Charles Herrmann SOG Mission Log
 


THIS PRAIRE FIRE MISSIONS LOG COURTESY OF CHARLES HERRMANN


PRAIRIE FIRE MISSIONS LOG


Decembeer 1968 thru May 1969


21st Helicopter Squadron, Nakhon Phanom, Thailand




DATE



FLYING

TIME




PILOTS



"LOW"

BIRD



"HIGH"

BIRD




INFILL




EXFILL


LANDING ZONE

BEARING-

DISTANCE



TACAN

STATION




REMARKS




















24 Dec 68


2.8


Herrmann

Davis


X






2


278 - 24


109

Dong Ho


2 Survivors of hand to hand

fight 5 minutes before our arrival




















7 Jan 69


3.0


Herrmann

Culp


X






6


260 - 32


109

Dong Ho


Use Jacob Ladder, got team in

chopper 25 miles "later"




















26 Mar 69


2.5


Dunn

Herrmann


X






16


107 - 42


89

NKP


Third of 5 choppers performing

exfill




















28 Mar 69


5.4


Herrmann

Culp


X




6


6


255 - 33


109

Dong Ho


Team comes under fire, have to

exfill within a few minutes




















9 Apr 69


0.8


Herrmann

Culp


X












Wx abort, smoke obscures LZ




















17 Apr 69


1.5


Herrmann

Southworth


X












FAC advises to abort, enemy

closing in on LZ




















29 Apr 69


5.5


Herrmann

Culp


X






6


260 - 33


109

Dong Ho


Refuel at Quang Tri after turrning

around due to Wx, high clouds




















8 May 69


1.7


Herrmann

Culp


X












Wx abort, LZ becomrs socked in




















15 May 69


.06


Herrmann

Culp




X










Take off delayed 1.0 due to Wx

mission canx. while enroute Wx




















19 May 69


1.3


Herrmann

Southworth


X








110 - 22


109

Dong Ho


Wx abort; Wx turns bad while

waiting for broken A-1Es to arrive




















21 May 69


0.5


Herrmann

Culp




X










Mtn. abort/low torque #2

engine




















21 May 69


2.6


Herrmann

Culp




X






274 - 37


109

Dong Ho


Low bird inserted 6




















23 May 69


2.7


Herrmann

Culp




X






282 - 35


109

Dong Ho


Wx abort, LZ clouded over


COMMENTS:

Three missions remain rather vivid in my memory


1.  24 Dec 68: SOG team was under fire while we were enroute, actually engaged in hand-to-hand fighting (rifle butt to the groin type fighting). A-1E's got things quiet so we could pick up 2 survivors, one U.S. and one indigent (Montagnard). Indigent cried without restraint on trip home, he had lost a life-long friend in the struggle before we arrived. The war became "real" for me at that moment.


2.   7 Jan 69: Team under fire in bomb crater in extreme southwest corner of North Vietnam while we were enroute. A1-E's got things quieted down so we could make pickup. For some reason or another indigents did not know how to use the jungle penetrator. Held hover for an extremely long time until "lead" A-1E advised that he and his friends were running low on ammo. Dropped Jacobs Ladder and 6 man team latched to ladder and we climbed to 2500' MSL (to get above limits of small arms fire) and flew some 25 miles or so to the top of a karst that had been declared "safe' by lead A1-E pilot. Brought chopper to a hover, team got off ladder one at a time, then boarded helicopter. This action necessary since we could not have team hanging below chopper because we needed to climb to 10,000 feet and "jink" while crossing the Ho Chi Minh Trail (enroute "home") where enemy anti-aircraft missile sites were located.

 

3.  28 Mar 69:  We had departed inserting the team by less than 5 minutes when the FAC advised us that the team was under fire and as soon as the A-1E's could quiet things down, we would have to retrieve the team. The A-1Es' did their job and so we went in with both guns firing and made the pickup. Actually saw one black pajama clad individual run from left to right under the nose of the chopper, and since he apparently did not stop and shoot us down, I guess he was "running for his life". The A-1E's HAD to be laying down a helluva lot of ordinance for us to return to the same spot, hover, hoist 6 people on board and then escape…..UNSCATHED!

 

REFLECTIONS:


In closing, I just can NOT give those A-1E drivers any higher praise. Unfortunately, of all of them that protected me on so many occasions, I only knew one of them personally. The fact remains that they "had a job to do"……WOW…….did they EVER do it……as far as I am concerned. I have been..... and will be eternally grateful for the job that they did. They definitely helped make it possible to write this summary. GOD BLESS EVERY ONE OF THEM!




         




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