19 years old? So they commissioned right out of high school back then and made you a helo pilot? That’s insane. Such a departure from that attitude nowadays which is good in some ways but worrisome that we probably couldn’t get guys flying that quick.
It was, and might still be, called 'High school to Flight School. A few days after graduation I was on my way to Ft. Polk LA for Basic Training. After that was 10 months of flight school then on to Vietnam. I was 19 for 7 months before I turned 20. Was a. Aircraft Commander while still 19. And there others a little younger than me.
@@daisyduke1659 thank you for sharing. That’s incredible. I love learning about Vietnam because you hear all these small facts. I always thought every helo pilot in country had done rotc or a full commissioning program, went through flight school, and showed up to Vietnam at 23 or 24 years old at the youngest.
There were classes comprised of Commissioned Officers but not as many as the classes of Warrant Officer Candidates. There were 2 separate ceremonies at graduation. One day was for wings and the other for the Warrant Officer bars.
My uncle died training for Vietnam as a helicopter pilot. He lost power and crashed. My aunt was 6 months pregnant with their daughter. It was so devastating to our family. Rest in peace Dwight Mullins.
Sorry for your Aunt & your family's loss. And especially sorry for the daughter he never got to see or know or help raise. That is a very sad story. But in every war, especially WW2, there were a lot of men that died that had children they never got to meet or know. And I'm sure that was true for many countries and not just the US exclusively. Growing up without a Dad is hard. My Mom's Dad was in WW2. While he was gone her Mom was hanging clothes out to dry & lightning struck the tree the clothes line was attached to. She was electrocuted & died on the spot. Their Grandmother took them in & raised them. 3 younger girls, my Mom was the middle girl. And 3 older boys. When her Dad came back from the war he visited two or three times but they never knew what happened to him after. My Mom said he had dark brown hair when he left that was totally white when he returned. She also said he wouldn't talk about the war at all.
On my Dad's side of the family, his Grandma had two brothers that were both pilots in WW2. One died over Europe and the other died in the Pacific. I never heard any details about any of it. I was very young and no one wanted to talk about it. So I never heard any details.
Humility was not lost with you. I image you did many great things that saved countless lives. Thank you for your sacrifice, thank you doing your duty for our country, thank you for preserving the freedom me and my family enjoy today.
This was a great interview - accident investigation never talked about that I can remember - fascinating, sad stuff. Hard not to wonder "what could've been" - would love to have heard more 🇺🇸 thank you
50% loss ratio of combat loss to 'other' was pretty standard during war time. It was much worse during WW-1. A fighter pilot was lucky if he lasted 1 month in combat if he was lucky enough to survive pilot traing. So much training was fourcedinto a short time in order to get these guys to the front. In the book The men who flew the Memphis Belle the pilot said in pre war it was a 10 month course to check out in B-17. During the war a pilot could check out in a B-17 in 10 hours. No wonder the " other " loss were so high.
First of all…Welcome Home Brother, from a Marine Nam Vet, Chu Lai 68-69 1st MAW MAG 12. Like you, I don’t have any “war stories”, being stationed on an air base, unless you want to count incoming. My return to the world was uneventful. NO ONE bothered me in the airports and none of my family, relatives, friends or anyone ever asked me about Nam, not that I had anything to tell. But it was like I was never there. Strange.
God bless you sir. Thankyou for sacrificing your freedom for ours. And forgive us for never welcoming you home. I appreciate you sir. Thankyou again ✌🏼✊🏼
It was nice to hear how supportive people were at the restaurant. I came back from Korea in 1972. I was dressed in my Class A uniform and never had any trouble from civilians at any airport I passed through. I passed through San Francisco, Denver and Chicago. IIRC at two maybe all three of those locations the airline I was flying on had all enlisted military personnel on the flight taken to a room. I don't recall exactly the purpose, whether we were searched or questioned. But, it told me the airlines viewed military personnel as a potential security risk. That is still a sore spot with me.
When I saw Platoon 1976, I wondered if accidents ever happened, with people trying to land or leave in helicopters in an awful jungle environment. It's interesting to hear about it. It's also interesting to hear from a participant about vietnam war in hindsight, regarding its effects. A bit sad this one is so short. I'm reminded of a video from an american in vietnam commenting on the post-war circumstances, "Vietnam - WTF Happened to this Country?" by ADVChina, skip to 11:00
Being on a river boat with a medivac helo pad, I saw a lot of reckless flying, including two fatal accidents on my boat. That half the helicopters lost were accidents was no surprise to hear. And I have heard a lot of feel-good justification by other veterans, such as "we did a lot of good." It is rare to hear the truth about Vietnam.
I watched a huey crash outside a village. Came in fast and hit blades and nose first. We pulled security at the site. Nobody got seriously hurt. Amazing. 1969 Long Thanh, Bearcat.
