Veterans Steve Smith and Kenneth Peterson tells harrowing stories of "Orange Bugs" in Vietnam with the 101st Airborne Division.

Not actual aircraft

Interview on Youtube * Steve Smith, Redskin 16, and Ken Peterson, Lancer 8. Audio of event Conducted by David Yuzuk at the Nashville Reunion.

Not actual aircraft

We kind of stumbled onto David who was conducting an interview for a documentary on 2 LT Richard Flaherty.  When Steve and I showed up, David corralled us in and took our interview.

I hope that Steve and I did you, his wing mate, and the crew chief and door gunner on our bird justice in how we told the story.   I'm just so sorry you could not be there during the interview. Kenneth Peterson

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Steve’s patch mentioned during interview.

Picture provided by Bill Walker

Bill Walker 17

In 2000, I was just starting to deal with some of our missions. PTSD, I suppose. And, after Dave Mussey and Gary Whitty set up our website and list serve, it was absolutely cathartic.

To round out the story, I added two attachments that both refer to that mission.

I've attached the video of Steve Smith (Redskin 16) and Ken Peterson's (Lancer 8, I think), interview with the 101st Airborne Div, Archivist a few years ago.

I also attached a copy of a letter I wrote to my sister following Steve's visit to Dayton after rediscovering comrades-in-arms with whom we shared a history. I had never shared any of our experiences with my family.

Bill 17

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Date: 4/16/2000

From: Bill Walker 17

Last week, I sent this note to my sister

I don't know if I ever told you this story or not. When I was in Vietnam, I had wanted to tape a mission to see if it could be done. So, one day when I had what was supposed to be a really boring re-supply mission into the mountains west of the A Shau Valley, I took my little cassette recorder with me and put the mike into the ear-piece in my helmet. This was not to be a combat mission; just a routine ash-and-trash to some unit on the ground.

Our Maintenance Officer, Cpt. Ken Peterson, asked if he could be my co-pilot that day. Ken was the absolute best Maintenance Officer in our battalion, and most of his flight time was spent testing our aircraft to ensure they remained airworthy. I think he just wanted a little time away from his work routine, and this did not appear to be a combat mission.

Whenever we flew into the mountains, we nearly always had gun ship support if it was in an area that had recently had enemy activity. That day, our sister company, the Redskins, were providing cover for us as we went into the 200-foot hover down Landing Zone. Redskin 16, Steven Smith, was the gunship flight lead and he had covered me on many combat assaults and extractions. He was fun to play poker with and generally just a really good guy and an outstanding gunship pilot. We had joked about him being short (going home soon) and still flying hot missions, because he was due to DEROS within a couple of weeks.

The first sortie was uneventful, except for the act of hovering down a very deep and narrow shaft through the triple canopy trees. This was accomplished through careful pilot touch, and following the directions given by the entire crew, i.e. "Bring the tail a little left, Sir."" Don't come any further right, Sir.". "We have a branch right over the main rotor.", and so on, until we touched down at the bottom. This final part was always a relief, as our cargo was off loaded, and anything else was put aboard, which often included injured soldiers or body bags containing the remains of some of our guys.

The second trip in, however, got pretty ugly. After finally coming to a rest at the bottom of the shaft, the bad guys opened up with 75MM recoilless rifle fire, blowing up trees around us, and tossing up gouts of dirt and debris. The commander on the ground was screaming into the radio, "Get out! Get out! Get out!" and ran for cover.

As we began to extricate ourselves from that air shaft, we seemed to be in slow motion. In spite of the heavy explosions all around us, we still had to avoid the surrounding trees. Our crew chief and door gunner and Cpt. Peterson guided me all the way up. All hell really broke loose, with treetops exploding and nearly hitting the rotor blades, not to mention near misses of ordinance. To add to the mix, the NVA opened up with .51 Caliber automatic weapons fire as soon as we cleared the treetops. This was also a devastating weapon, which probably shot down more aircraft than any other single weapon in their arsenal.

Thankfully, Steve and his wing man spotted the muzzle flashes from a nearby mountain top, and rolled in on it, firing missiles and mini-guns. Once out of that hole, we began a zig zag route to put some airspeed and distance between us and our enemy. Cpt. Peterson may have turned off some of his radios (we monitored 5 at a time) to reduce distractions. It also may have been his first experience with enemy fire or sometime while in an aircraft, having mistaken some of the tracers for insects. I'm sure we corrected this perception rather quickly.

