their crews at that moment on that day in the early months of 1971 again
defined the typical character and courage of all Lancers.
John Donaldson
Lancer 14