My Last SAR
The date Aug 26, 1972 .
This is the SAR I best remember for a couple of reasons. It was my last one and also because a good friend and mentor, MSgt. David McLeod was FE on Low Bird.
This particular SAR started out routinely. We departed NKP at first light and headed North across the Mekong River to a holding zone up near the NE Laotian border to provide support for air strikes. I remember test firing our miniguns shortly after crossing the river and also remember we were flying in between two layers of clouds, one layer of morning fog and mist that blocked our view below and a higher layer that blocked the sky above. The sun was rising to the East and when it reached the clear space in between the two layers it was completely surreal.
Before we even reached the area where we were supposed to do our holding pattern we heard a "May Day, May Day, I've got two chutes" and then some coordinates. A Marine F-4 fighter had just been shot down by a NVAF Mig-21 and the two pilots had bailed out and were floating down into an area full of bad guys. The second F-4 was still somewhat busy making sure there weren't any other Mig's on his tail and for a while things were just a little frantic.
We were in the area shortly after the two fighter jocks hit the ground. Our A-1 Sky Raiders escorts trolled over the Pilots reported position and met heavy ground fire. Several attempts to raise Capt. Cordova on his radio were unsuccessful and it was sort of a given that he had been captured or worse.
The F-4 backseater, Lt. Darrell Borders, landed his parachute on a small ridge and then hightailed it away looking for better cover. By the time our two HH-53's got to his location the Sandy Pilots were laying down fire trying to keep the bad guys away and buying us some time.
The pilot on my chopper, Capt. Mike Swager, (about as cool a Pilot I've flown with) asked us all if we wanted to give it a try. I think he already knew the answer. He set up our approach and as we headed downwind in a very fast approach. The Sandy Pilot's were laying down about everything they had as close to the survivor as they dared.
As soon as we were in the clear we did a quick personal assessment and were truly surprised to find out that not one of us had been hit. Our chopper was riddled with holes. It looked like swiss cheese around my door position and we were dripping hyd. fluid in several places plus streaming JP-4 from our fuel tanks. I tried to transfer fuel from the tank that was loosing the most fuel into the undamaged tank but that didn't work. We contacted a C-130 tanker, plugged in for some air to air refueling and took on enough fuel to make it back home.
On the way out of there we had to make a stop at one of the LIMA Sites on top of a Karst in Laos where we picked up the crew from our shot up low bird. As luck would have it they had made it to a relatively safe and friendly (at the time) LIMA site. Their chopper had so much battle damage that they barely made it to the landing site and we had to leave the chopper to be repaired and flown out later. (Actually I'm not sure that Chopper was ever recovered. It might have been destroyed)
I was actually assigned to the 21st Special Ops Squadron my final year at NKP but because of a shortage of FE's , myself and a couple of other FE's with Rescue experience did double duty, flying with both the Jolly Greens and Special Operations. Needless to say, it made for a very interesting and rewarding final tour in SEA ( five total) and also the final year of my Air Force career.
As a side note. I actually got wounded on this mission, just a scratch. Some of the guys thought I should have reported it for a Purple Heart, but like many of you Rotorheads, after seeing way to many guys with real wounds, like missing limbs, a scratch just seemed much to trivial and I would never have felt right about it. (Hank Fannin)
This is the SAR I best remember for a couple of reasons. It was my last one and also because a good friend and mentor, MSgt. David McLeod was FE on Low Bird.
A lot of chopper guys will probably remember David McLeod. He was a FE/FE on H-53's and H-3's, did several tours in NAM and trained many FEs at Hill AFB. Sadly, he gave the ultimate sacrifice on a mission into Cambodia.
This particular SAR started out routinely. We departed NKP at first light and headed North across the Mekong River to a holding zone up near the NE Laotian border to provide support for air strikes. I remember test firing our miniguns shortly after crossing the river and also remember we were flying in between two layers of clouds, one layer of morning fog and mist that blocked our view below and a higher layer that blocked the sky above. The sun was rising to the East and when it reached the clear space in between the two layers it was completely surreal.
Before we even reached the area where we were supposed to do our holding pattern we heard a "May Day, May Day, I've got two chutes" and then some coordinates. A Marine F-4 fighter had just been shot down by a NVAF Mig-21 and the two pilots had bailed out and were floating down into an area full of bad guys. The second F-4 was still somewhat busy making sure there weren't any other Mig's on his tail and for a while things were just a little frantic.
