Quang Tri

Dana Lane Feb 9 #71954

Barry,

I counted up the nights I spent at Quang Tri. I had 65 nights at Quang Tri over 2 and a half months. I remember flying CCN missions almost every day. Yes, we spent a week at Marble mountain and made trips into Cambodia.

Dana Lane 55

Al Herold Feb 9 #71955

Dana, that’s interesting, I had no idea that some Lancers had that much in country flight time.

When did you arrive and how many hours did you have before flying in command?

Bill Griffith Feb 9 #71961

Some of us were doing those missions out of QT when many of you were still in high school or flight school.

Dana Lane Feb 9 #71974

Hi Al,

I arrived at Evans on Feb 28, 1971 and started flying March 1st. I arrived during Lam Son 719, I had 64 hours flying in my first week. For the month of March I had 172 hours. In April, someone discovered I did not have a check ride, so I finally had one.

I became AC June 25, 1971, with 450 hours. I stopped flying sometime after Thanksgiving and left Danang December 4th with 899 hours. I flew a little less than 9 months, so I averaged about 100 hours a month. It would be interesting to see how many hours others averaged.

Gary Bowman Feb 9 #71975

As a CE, between mid-June of '71 and about mid-December '71, I had 460 hours.

Barry Beard Feb 9 #71976

Seems we could only fly 140 hours per month, and there was at least one month nearly all of us had to the flight surgeon and get waivers. Seems it was October but who knows.

Gary Bowman Feb 9 #71977

I had to go to the flight surgeon once for that. I can't even remember how many hours I had at that point, but we had been flying over two months almost non-stop. Everybody was exhausted.

As I'm sitting here thinking about it, I was thinking that I had to go because I flew over 100 hours in some specific time period. Probably wrong.

Steve (RS16) Feb 10 #71979

June, July, and August, during the Ripcord adventure.

Bill Walker Feb 10 #71980

Army Flight Regs stated a 60 flight hours per month max. We’ll, that may have worked for non-combat, But it went right out the window for us. 140+ hours per month were pretty much the norm from May through September. We were once told not to log our hours past 60. But we refused to comply. I ended up logging 1255 for my 12-month tour.

Steve (RS16) Feb 10 #71981

You were handy to have around.

Bill Walker Feb 10 #71982

Hey RS16,

You and your brother Redskins were VERY handy to have around.

Gary Bowman Feb 10 #71983

Hey, Steve,

Just curious, during heated battles Lam Son, how long did it take the munitions guys to reload your Cobras and get you back in the air?

Bill Walker Feb 10 #71984

Wasn’t Nancy the ARVN camp just to the north of Evans? I get it confused with Sally, which I think was just to our south. Anyway, it must have been in March of 70 when I was someone’s right seat as we flew to QT for some mission. On the way, we flew by Nancy and could see what I at first thought were cross ties laid out in a long north/south line just outside their perimeter. We learned that the NVA had assaulted that camp the previous night, and dot their butts kicked. They weren’t cross ties; they were NVA bodies. They were left there, and every day, a few were missing as they were taken away the previous night. It took several days, and I can’t imagine the stench for those on the base. It illustrates my point about how we never really lost a battle in the flatlands. The converse is true about the mountains.

Bill Griffith Feb 10 #71985

Bill, your hours are pretty much in line with what I accrued in my 6 months of flying, From when we first got our aircraft till the end of Aug '69. Somewhere in my attic are my flight records, and they reflect 720 hours. I think the highest was 126 hrs. in one month...Or - Four 25 hr. inspections and a 100-hr. inspection that period.

And as I recall, in that time we were still in our building a home phase of...sandbagging, liberating materials for bunkers, showers, a rudimentary club...

Barry Beard Feb 10 #71986

Hmmm, we would have needed waivers every month! There were days it felt we would need daily waivers for 60 hours.

Tim Pasquarelli Feb 10 #71987

My records show 960 hours total combat hours with Lancers. In my records are three medical certificates for exceeding the 140-hour time. Two were waived and one was not waived. The one not waived looks I didn’t fly for two or three days afterwards. Several periods show two or three days each with 10- and 11-hour days. I remember my ass hurt at the end of those days.

When I was operations officer I often scheduled myself for easy days and simple missions… Lolo and Ranger North. They seemed such peaceful names before the trip out there.

Billy, with 1,255 hours you must have had lots of those medical waivers.

Bill Walker Feb 10 #71988

I don’t remember receiving anything from the flight surgeon for all of those hours. They may have been issued, but I don’t have them. I think I logged 933 hours as combat but am not positive that is correct.

