May-June-July 1968 -page 12, 14, 15, 18

“Southeast Asia”

A LIFE SAVED-Inside an HH-43F from Det 10, 38th ARRSq, Alc Larry D. Nickolson, pararescueman, right, gives plasma to a seriously wounded sailor from a U. S. Navy river patrol boat. Two other wounded Navy men were also in the aircraft. The boat had been hit by a Viet Cong rocket 15 miles from Binh Thuy AB where Det 10 is based. Lending assistance to Nickolson is Alc Archelous Whitehead, Jr., the flight engineer. Capt Leslie E. Johnson, copilot of the HUSKIE, is checking on his passenger's condition. Pilot on the mission was Capt Laurence W. Conover. (USAF photo)

 EARNS DFC Air Force SSgt John A. Smith, a pararescueman from Det 9, 38th ARRSq, Pleiku AB, is congratulated by Col Emil Beaudry, vice commander of the Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Service. The Colonel had presented Sergeant Smith with the Air Force Distinguished Flying Cross and two Air Medals. The pararescueman received the DFC for a mission flown in an HH-43 during which he was lowered 150 feet through the dense jungle canopy to assist in evacuating injured soldiers from heavy undergrowth. Later, as he was being hoisted to the HH-43, the cable snarled when he was still 20 feet below the helicopter. Capt Keith H. Ricks, the pilot, hover-taxied three miles to a clearing so the Sergeant could be taken aboard. (USAF photo) (Ragay : for story on the mission "HH-43's Long Hover Saves Downed Pilots"   click here) 

3rd  ARRGp Emblem

SAIGON (7AF) -An official emblem for the 3rd Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Group was recently approved by Headquarters U.S. Air Force. The group, with its headquarters at Tan Son Nhut AB and commanded by Col Paul E. Leske, currently provides search and rescue support for the 7th Air Force and other Free World Forces in Southeast Asia.

The emblem is the result of combined efforts and ideas of several members of the group. Symbolic of the group and its mission, the emblem shows a blue globe which represents the worldwide capability of the group for search, rescue and recovery operations. A red cross on the globe depicts a location of distressed personnel or required rescue operations. A white lightning bolt denotes adversity (hostile forces or elements) which must be overcome to effect successful search and rescue operations. A green arrow piercing the lightning bolt signifies the response of the group's forces to all emergencies. A scroll immediately beneath the emblem states the Motto: "PER ADVERSA AD EREPTIONEM - Through Adversity to the Rescue. "

The 3rd ARRGp recently passed the 1, 000 combat­save mark since it began operating in Southeast Asia in December 1964. In all, units of the group have completed more than 1, 600 successful rescues since December 1964. The combat classification results when a rescue has been accomplished in which the individual rescued has been exposed to enemy action or has been recovered from a hostile area. A non-combat save is credited when an individual could have died in a non-hostile environment if rescue forces had not recovered him.

The group has grown to an organization of approximately 1,200 officers and airmen assigned to rescue units throughout Southeast Asia. It has twice been awarded the Presidential Unit Citation for outstanding operations in Southeast Asia. The first was received in January 1966 as the 38th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron (the group's original designation) and the second in March 1967, as the 3rd ARRGp. 

 Det 1, 38th ARRSq, has made 65 "saves" since it began operation at Phan Rang AB 22 months ago. Commanded by Maj William C. Emrie, the unit's HH-43B crews have rescued a wide variety of persons, including a Montagnard tribesman badly clawed by a tiger, and two Vietnamese youngsters trapped in the rubble of a collapsed building. More saves were recorded when five Army helicopter pilots, stranded 50 miles offshore on a sand bar, were picked up by a Det 1 chopper.
Recently, a HUSKIE from the detachment rescued a U.S, sailor adrift in a small boat in the South China Sea. He was only 400 yards from enemy-infested shores near Cam Ranh Bay when sighted by Major Emrie and his crew while delivering a patient to the hospital. In spite of the number of small boats in the area, and the fact that almost everyone waves at "Pedro"- the HH-43 - Major Emrie decided on a further look. After the patient was offloaded, the helicopter returned to the area. The sailor began waving again, this time frantically.

Hovering near the 14-foot Boston Whaler, and communicating with a combination of sign language and the public address system, the helicopter crew found out that the sailor had been drifting for 15-hours after his outboard failed. Numerous aircraft had flown over him during this time. He was hoisted aboard the helicopter and flown to the hospital at Cam Ranh Bay for a check­up. The HH-43 then returned for the drifting boat. As the helicopter hovered a scant foot or two above the craft, crewmen reached out and picked up the bow line by hand. The Boston Whaler was then towed to a friendly shore. With Major Emrie on the mission were 1stLt Michael T. Fagan, copilot; SSgt Darold D. Meyer, medical technician; and SSgt James J. Rivette, crew chief.   