When we gained some altitude, I realized that one of the Redskins was cheering. He said that they had blown up the whole mountain top because of the secondary explosions that he could see. When I turned, I could see a huge white cloud covering the whole pinnacle. I admit, it was exhilarating. There was no more hostile fire coming from that spot.

But then, the second cobra pilot could get no radio answer from Redskin 16. Over and over he called him, and then asked me if I knew where he was or what had happened. We turned back toward the LZ and the burning mountain top, frantically scanning the treetops for any sign of Steve's aircraft. Finally, our door gunner spotted a cobra flying low and very slowly toward Fire Base O’Reilly, a hotbed for enemy activity. I advised Steve's wingman, and then made contact with the firebase. Steve landed there and quickly moved away from the Cobra, which in all likelihood, would attract mortar fire in short order, and made his way to the communications center.

After a few minutes, we came in to pick up Steve and his co-pilot to return to Camp Evans. Neither of them was hurt, but their aircraft was virtually demolished. All communications were gone, and they were extremely fortunate to be able to make it to the firebase. This was not an area to be alone and on the ground in the jungle. Steve's wingman's Cobra was also pretty shot up, but no one was injured in it either. So, we followed them back to base, too, just in case he experienced any difficulties.

Enroute to Camp Evans, I thanked Steve for providing such elegant covering fire for us, and most likely, saving our lives. I knew he was slated to return to the States in a week or two, and as we shook hands, I asked him for a souvenir. He ripped off his Redskin 16 patch from his flight suit and handed it to me. I have not seen him since that day.

After dropping Steve back at their company headquarters, Cpt. Peterson and I continued with our other missions for the day, which were much less perilous. Sadly, during all of the excitement, I forgot about the tape recorder. I had not flipped the tape to the second side. So, all of the real action took place without having been recorded. What is there is still pretty good, though.

When some of us from my company (The Lancers, Co. B, 158th Aslt. Hel. Bn, 101st Abn Div) began contacting each other via the internet, I saw that a few Redskins had visited our site. I contacted each one and asked if he knew a guy name Smith who had been Redskin 16 and who had been shot down near Firebase O'Reilly. The third one answered with something like "You found me! Give me a chance to catch my breath, and I'll get back to you.”

Anyway, we have been in contact over the past year, and tonight, he is coming here to visit. In reality, we probably were never in each other's actual presence for more that about 4 hours during 1970; the rest of the time together was via the radio during missions. It is amazing to think that after 30 years, we will sit down and talk and remember things past. We'll look at old pictures and tell lies, and maybe smoke a cigar. And I will give his Redskin patch back to him. We won't listen to the tape. In fact, I never tried to tape another mission because just look what happened the last time I did.

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Written to my sister the following week.

Steve did come to Dayton last Friday night, and we really had a great time remembering and sharing pictures and stories. The bond we share is truly unique. We did not have a cigar, using scotch instead to loosen up the ol' brain cells. It is amazing to spend time with someone who shares one's unique experiences. I reminded Steve that the last time I had seen him, I also gave him a ride. This time, however, Steve got to ride in the front seat. He let me keep the patch he had torn off his flight suit that day in 1970. And I am glad that I still have that keepsake.

We also looked at pictures of his cobra on the pad at O'Reilly, and the subsequent pictures of it burning, some distance down the hill side. It was so damaged, and so difficult to lift out that it was determined that it should be disposed of rather than try to re-claim it.

We also recalled when we were at Quang Tri at the time Fuller was being overrun by the NVA. That was the night when the runway PSP was actually lifted up by the lead aircraft's rotor wash when the Redskins were scrambled. The PSP flew right into Steve's main rotor, causing his aircraft to crash into the runway. We looked at those pictures, as well. Miraculously, neither pilot was injured. I can still hear the fuel pump running and waiting for the rotor less aircraft to explode. Steve got a pretty good write up in an Army Aviation damage report for being “attacked by a runway”.

I can't begin to say how much I enjoyed and appreciated his visit. Because we have so many things going on this summer, I won't be able to attend the reunion in DC. So, this mini-reunion, along with Tom Smith's visit last year, and hopefully with Bill Griffith this week, are going to have to do me for a while. It would be great if we could have a 158th reunion some time. Our battalion was involved in virtually every hostile action north of Eagle during its term in I Corp.

Bill Lancer 17

* Randall Underhill from the 101st Association placed the Interview on U-tube.