The Vietnam War was known as “the Helicopter-War”. While most copters were “medevac”, they were involved in every facet of the war. The life-expentancy of a helicopter pilot in the Vietnam War was only 4wks. The average age of the helicopter pilot was 19-21 yrs. Piloting the helicopter was the deadliest job in the Vietnam War. Training to be a copter pilot was 1yr. Women were not allowed to be pilots or any rated specialty, in the U.S. Armed Forces in that era.The weight limit for a helicopter pilot is 250lbs. In 1962, Eleanor Vietti became the 1st. female POW in the Vietnam War. She was a member of the Christian Missionary Alliance. Her remains have never been accounted for….
@Chasing72 Call it a "thing" all you want. And that is WHY it ended up being so controversial. But most agree today & call it the "Vietnam War!" NOT the Vietnam Conflict or the Vietnam Police Action. We were TRYING to keep a country from being over run by Communist Chinese. Back when I was younger and living in Atlanta, GA I knew two families that were Vietnamese that were "boat people". Vah the father owned a business and sold it to buy the boat. He had 9 children, & Liem was a friend that accompanied him. He had a wife. His first child was born in the USA! They took the boat down a river & out to sea. I think they sailed to Malaysia & was able to get Christian Sponsors from there to come to the US. Vah & Liem both worked at a furniture shop with my step-dad Billy. They invited us over to dinner. Good food & very nice people. I was still in elementary school at the time.
@@kennethdeanmiller7324 in case you couldn’t tell, I was making fun of the OP. Hence the laughing emoji. Btw, my father served 27 of 36 months between `66 and `69.
I was one of those crazy just out of High School 19 year old Helicopter Pilots. What a time!!
19 years old? So they commissioned right out of high school back then and made you a helo pilot? That’s insane. Such a departure from that attitude nowadays which is good in some ways but worrisome that we probably couldn’t get guys flying that quick.
Welcome home !
It was, and might still be, called 'High school to Flight School. A few days after graduation I was on my way to Ft. Polk LA for Basic Training. After that was 10 months of flight school then on to Vietnam. I was 19 for 7 months before I turned 20. Was a. Aircraft Commander while still 19. And there others a little younger than me.
@@daisyduke1659 thank you for sharing. That’s incredible. I love learning about Vietnam because you hear all these small facts. I always thought every helo pilot in country had done rotc or a full commissioning program, went through flight school, and showed up to Vietnam at 23 or 24 years old at the youngest.
There were classes comprised of Commissioned Officers but not as many as the classes of Warrant Officer Candidates. There were 2 separate ceremonies at graduation. One day was for wings and the other for the Warrant Officer bars.
Incredible burden to bear, Sir. Thank you for your service. The U.S. Army helo pilots were "Among the Best".
My uncle died training for Vietnam as a helicopter pilot. He lost power and crashed. My aunt was 6 months pregnant with their daughter. It was so devastating to our family.
Rest in peace Dwight Mullins.
Sorry for your Aunt & your family's loss. And especially sorry for the daughter he never got to see or know or help raise. That is a very sad story. But in every war, especially WW2, there were a lot of men that died that had children they never got to meet or know. And I'm sure that was true for many countries and not just the US exclusively. Growing up without a Dad is hard. My Mom's Dad was in WW2. While he was gone her Mom was hanging clothes out to dry & lightning struck the tree the clothes line was attached to. She was electrocuted & died on the spot. Their Grandmother took them in & raised them. 3 younger girls, my Mom was the middle girl. And 3 older boys. When her Dad came back from the war he visited two or three times but they never knew what happened to him after. My Mom said he had dark brown hair when he left that was totally white when he returned. She also said he wouldn't talk about the war at all.
On my Dad's side of the family, his Grandma had two brothers that were both pilots in WW2. One died over Europe and the other died in the Pacific. I never heard any details about any of it. I was very young and no one wanted to talk about it. So I never heard any details.
Humility was not lost with you. I image you did many great things that saved countless lives. Thank you for your sacrifice, thank you doing your duty for our country, thank you for preserving the freedom me and my family enjoy today.
I ❤all of these Vietnam Vet testimonials. Welcome home sir and thank you for your service.
God bless you, sir! Thank you for your brave service!
This was a great interview - accident investigation never talked about that I can remember - fascinating, sad stuff. Hard not to wonder "what could've been" - would love to have heard more 🇺🇸 thank you
Wow! Thank you for your service, Sir! Very interesting stories, thank you.
Best wishes from Amsterdam, sir.
First time I have ever heard how the sacrifice in Vietnam brought freedom to other countries. I appreciate your sacrifice & intellect Sir.
