Chapter 13
by Kathy Hufford
THE WORLD SEEN SIDEWAYS
UH-1C ARMY Helicopter Gunship team belonging to the 68th Assault Helicopter Company, Bien Hoa, Viet Nam, in July 1967 silhouetted by the crew chief out the left door of the other gunship.
For a large view of this photo see Kent's Photos under the Mustang section of this site.
The pilots seats in a UH-1 are almost comfortable. They have a web structure to them, good backing, and also have a form of armor plating to protect the bottom, back and sides of the pilots. The crew chief and gunner set sideways in the back, setting on a piece of armor if they can find it, on a little stool like contraption so they can man the M60 machine gun. Not very comfortable, nor safe. In a slick, the gunner takes care of all the guns. In a helicopter gunship, there are so many guns and ammo, it takes both pilots, the crew chief and the gunner to keep all the guns and ammo running. So, when you stop for anytime, the shirts come off the whole crew and the work begins. It takes the whole crew to load rockets and 10,000 rounds of minigun in the time you normally have. This interaction makes for a closer crew.
On an escort for a combat assault, we received a lot of ground fire and my crew chief Hector got shot. Hector started screaming over the crew intercom about getting shot. He was jumping all over the back of the aircraft, and blood was flying all over the place. We yelled at the gunner to pin down Hector and find out where he was shot. Hector was not a small guy. He liked to eat. He had a very large rear end. Yep, he got shot in the ass. Good thing too, because of the size. So, the gunner cut Hectors pants open, and put a compress bandage on his rear cheek. We flew direct to the 90th Evacuation Hospital and dropped him off. He came back from the hospital about two weeks later. It took about a month before he could sit down and fly again.
On another mission in the Iron triangle, we took a bunch of ground fire. Then the aircraft started fill up with fluid flying everywhere inside the cockpit. The crew chief, door gunner, and copilot started yelling that it was coming out of the back wall. The back wall is the 275 gallon fuel tank. So, we thought we were hit in the fuel cell and it was JP4 fuel spraying all over. So, I started an emergency decent and approach to a small unmanned landing strip about two miles away. We are going through the procedures to land, thinking that any second we could turn into a flying ball of fire, and I think, just as I land, I don’t SMELL any fuel. I don’t smell JP4. I don’t smell anything. I shut down the aircraft real quick, and we exit the aircraft with the blades turning. Outside I ask if any one else smelled JP4, they said no. We go back towards the aircraft to investigate. A bullet had come thru an open door and hit the aircraft survival kit that was attached to the back wall. Open the kit, and see that the bullet had gone thru two cans of drinking water. It was just water that was flying around inside the cockpit. By this time my wingman is landing to save us, the slick chase aircraft is also landing to help us. Kind of embarrassing. But, if the kit would not have been there, we would have really been crispy. We did have other bullet holes that needed 100 mile an hour tape (duct tape) to fix.