Mike Jacobi Feb 10 #71989

I logged 24 hours straight once without shutting down. Some fire base was being overrun and we stayed with it all night. Up towards the Rock Pile. Mai Loc “maybe? I remember one aircraft being Puff who would drop some kind of long burning incendiary and the computer using that to fix on and then they walked fire up the hill right to the fence than once. We coordinated with all kinds of different support that all night except for hot refueling - then straight back. I’m thinking just maybe others of you came up in between. I’m thinking maybe Dante was with me. Not sure. By my flight records it could have been late June where I had two nights of 8 hours each. But the time was spread over two days once midnight rolled around and that could have been March also by flight records. I don’t remember leaving Lam Son, so I’m guessing it was one of the late June ones. I don’t think the NVA were successful but eventually we went back to Evans and others took over.

Mike Jacobi

Gary Bowman Feb 10 #71990

FB Fuller was overrun in June of '71. I know because that was my first flight as a Lancer. 16 hours. Only stopping to refuel. No food.

Mike Jacobi Feb 10 #71991

Gary

Maybe we we’re together. 24 hours was stuck in my head, but you know. Memories.

Dennis Souza Feb 10 #71992

Bill I don’t remember the name of the ARVN base either but do remember going in to one and taking out a sling load of decaying ARVN bodies. The stench was so bad it took a couple of days to clear my nose.

Tim Pasquarelli Feb 10 #71993

The three I have all have my signature.

Maybe this was for the RLOs. We were delicate… and far more valuable than the roughshod “wonts.”

Gary Bowman Feb 10 #71994

I was with the battalion commander and the company commander. Don't remember if that was Camia.

Bill Griffith Feb 10 #71995

None of this is intended to reflect on any in this group.

Of course keeping track of DG and CE flight times were just so much administrative chaff especially for the CE. As I mentioned previously, many to most of us weren't even on flight status. They could fly the crap out of us until our butts were cutting furrow across the flight line. That to the point of burning out a CE, replace him with a DG that had a little knowledge of CE's duties, and ambition...

Vietnam was the extent of many of y’all Army Aviation experiences. For me, after Vietnam high time flying hours never were an issue; however. In the years to follow there were periods when getting my 4 hours minimum to maintain flight pay was a struggle. Every unit I was assigned to after the 158th, I was on status. From 1977 - 1980 when I was at Lewis there seemed to always be a budget problem. The worst was when we could only do 7-day engine runs for a month or so. Pilots could bring the aircraft to a hover, do a little slip and slide as we called it, but with no intention of flight. All of us had a little banked time to carry us through those dry times, but it was boring days doing crap; having to pull CQ.

Reggie Kenner Feb 10 #72002

Was Mai Loc a firebase when you were there? In '69 it was merely a SF camp from which we

Bill Walker Feb 10 #72003

Hi CPT. Pasquarelli,

Remember me?

We met in DaNang when we picked you up from an oddly pink house and gave you a ride.

Your friendly MP

Dennis Souza Feb 10 #72005

Was still a SF camp during my tour in 1970.

Steve (RS16) Feb 10 #72006

Yep, Project Delta. One confirmed bulldozer and one truck.

Tim Pasquarelli Feb 10 #72007

You ain’t fooling me Billy Walker. I know it’s you

That damned MP SFC was gloating that he could look down from the Provost bench at an RLO CPT and make him feel uncomfortable… a$$hole.

Tim Pasquarelli Feb 10 #72008

And it was in the outskirts of Hue.

Gary Bowman Feb 10 #72009

There was a Pink House in Da Nang. Or so I've heard tell! 🤐

Tim Pasquarelli Feb 10 #72010

I visited both. The one in Hue was pink. The one in Da Nang was not pink. Note: this was before I got married.

Barry Beard Feb 10 #72011

Not sure why we were in Hue but another Lt (who will remain nameless unless he chooses to own up) and I snuck out and caught one of those 3-wheel scooter taxis. We went to a social and came back the next morning. Years later I was talking to a friend’s wife who lived in Hue at the time. She said most people in Hue hated Americans. What were we thinking!!

Steve (RS16) 9:04am #72012

An enterprising young lad in Hue stole my watch while I was riding in a jeep, I chased him down several alleys.......what was I thinking???

Bill Walker 10:08am #72014

I know, Tim.

I was just yanking your delicate chain.

Gary Bowman 10:35am #72015

I don't know what color it was. It was dark.

Barry Beard Feb 11 #72039

You weren’t! Young and inexperienced!

Sol Herrera 7:01am #72055

I didn’t know how many hours I had until I saw my VRO. He looked at my flight log and asked me to look at his map and point to my duty station then stated according to your flight log you have over 25 Air Medals. I was only with the Lancers for 6 months. I believe I was at stand down in December then I was transferred down south to Vung Tau.

We were cautioned about hanging your wrist out of the Lamberetta or taxi because the cowboys would take your watch right off your wrist while they while driving a motor scooter. I believe I was at stand down in December. I am not sure of the time frame.

Solomon

Gary Bowman9:30am #72056

Sol, I believe you were there for Lam Son 719, which was in March. If you were still there in December, it was at least 9 months.

Gary B