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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 I 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 enemy’s 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 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