To the Limit: An Air Cav Huey Pilot in Vietnam

19 Near Disaster, Night Insertion at Thor

2 8 5 Near Disaster, Night Insertion at Thor 19 April 8, 1968 Since the initial assault into the Khe Sanh operational area, all Bandit crews have flown long hours. Our workday begins long before the sun breaks over the horizon and ends with a touchdown between the sandbags using landing lights. Most of us are logging eight hours a day flying time. By the time I wake up, have breakfast, do mission briefings, preflight the helicopter, fly, have dinner, and maybe take a shower, it’s time to go back to bed. I have time to write home every other day at most. The good weather is on again, off again, but mostly off. Sometimes we see blue sky between the broken clouds, but most days we have to fly in very unsafe low-cloud conditions. The 1st Cavalry Division has committed over 15,000 men to Operation Pegasus/Lamson 207, all of whom depend on helicopters to keep them in ammo, water, and hot food, and to carry out their wounded. By now the enemy is in flight. He chose to beat up the small Marine base of Khe Sanh, but at the first tip that the 1st Air Cavalry was en route, he hastily packed up and headed north. We arrive in fulldivision strength, intent on kicking his ass all the way to Hanoi, but find only scattered pockets of enemy in full retreat to Laos and North Vietnam. Instead of doing combat assaults into hot LZs, all of our flying is ash-and-trash missions, keeping the troops already there supplied with food, water, and ammo. 2 8 6 TO THE LIMIT Only one of the engagements in which I take part during Operation Pegasus involves hot lead. It is a night emergency insertion of a platoon-size force to break up a surprise attack on LZ Thor. LZ Thor, located 4 miles southeast of Khe Sanh, is a hilltop artillery base. It is guarded by B Company 1st of the Eighth, a battle-hardened company of sky troopers. On the night of April 8, 1968, at 0100 hours, an attack begins with volleys of mortars and small arms fire. No one knows how many NVA troops are involved. The division-level people are still nervous, having failed to find the 40,000 NVA troops that we were expected to engage. Relying only on the preliminary reports of the engagement at Thor, Black Horse quickly raises the red flag. This could be the initial thrust of the longawaited counterattack by the clandestine enemy. The company assigned to ready reaction force duty for the 1st Cavalry Division on this night is us—ACompany of the 229th Assault Helicopter Battalion. All the pilots and crews are awakened and put on alert at 0200 hours. It is then that we realize Major Beyer has left for An Khe, which remains the rear echelon base for the entire division. Beyer will be going home soon and needs to take care of some personal business. On what promises to be my most dangerous night mission yet, my flight leader, Rick Tomlinson, is newly promoted from lieutenant to captain. He has flown with Major Beyer since he arrived in country to develop his flight leader status, but like any pilot with less than 100 in-country flying hours, he possesses questionable flying skills. It is one thing to fly yourself into the rolling hills and high mountains of the Khe Sanh area at night, but to lead a tight formation of 20 aircraft who are depending on your every move is an altogether more dangerous stunt. “I’m just too short for this shit!” Bill Lee fumes as he enters the mess tent and reaches for a cup. “I’m fifty-two and counting!” About ten other pilots, including me, laugh and take another sip of the hot steaming brew, but no one replies. My own thoughts are on the rain pelting the roof of the mess tent. “God, this is going to be a suicide mission, Eighty-Eight,” says Jack Bailey, one of the original “fearless foursome” of LZ English days, addressing me by my proper call sign. Since those days Jack has logged 287 NEAR DISASTER, NIGHT INSERTION AT THOR many hours and has grown out of his carefree manner. He has become a very “in-country” conscious aircraft commander. “You’re the safety officer, Johnson; will you...