Interesting story. My Uncle was was a copter pilot with the 116th AHC in Cu Chi during the same year...1968
I love these stories
50% loss ratio of combat loss to 'other' was pretty standard during war time. It was much worse during WW-1. A fighter pilot was lucky if he lasted 1 month in combat if he was lucky enough to survive pilot traing. So much training was fourcedinto a short time in order to get these guys to the front. In the book The men who flew the Memphis Belle the pilot said in pre war it was a 10 month course to check out in B-17. During the war a pilot could check out in a B-17 in 10 hours. No wonder the " other " loss were so high.
''They In Their Day''
''They served those lives They did not live, for They in Their day we're They.''
~The American Soldier
First of all…Welcome Home Brother, from a Marine Nam Vet, Chu Lai 68-69 1st MAW MAG 12. Like you, I don’t have any “war stories”, being stationed on an air base, unless you want to count incoming. My return to the world was uneventful. NO ONE bothered me in the airports and none of my family, relatives, friends or anyone ever asked me about Nam, not that I had anything to tell. But it was like I was never there. Strange.
God bless you sir. Thankyou for sacrificing your freedom for ours. And forgive us for never welcoming you home. I appreciate you sir. Thankyou again ✌🏼✊🏼
It was nice to hear how supportive people were at the restaurant.
I came back from Korea in 1972. I was dressed in my Class A uniform and never had any trouble from civilians at any airport I passed through. I passed through San Francisco, Denver and Chicago. IIRC at two maybe all three of those locations the airline I was flying on had all enlisted military personnel on the flight taken to a room. I don't recall exactly the purpose, whether we were searched or questioned. But, it told me the airlines viewed military personnel as a potential security risk. That is still a sore spot with me.
Had he been in a less-exclusive restaurant, things/reception may have been a lot different.
Thank you sir
When I saw Platoon 1976, I wondered if accidents ever happened, with people trying to land or leave in helicopters in an awful jungle environment. It's interesting to hear about it. It's also interesting to hear from a participant about vietnam war in hindsight, regarding its effects. A bit sad this one is so short.
I'm reminded of a video from an american in vietnam commenting on the post-war circumstances, "Vietnam - WTF Happened to this Country?" by ADVChina, skip to 11:00
Being on a river boat with a medivac helo pad, I saw a lot of reckless flying, including two fatal accidents on my boat. That half the helicopters lost were accidents was no surprise to hear. And I have heard a lot of feel-good justification by other veterans, such as "we did a lot of good." It is rare to hear the truth about Vietnam.
I watched a huey crash outside a village. Came in fast and hit blades and nose first. We pulled security at the site. Nobody got seriously hurt. Amazing. 1969 Long Thanh, Bearcat.
Henry Clay Cauthen. Dust Off pilot. KIA. Left behind a wife and four children. Took me on my first chopper ride many years ago.
Great stories!
The sound of helicopters was an obsession for us Vietnamese people at that time
The Vietnam War was known as “the Helicopter-War”. While most copters were “medevac”, they were involved in every facet of the war.
The life-expentancy of a helicopter pilot in the Vietnam War was only 4wks. The average age of the helicopter pilot was 19-21 yrs. Piloting the helicopter was the deadliest job in the Vietnam War. Training to be a copter pilot was 1yr. Women were not allowed to be pilots or any rated specialty, in the U.S. Armed Forces in that era.The weight limit for a helicopter pilot is 250lbs.
In 1962, Eleanor Vietti became the 1st. female POW in the Vietnam War. She was a member of the Christian Missionary Alliance. Her remains have never been accounted for….
I guesd there are still a lot of wrecks in the jungle today?
yeah, there's actually no way they were able to get all of them out.
Probably been stripped to nothing by now
I had a crew chief who wouldnt put up with stupid shit rip gary kittle
"We did some good in that part of the world"..........nah....I beg to differ.
The Vietnam thing was NOT ever a declared "War", it was a conflict and hostile USA occupation.
We were told it was a “police action”. Chu Lai 68-69 1st MAW.
Thing? 😂
@@philbrown9764 Interesting, now US police are trained militants occupying the US.
@Chasing72 Call it a "thing" all you want. And that is WHY it ended up being so controversial. But most agree today & call it the "Vietnam War!" NOT the Vietnam Conflict or the Vietnam Police Action. We were TRYING to keep a country from being over run by Communist Chinese. Back when I was younger and living in Atlanta, GA I knew two families that were Vietnamese that were "boat people". Vah the father owned a business and sold it to buy the boat. He had 9 children, & Liem was a friend that accompanied him. He had a wife. His first child was born in the USA! They took the boat down a river & out to sea. I think they sailed to Malaysia & was able to get Christian Sponsors from there to come to the US. Vah & Liem both worked at a furniture shop with my step-dad Billy. They invited us over to dinner. Good food & very nice people. I was still in elementary school at the time.
@@kennethdeanmiller7324 in case you couldn’t tell, I was making fun of the OP. Hence the laughing emoji. Btw, my father served 27 of 36 months between `66 and `69.
Whatever happen in Vietnam is sad and why go to the foreigner third world country and die ?