Page 7

BRONZE STAR MEDAL

Maj. Glen W. Emery, HHD, 25th Avn. Bn.

Maj. James R. Vance, HHD, 25th Avn. Bn.

Maj. George J. Young,. HHD, 25th Avn. Bn.

COMBAT ASSAULT - “Little Bear” Hueys from the 25th Inf. Div. drop troops for a combat assault mission. Men of the 2nd Bn., 27th Inf. Wolfhounds charge from the helicopter to flush out the Viet Cong.

In the past two weeks, the division's 25th Avn. Bn. has undergone a complete personnel change in all of the key positions save one - The battalion commander. The battalion consists of an airmobile company: the famed “Little Bears,” and a general support company: the armed “Diamondheads.” Working as an inseparable team, the two companies provide varied and timely aviation support to the men of the “Tropic Lightning” through combat assaults, aero-medical evacuation, aerial resupply, airborne command and control, convoy cover, target acquisition and attack, and a host of other aviation support missions.

The new commander of Co. A, 25th Avn. Bn., “Little Bears” is Maj. Charles J. Brown of Easton, Penn. He was assigned to Vietnam and the division from Rhode Island where he last served as advisor to the National Guard. This is Maj. Brown's second tour in the Republic; his first was with the 114th Airmobile Co. at Vinh Long in 1964-65. Maj. Brown has participated in several combat assaults with his new company, both from the lead ship and the command and control helicopter.

Maj. Jack Hill assumed command of Co. B, 25th Avn. Bn. “Diamondheads” and is already flying his armed Huey in escort for the Little Bears as well as in general support of the division.

The battalion staff has also undergone a complete revision of personnel: The new executive officer, Maj. Bill Watson, is serving his second tour in Vietnam. His last assignment was with Seventh Army in Germany. Maj. Pete McGurl is the new S-3 and come from the Infantry Center at Ft. Benning, Ga. Capt. Dexter Baxley, S-1, is a former armed helicopter fire team leader and was recruited from the Diamondheads. Capt. Pete Barrett (S-2) and Capt. John Pirkle were both previously assigned to the Little Bears as flight section leaders.

Maj. Gen. John C.F. Tillson III, commanding general of the 25th Inf. Div., presented the colors of the 25th Avn. Bn. to it's new commander, Lt. Col. William A. Bearden, at ceremonies here April 10.

Col. Bearden succeeds Lt. Col. Edward P. Davis. He came to the 25th from Fort Wolters, Tex., where he served as director of the Flight Division of the U.S. Army Primary Helicopter School. He recently received his Master Aviator rating, after 15 years as an Army aviatior.


HOT NOSE - Two gunship crew members lead 40mm grenades into the M-5 launcher mounted on a UH-1B helicopter at the Cu Chi Army Airfield.	CONTROL TOWER - This truck is the “tower” that directs all aircraft landing and taking off from the Cu Chi field. Air traffic controllers handle an outgoing or in-comng aircraft every 50 seconds, 24 hours a day.

Twenty miles northwest of Saigon's bustling Tan Son Nhut Airbase is a subordinate, but also bustling, airfield which is a key link for supply and troop movement to Hau Nghia Province, War Zone “C” and other northern points.

The Cu Chi Army Airstrip, located in the 25th Inf. Div.'s Cu Chi base camp is also the home of two major aviation units, the 269th Comb. Avn. Bn. and the 25th Avn. Bn. These two units with their aircraft make the mile long, quarter mile wide field one of the busiest in the area.

According to Capt. Bobbie G. Pedigo, 33, of Bowling Green, Ky.. an aircraft takes off or lands on one of the two runways every 50 seconds around the clock. Pedigo is the commander of the 341st Airfield Opn. Det. which has operational control over the beehive facility. The detachment has two officers and 22 enlisted men broken into teams for flight operations, airfield command, service, communications and a crash-rescue unit.

The crash-rescue unit is always ready to assist any of the aircraft using the field. The largest task is to follow the paths of larger Air Force planes landing there. Of these planes, the C-7A “Caribou” uses the field most with an average of 815 trips monthly. The C-123 “Provider” is also a regular customer although it is usually scheduled as a troop carrier. The C-130 “Hercules” makes trips to Cu Chi on special occasions but needs all of the 3100 foot runway for take off. An additional 200 feet will soon be added to accommodate the huge, four-engine, turbo-prop aircraft.

