TET of February 1968 is a month old and this is a
bright and beautiful day in March. Today "Ruthless 6" will join A Troop's
reconnaissance near Kontum. The mission is to gain contact with the enemy and
capture prisoners. The squadron commander loaded up his crew, copilot Captain
Bob Young, crew chief SP5 Michael Lill (below)and door gunner Mike Manger. This
reconnaissance is flown low and slow on the treetops. The door gunners are the
first lines of observation and defense in the C model. (Hank Johnson
Photo)
Old 66-038, UH-1C, the command ship, didn't have a strong engine. We never hovered at the required 6600 RPM. During the roll to takeoff we always got the low RPM warning prior to effective lift. Once in a dust out, the Colonel bleed it down to 5800 just before we made transition. He had the "touch". The C model doesn't fly well in the thinner air of the Pleiku highlands. Two 7.62mm gattling guns are mounted outboard. The door gunner and crew chief each man a M60 machine gun. A few weeks later at Ban Me Thout; I took a round in my arm flying 038. We were trying to stop the NVA from overrunning an American lead Vietnamese team. (Bob Young Photo)
Passing
the city of Pleiku on the right. The foothills and mountains of Kontum and Dakto
are ahead. Pleiku is a wild and western type of town on the edge of the
Vietnamese influence. Reminds me of our old western towns of years ago. A little
lawless and where almost everybody has a motorbike. Two years earlier there
might have been only about 2 or 3 bikes in the whole town. The Vietnamese were,
and still are, hard working and good people. (Bob Young Photo)
Passing a
smoking fuel tanker on the road to Kontum. There is not much traffic on the road
today. Something is going on and the locals are staying out of site. The
engineers bulldozed the trees and brush away from the roads to help make
ambushes more difficult. The brush piles probably made good ambush locations.
The still smoking tanker sets next to one. It may have hit a mine that the NVA
put out every night. (Bob Young Photo)
A US tank platoon and infantry squad in the defense
waiting to be attacked! Armor is supposedly an offensive weapon used for
high-speed break through to deep objectives. It is not designed to set and wait
to be attacked. The NVA correctly used the speed and mobility of their armor in
1975 to move quickly onto Saigon and end the war. Do you think our tanks did
much today? (Bob Young Photo)
Had to
check the Kontum River on the way to the area. No river traffic today. What's in
the tree line? No wingman and on the way to join A Troop as a cavalry scout.
(Bob Young Photo)
A Montagnard village with its buildings built off the
ground. These are proud and independent people who live in the Central
Highlands. Hunters and farmers who wear loincloths and the women go bare
breasted. They make great wine, or so I'm told. They are the minority race and
distrust the Vietnamese. In a land with so little, they get even less. Many are
soldiers in American lead forces. (Bob Young Photo)
We are near the area of operations. A Troop has gained
contact and is employing artillery, fighter aircraft and helicopter gunships.
Looks like another good day for the Cavalry. (Bob Young Photo)
The fight
or reconnaissance in force is really engaged and well under control of A Troop.
The infantry will soon go in and gather up the materials and intelligence left
behind. We will get a good ideal of what units are in the area and pass the
information up to higher headquarters. The boss likes what he sees. He wants to
look further out. (Bob Young Photo)
The boss moves out towards the trails that lead in
from the North. He wants to see what is moving into or out of the area. He
doesn't want an enemy surprise. We top a small ridge and there on the trail
below us is a NVA courier team moving toward the battle. Everybody lets lose and
we win. It is a significant intelligence find. The bullet tracers start a grass
fire and the back dots cover inappropriate parts in the photo. (Bob Young
Photo
Part of today's catch. A Troop put their rifle platoon into the site to pick up the courier material of maps, orders and weapons. An officer and 5 or 6 guards and guides were in the group. A good find of enemy troop information, order of battle and future plans. It is a good day for the U. S. Cavalry. (Bob Young Photo)
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