A pilot who bailed out of his crippled F-4D was picked up soon afterward by an HH-43B crew from Det 3, 38th ARRSq, Ubon RTAFB, Thailand. 1stLt John R. Bland, Jr., was pilot of the HUSKIE and Capt Clarence L. Hansell was copilot. Crewmen were Sgt James M. Payne, medical technician, and Sgt George W. Tefferteller, Jr., flight engineer.   

BIEN HOA (7AF) An HH-43 crew from Det 6, 38th ARRSq, Bien Hoa AB, needed only six minutes to scramble, pick up a downed pilot, and return to base. Piloted by Maj Keaver Holley, III, the HUSKIE was airborne immediately following notification that 1stLt William V. Tomlinson, Jr., had ejected from his F-100 Supersabre just west of the base. A minute or two later the helicopter landed in a field and the lieutenant, who was on his 405th combat mission, climbed aboard.
"Tomlinson and I served together at our last base, Cannon AFB, N.M., "the Major said afterward, "but this was the first time we had gotten together in Vietnam. Although there didn't appear to be any enemy forces in the area, he seemed in a hurry when he boarded the chopper." Other HUSKIE crew members were SSgt James B. Reed, flight engineer, and Sgt Jerry R. Staley, pararescueman.
(add by Ragay :   F-100D  56-3269  “Buzzard 6”  510 TFS, 3 TFW  crashed  on 6 March 1968 after being  hit by unknown gunfire)

As friendly troops battled with hostile forces nearby, two HH-43B crews from Det 13, 38th ARRSq, Phu Cat AB, hovered in the gathering darkness to evacuate wounded from a rocky, jungle covered mountainside. Tall trees and high gusty winds added to the hazard as Capt John W. Christianson and his crew hoisted two soldiers aboard and then moved off so that two more wounded could be picked up by the other HUSKIE piloted by Maj Bert E. Cowden, RCC, and Capt Robert N. Bowers. The poor visibility made the operation more difficult but the lights on the helicopters were not turned on to avoid drawing enemy fire. As the HH-43's left, fighting on the ground intensified and artillery shells began landing in the area. Army helicopter gunships supplied cover during the pickups. Other members of Captain Christianson's crew were 1stLt Jack F. Brannan, Sgt James E. DeGraw and Sgt Jessie L. Herrell. Crewmen aboard Major Cowden's rescue helicopter were SSgt Noel S. Davidson and TSgt Otis Graham.

In another Det 13 mission, Captain Christianson landed at dusk on a narrow road obstructed by vehicles and bordered by trees to evacuate a soldier seriously injured in a jeep accident. Debris in the roadway, and a mass of onlookers who insisted on pressing forward toward the helicopter, added to the landing problems. The pickup was made without incident, however. The flight to and from the area was over hostile territory against which artillery fire and air strikes were being directed. Other members of the HUSKIE crew were Captain Bowers, copilot; TSgt Delmer R. Smith, medical technician; and Sgt Charles R. Bulinda, flight engineer.

Cam Ranh Bay (7AF) - Due to the efforts of Sgt Richard H. Garlie, a Navy seaman is alive today. The Sergeant, a paramedic, was a member of an HH-43B crew from Det 8, 38th ARRSq, Cam Ranh Bay AB, which scrambled when word was received that a sailor at a radar site had been bitten by a poisonous snake. The man's respiration had stopped, but Navy personnel got breathing restarted as the HUSKIE landed. During the six-minute trip back to the base hospital, the seaman's heartbeat and breathing stopped.
"As soon as we got airborne," Garlie said, "I checked his pulse. It was dangerously slow. Then his breathing stopped. I began mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. I had just begun that, when his heart stopped. So then I began alternating mouth­to-mouth resuscitation and heart massage. I kept this up until the helicopter landed at the hospital's helicopter pad, across from their emergency room. Just before we landed, I got the heart started again and then he began breathing."
Other HUSKIE crew members, were Maj Jerry D. Stroh, pilot; Capt Peter W. Gissing, copilot; and A1c Wilber Jeffcoat, Jr. , flight engineer.

A few months ago DaNang AB was attacked by rockets, mortars and enemy penetration teams shortly after 3 a. m. Five minutes after the rocket fire ceased, an HH-43 from Det 7, 38th ARRSq, was airborne to assess damage and search for casualties. Manning the HUSKIE were Capt George R, Andrews, RCC; Capt Richard A. Mayer, copilot; SSgt Evert E. Handy, airborne fireman; and TSgt John L. Hennessey, pararescue specialist. From their vantage point, they could see bursts of light as mortar shells continued to fall on the base and flashes where fighting was still underway along the perimeter. Flares from an exploding dump as well as blazing warehouses, aircraft, and storage areas lit the sky at scattered points around the giant facility.