The service team has the task of keeping all lodger and transient aircraft except the Air Force transports, fueled and armed. The fueling area works ten and one-half hours a day pumping more than 10,000 gallons of fuel into the helicopters. The armament section issues an average of five tons of machine gun ammunition, rockets and 40mm grenades each day. All troop carrier helicopters are armed with two M-60 machine guns. The division gunships carry extra armament in the form of additional machineguns, rockets and M-1 grenade launchers.

The airfield operations section schedules all flights arriving and departing Cu Chi and books reservations to all areas including Tay Ninh, Dau Tieng and Tri Bi in War Zone “C”, and Saigon. The “Caribou” flights also transport in-country R&R personnel to the rest center at Vung Tau.

The courier runs to the three points in War Zone “C”, Long Binh and Saigon account for the majority of scheduled flights and all are made by helicopter. The team also aids troop movement from the airlift section of the field. In one month, more than 3800 helicopter flights were logged from the field including 2300 Courier flights.

A major job of the operations section is running the control tower located in the middle of the field on a three quarter ton truck. The one man facility is in operation around the clock. PFC Conrad Lee, 21, of Crane, Tex., said five men work the tower on four hour shifts.

“Most of the ships call in from three to five miles out,” said Conrad, “and we give them runway clearance, wind direction, altimeter and velocity reading.” The same information is given to ships taking off.

	FIREPOWER - A, gunship pilot loads 2.75 inch rockets into his aircraft pod at the airfields armament section. Nearly five tons of ammunition and armament are issued daily.
SERVICE STATION - A total of 10,000 gallons of fuel is used daily by the aircraft. The fueling area is found at the airfield's resupply pad.
	IMPORTANT CARGO - Passengers board a courier flight to Saigon near the operations building of the airfield. Flights to the Saigon area run on an hourly schedule 10 hours a day.

Wiggle into the seat, strap yourself in, and get ready for the ride of a lifetime, your first ride in a Menehune (pronounced mina-hoony).

It's not a jet, but rather one of the tiny light observation helicopters of the 25th Infantry Division's 2nd Brigade Aviation Section.

“It's the closest thing to skydiving I can think of,” says WO James M. Riley, one of the section's four pilots. Unlike the HU1D “Huey” and the mammoth CH-47 “Chinook,” the only thing that surrounds you in the small chopper is air and plexiglas.

The helicopters of the Menehune fleet are used for just that. Each of the battalion commanders in the Brigade has one of the ships generally available for controlling his troops.

“Sometimes all it takes is a good look at the terrain from a few hundred feet up to clear up a confusing tactical situation,” said MAJ William Priest, Brigade Aviation Officer, and a pilot himself.

“When the commander must get down with his troops on the ground, the Menehune fills the bill,” said WO Riley. “The ship can get into areas far too small for a larger helicopter.”

When the air is very hot, as it often gets in Vietnam, it thins out a very little, but just enough that the rotor blades don't have as much to dig into. A load that could easily be carried in the morning might be too heavy is late afternoon.

Flying the ship under these conditions is difficult, but so is everyday normal flying. Unlike a standard fixed wing aircraft where control can be relaxed, a helicopter demands constant attention to the controls.

“One hour of helicopter flying, especially in a light one like a Menehune, is as tiring as three hours on the ground,” said Riley. Second Brigade pilots often fly eight or more hours a day.

But they are well prepared for combat flying. Like all Army pilots, they have trained for nine months at Fort Wolter, Tex., and Ft. Rucker, Ala., before becoming qualified. Many of the men of the section had flown on previous assignments before coming to Vietnam.

The ships they fly must be as good as the pilots and this is the job of the enlisted Menehunes. “Three hours of maintenance for every hour in the air is the general rule,” said Section Chief, SSG James R. Wade, “The lights in the maintenance section often burn all night.”

These men, like the pilots, have been extensively trained for their jobs. “The light helicopter course at Ft. Rucker is ten weeks of tough training that makes the mechanic familiar with every square inch of the ship,” said Wade.

Both officers and enlisted men of the section wear the distinctive red pocket patch of the Menehune. Embroidered on it is the symbol of 2nd Brigade Aviation, the tiny Hawaiian elf.