Meanwhile the Marine Pilot, Capt. Sam Cordova, was talking to US Aircraft over his survival radio and then later radioed that he had fallen into a ravine and could hear bad guys approaching. ( This was the only Marine jet to be shot down by enemy aircraft during the Vietnam War)
We were in the area shortly after the two fighter jocks hit the ground. Our A-1 Sky Raiders escorts trolled over the Pilots reported position and met heavy ground fire. Several attempts to raise Capt. Cordova on his radio were unsuccessful and it was sort of a given that he had been captured or worse.
(I've found out later that Capt. Cordova's remains were returned for burial in 1988. Wish we could have gotten to him in time).
The F-4 backseater, Lt. Darrell Borders, landed his parachute on a small ridge and then hightailed it away looking for better cover. By the time our two HH-53's got to his location the Sandy Pilots were laying down fire trying to keep the bad guys away and buying us some time.
On the low bird, Pilot Capt. Thomas Laud decided to give it a go and headed down and into a hover over the survivor only to be hit with extremely heavy small arms fire. The Combat Photographer, TSgt. Don Looper, was wounded in the leg, they had several leaking hydraulic lines and possibly damaged flight controls as they pulled up and away. (Later, MSgt. David McLeod told me he was thinking he was on his last mission and couldn't believe only one guy got hit. About everywhere he looked there were bullet holes and battle damage)
The pilot on my chopper, Capt. Mike Swager, (about as cool a Pilot I've flown with) asked us all if we wanted to give it a try. I think he already knew the answer. He set up our approach and as we headed downwind in a very fast approach. The Sandy Pilot's were laying down about everything they had as close to the survivor as they dared.
As soon as we got into a hover all hell broke loose with small arms fire hitting us from all directions. The two PJ's, TSgt Mike Walker, on the ramp gun, and Sgt. Charles McQuoid, in the left window, were returning fire and it sounded like we were in the middle of a war.
Just after I spotted the survivor and started the tree penetrator down I felt a blow on the right side of my flight helmet and then lost intercom. A small arms round had hit my boom mike and severed the comm. line. I signaled the Combat Photographer, Sgt. Jim Cockerill, who happened to be standing right behind me, trying to take pictures I think, and he jumped up into the FE seat and started relaying hand signals to the Pilot.
The damn penetrator got tangled in some bamboo and I had to spend a minute or so, (seemed like a hour) getting it free. I could see the survivor slipping and sliding in the mud and finally managed to place the penetrator right into his hands. Luckily he had the strength and resolve to hang on for dear life because, believe me, I was reeling that cable in at max speed. I think it took me all of five seconds flat to get him in the door, onto a seat and get my minigun swung out the door and firing.
We were still taking lots of small arms fire and as Capt. Swager rolled the nose over and started pulling up and out of there I could see at least two dozen bad guys that had reached a point in a trail that put them close enough I could see their eyes. Lucky for us, one of the Sandy's was making a run straight at them and they were ducking for cover instead of firing at us. I lost sight of them as we made a turn but I doubt many were left intact after that Sandy rocked their world.
As soon as we were in the clear we did a quick personal assessment and were truly surprised to find out that not one of us had been hit. Our chopper was riddled with holes. It looked like swiss cheese around my door position and we were dripping hyd. fluid in several places plus streaming JP-4 from our fuel tanks. I tried to transfer fuel from the tank that was loosing the most fuel into the undamaged tank but that didn't work. We contacted a C-130 tanker, plugged in for some air to air refueling and took on enough fuel to make it back home.
On the way out of there we had to make a stop at one of the LIMA Sites on top of a Karst in Laos where we picked up the crew from our shot up low bird. As luck would have it they had made it to a relatively safe and friendly (at the time) LIMA site. Their chopper had so much battle damage that they barely made it to the landing site and we had to leave the chopper to be repaired and flown out later. (Actually I'm not sure that Chopper was ever recovered. It might have been destroyed)
I was actually assigned to the 21st Special Ops Squadron my final year at NKP but because of a shortage of FE's , myself and a couple of other FE's with Rescue experience did double duty, flying with both the Jolly Greens and Special Operations. Needless to say, it made for a very interesting and rewarding final tour in SEA ( five total) and also the final year of my Air Force career.
As a side note. I actually got wounded on this mission, just a scratch. Some of the guys thought I should have reported it for a Purple Heart, but like many of you Rotorheads, after seeing way to many guys with real wounds, like missing limbs, a scratch just seemed much to trivial and I would never have felt right about it. (Hank Fannin)
posted by Jim Moore at 9:15 AM
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