Constantly threatened by sporadically exploding ordnance, as well as enemy fire, the rescuemen made landing after landing in the search for casualties. Each time, Sergeant Handy used a crash control radio to advise base fire and crash teams as to the exact location of each fire, the type, and equipment needed to contain it. When a large fire fed by a ruptured hose endangered a fuel storage area, the HUSKIE landed nearby and Sergeant Handy coordinated the firefighting efforts of the ground equipment with those of the helicopter. He also issued an urgent call to the fire department to send all available equipment to check the spreading blaze. Meanwhile, Captain Andrews had taken off again and, ignoring the obvious danger, placed the helicopter in a low hover just beyond reach of the 35-foot-high flames. Using the rotor downwash, he blew the fire away from threatened fuel tanks and also cleared a path for the fire fighters on the ground. 

Soon afterward, another emergency situation arose but was quickly eliminated by the hard-working HH-43 crew - an aircraft was inbound and the base runways were covered with debris and shrapnel! Captain Mayer hovered the HUSKIE over one runway and used the down­wash to clear it of obstructions. A minute later the tower dispatched the rescue helicopter to the dispensary to evacuate a critically injured airman to the Naval hospital. As he was placed aboard, the Det 7 crew was advised that the area between the airbase and hospital was in enemy control and "heavy enemy contact" was occurring within 200 yards of the hospital. An AC-47 flew escort during most of the flight and two helicopter gunships agreed to cover the approach to the hospital. As Captain Andrews neared his destination, he found another hazard to complicate an already hazardous situation - the entire area was blacked out and it was impossible to see the power lines known to border the landing pad. As the gunships engaged the enemy, Captain Andrews used the landing lights to locate the lines and then made a vertical landing before the helicopter drew enemy fire.

On the return flight the HH-43 crew was again exposed to enemy ground fire and at the base found fighting was still continuing on the perimeter. No further assistance was required of the HUSKIE, however, so at 0615 Captain Andrews terminated the two-and-a-half hour flight.

An Air Force spokesman said afterward that the "outstanding courage, airmanship and professionalism displayed by the HUSKIE crew prevented the loss of a multimillion dollar storage area, enabled the field to remain operational for incoming aircraft and saved the life of a critically injured casualty."

CHANGE OF COMMAND - Air Force Maj Harold Pickering left turns over command of Det 10, 38th ARRSq at Binh Thuy AB to LtCol Roland E. Speckman. Major Pickering has been assigned to Suffolk County AFB, N. Y. LtColonel Speckman is beginning his second Vietnam tour. He was previously stationed at Tan Son Nhut AB. (USAF photo)  

NEW COMMANDER-LtCol Flavious F. Drake is the new commander of Det 8, 38th ARRSq and the senior Military Airlift Command Advisor for the 12th Tactical Fighter Wing. He is shown boarding an HH-43 HUSKIE used by his detachment at Cam Ranh Bay AB. LtColonel Drake is no stranger to the air rescue mission. During the Korean conflict he served on Okinawa with the 2nd Air Rescue Squadron at Kadena AB, which used the HU-16 Albatross. Three hundred of his 4, 000 flying hours have been in helicopters. (USAF photo)

RECEIVES HUSKIE BRIEFING-1stLt Lynn F. Gormley receives a briefing on the forest penetrator from Capt Theron J. May, an HH-43 rescue crew commander with Det 14, 38th ARRSq at Tan Son Nhut AB, Lieutenant Gormley, new administrative officer with the 38th, is the first woman to be assigned to an Air Force rescue unit in Southeast Asia. (USAF photo)

SECOND TOUR COMBAT PILOT - After more than 350 combat flying hours striking targets throughout Vietnam in a giant B-52, Capt Albert E. Tollefsen is back for a second tour. He is assigned as an HH-43 pilot, flying with Det 10, 38th ARRSq, at Binh Thuy AB, and has participated in the pickup of several combat-injured servicemen. Captain Tollefsen considers his first HH-43 mission as his most memorable one. He picked up two wounded Navy men from a moving boat in the Mekong Delta area and delivered them to a hospital. "It was undoubtedly the quietest mission I have participated in, but the crew coordination and professionalism displayed by the pararescuemen and flight engineers definitely set it aside as a most memorable one," Captain Tollefsen said. (USAF photo)

  photo-caption (page 15):

MOST UNUSUAL RESCUE - An HH-43 HUSKIE from Det 4, 38th ARRSq at Korat RTAFB, sets down atop a 100-foot tall water tower at the base prior to taking aboard an injured Thai worker. The Thai was working inside the tower when someone accidently opened the water release valves creating a whirlpool that scraped him across the floor. He was injured severely enough that he could not be brought down from the top by a ladder. The HUSKIE was piloted by Capt John A. Canfield with Maj Pasco Parker, det commander, as copilot. SSgt Robert M. Warfield was crewman. On the way to the accident scene, the helicopter picked up Capt Gerald R. Schwarz (MC), a doctor. Afterward, Captain Canfield said that the biggest worry was that the copter's downwash might blow some of the other workers right off the top of the tower. "You just don't find them like this to often," Major Parker said about the mission. The Major should know- he's one of the few Air Force pilots with more than 2, 000 hours logged in the HUSKIE. (USAF photo)

last update : 06/07/2007