Menehune luck must work. The ships have flown through ground fire on every operation they've been in, and been shot down several times in the year and one half that they've been in Vietnam, but no Menehune pilot has ever been seriously hurt.

MAJ Danny L. Romig, operations officer of Co A, 25th Avn Bn, was recently awarded the Silver Star by MG John C. F. Tillson III, 25th division commanding general.

Romig was decorated for his action March 18 while under intense fire on a mission to extract an element of the 2nd Bn, 27th Inf, “Wolfhounds.”

Romig was the flight leader of eight “Little Bear” choppers and while picking up a load of men with his ship, he directed the movements of the other ships.

Two Viet Cong soldiers had their Saturday bath rudely interrupted recently when they were spotted in a water-filled bomb crater near the Boi Loi Woods northwest of the 25th Inf Div base camp.

The frolicking bathers were having such a good time that they failed to see a 25th Avn Bn “(Huey)” helicopter hovering high overhead.

Co-pilot WO Randy Cartier, Baltimore, Md., dropped the chopper down for a closer look. When the VC finally saw the Huey, they first tried to play possum, then decided to go for their weapons. Pilot CWO Phil Timlin, Eaton Rapids, Mich., gave the order to fire, and the helicopter's door gunners opened up with their machine guns, killing both VC.

SP4 Richard Oglesby, Oakland, Calif., one of the gunners, said that these two VC made a total of 18 confirmed enemy killed by the “Little Bears” this month.

An elusive snake, slithering around the controls of a helicopter, prompted a 25th Div aircraft commander to radio in that as far as he was concerned, his aircraft should be grounded.

While flying a mission for the 25th Avn Bn, CPT Thomas Fickle of Meeker, Colo., felt a snake crawling across his right foot. Pilot WO George Harrison of La Grande, Ore., took over the controls allowing Fickle to rid himself of the snake.

Moments later Fickle regained the controls of the aircraft, because it was Harrison's turn to chase the four-foot long snake from his feet.

As the aircraft neared Ben Hoa, the snake “broke contact” by slithering under the floor plates. After landing, the crew removed all the inspection plates from the fuselage, found the snake, but couldn't reach it because of all the small compartments.

Fickle resumed the flight, and while over Long Binh, the snake reappeared by poking its head out of an opening in the left door.

At this point Fickle radioed to battalion operations stating, as far as I'm concerned this aircraft is down,” and immediately returned to the Cu Chi Airfield, where they picked up another helicopter.

Ground crew personnel worked four hours with tools, aerosol sprays, and fire extinguishers before capturing and destroying the snake.

BEATEN BANANA SNAKE - PFC Donald Hogan of Jamaica, N.Y., holds the elusive banana snake that prompted Aircraft Commander CPT Thomas Fickle of Meeker, Colo., to temporarily down his aircraft. It was not known whether the snake was poisonous but at the time nobody wanted to take any unnecessary chances. (US Army Photo)

CREW CHIEF FIDDLES WHILE PILOT BURNS - PFC Kelly Jones of Nevada, Mo., is apparently holding up a helicopter mission, to the chagrin of WO pilot Gordon Oxford of Gordon, Ala., as he practices his fiddling. Jones is a professional Country and Western fiddler now in Vietnam serving as a crew chief with the 25th Avn Bn, 25th Inf Div.

3RD BDE - In a blazing exchange of gunfire, the gunners on the command helicopter of COL Leonard R. Daems Jr., CO of the 3rd Bde, killed five Viet Cong fleeing across a rice paddy.

The 20 minute engagement with an estimated force of 50 VC took place 30 kms northwest of Saigon. It was part of a day long action by elements of Task Force Daems, which netted 183 enemy bodies.

On a reconnaissance flight near the village of Bao Tre, COL Daems and crew members of his command ship spotted the enemy force. The door gunners of the “Little Bear” chopper of Co A, 25th Avn Bn, opened fire on the enemy, as the pilot, WO Clay Maxwell of Midland, Mich. and aircraft commander WO Alan E. Gould of Stroudsburg, Pa., maneuvered the ship into position.

The VC answered with volleys of small arms fire and RPG rockets, while racing toward jungle cover nearby. Numerous tracers whizzed by the command chopper.

While the enemy force fled in the direction of the jungle, COL Daems called in a cut-off force from the 4th Bn (Mech), 23th Inf, in an effort to head off the VC.