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Jordan Pond

History 1700
Alfred Glen Humphreys, Ph.D.

History Report: The Vietnam War


I had an interview with my uncle, Dan Dabney, about his involvement in the Vietnam War. Dan,
enlisted when he was 18, but didnt get shipped off to Vietnam until he was 19. He was a
Helicopter Crew Chief and 3rd pilot, meaning that his main duty was to be a mechanic for the
helicopters, but he was also a back-up pilot. He flew the Bell H-1 Iroquoise, mostly known by
everyone as Huey, and the Hughes OH-6 Cayuse, best known as loach. He also did
mechanic work on these, as well as other helicopters. Dan didnt see much fighting during his
time in Vietnam. He mostly ran administrative missions, (delivering papers between bases) and
doing maintenance work on helicopters. What action he did see, he was never behind a trigger.
He went to fire base: Mace, Saigon, Bien Hoa, and Vung Tau.
Dans first day in-field he was flying with another young pilot who was 19. They were in
a loach, flying some papers to fire base Ross. He wasnt used to flying in these smaller
helicopters at first. They were flying at about 3,000 ft. going 90 knots, (which is about 150 to
160 mph) when they heard a beeping, which signals that a rocket had locked onto them. So they
dropped to treetop level in about 2 seconds. Pilots often did this maneuver to avoid rockets,
because it would force the rocket to turn and give them time to try to get out of the trajectory/
guidance of the rocket. It worked, cause they didnt get hit. When they made it to fire base: Ross,
they saw some men playing volleyball. This pilot was crazy, said Dan. He went low and Dan
said hey man, what are you doing?! The pilot kept going and just about touched the volleyball
net, then brought the helicopter up to 2000 ft. in 1-1.5 seconds. Then he brought the helicopter

upside-down for a moment, all the while he was laughing. Dan said of this moment: I peed my
pants, and threw up all over myself. Then they landed and Dan had to go deliver the papers to
the commanding officer, and retrieve other papers, soiled as he was. This was an initiation of
sorts for new pilots and flight crew members, as well as an opportunity for pilots to show-off.
Dan said a lot of pilots enjoyed showing off their flying skills.
Like this flight initiation, there was an initiation for newbies of his battalion reaching
Vietnam. It was a contest against the officers. There were a few rounds to go through. Round
1: He and one other new recruit, where told to take off their shirts after having a few drinks.
They were then taken to a tent, on their way someone told them, they need to knuckle down, and
be strong. They were also encouraged to do well. My uncle just said, Ill do whatever I need
to. The shortest officer was in the tent with a femur in his hand. They had to outlast each other
getting hit in the bare chest with this bone. The officer would wail on one mans chest until he
couldnt take any more, then he would move on to the next recruit. When he couldnt take any
more of the pounding the officer would return to the first recruit, until one outlasted the other.
Dan won. Round 2: they had to take off their trousers and do a crawling race on knees and
elbows. Dan won again. Round 3: A boxing match until one guy didnt get up. Dan won round 3
as well. So they won being able to use the officers quarters to party. Which was deceptively part
of the initiation as well. They brought in a couple balls of raw hamburger, threw them on the
ground and rolled them around. Which they then threw them into pitchers and filled the pitchers
with alcohol and had the initiates race to drink them. They finished, but passed out. While they
were sleeping, all their body hair was shaved off. The next day, they were given the day off to
recuperate.

During the first part of his tour he mostly flew those administrative missions, in the
second part of his tour he trained and critiqued the skill of incoming pilots. They would
Blindfold helicopters and do mock night flights, as well as going over the ocean and doing
navigations unaided by their gauges, and more. Dan Dabney did have a couple of run-ins with
some action. One night at a base near a mountain, while Dan was working on a helicopter, (they
often worked on the helicopters at nigh) shots were fired from the jungle. There were tracers in
place of every 5 rounds of every gun. The Viet Cong had green tracers, and the U.S. had red
tracers, so everyone knew who was shooting in the thick jungles, and at night. There were green
tracers going off from the forest. The U.S. soldiers shot off a flare, and Dan said it looked like
the entire mountainside was moving. What the Viet Cong didnt expect, was that this base was
holding many Gun-ships, with 50 caliber mini-guns and rockets. The U.S. also sent up
helicopters that would take turns swooping down firing. Dan said that from the mini-guns it
looked like sparklers going off, because of how quickly they fired, the tracer rounds seemed
constant. In the morning, it looked like all the trees on the mountain were cleared. There was a
lot of blood soaked earth as well.
Another moment of action came when they were flying a Huey over Friendly Territory.
A single shot was fired. The bullet went through the bottom of the helicopter, through the pilots
heel, up through his knee, and then to his belt which had rounds. 2 rounds fired from off his belt
that went behind his body armor, which they called a chicken plate. The bullets commenced to
bounce between his bones and the chicken plate, until they exited his neck. Dan said that he ran
to the cockpit. The co-pilot was freaking out, (Dan said this all seemed to go in slow motion, yet
it was happening so fast, there was no time to think, just do). He moved the pilot away from the
controls, while trying to calm the co-pilot, and steady the helicopter. The Gunner came to help

too. They eventually landed the helicopter at a nearby base. The pilot amazingly survived. Later
Dan had to clean out the helicopter. He said that the blood had coagulated, and was like Jell-O.
This really shook him up, They dont train you to be medics, ya know he said after mentioning
how much this moment affected him. This was the last time he flew in helicopters, because he
was only a few weeks from going home.
When he went home, he arrived in California, They were told to buy suitcases, and get rid
of their duffle bags. They were also told to buy a baseball cap. All of this, so they could avoid
confrontation from anti-war protestors. In fact, his parents didnt even pick him up from the
airport because they were afraid of protestors.
The Vietnam War lasted from 1955-1975. US involvement increased in 1960, and was in
full force by 1965. The war was between North Vietnamese, and South Vietnamese governments.
The Northern Government was supported by The Soviet Union, and China, while the Southern
government was supported by the U.S. and South Korea. The U.S. mainly relied on their fire
power, and air superiority. This was also the first war where helicopters were widely used. Thus
giving soldiers like Dan their particular jobs.
The use of helicopters at the beginning of the war, was solely for transport of men and
goods. As the war progressed the helicopters were given armored plating, and even weaponry.
Helicopters were the greatest technical advantage that the U.S. had. They could carry explosives,
have mounted guns, and hold gunners, in all being very devastating weapons. They were also
still very useful for the transport, and support of troops, as well as transporting supplies to
various locations throughout Vietnam. Helicopters even became aerial command posts. These
helicopters were equipped with radios, and had commanders and others on-board to help give
orders and direct the troops on the jungle floor below. Helicopters proved their mettle in

Vietnam. Helicopters were the all-around most used vehicle in the Vietnam War by the U.S.
military.
Unlike previous wars, there was a lot of opposition to this war at the home-front. A fair
amount due to the media coverage available on the war. People at home could see what was
happening, and what the war was like. The horrors of war, shocked people, and brought
opposition, and protest. There were many anti-war demonstrations during this time, which
probably helped quicken the ending of U.S. involvement. Such protests were mainly conducted
by college students throughout the U.S. Most were peaceful, but some became violent and would
resist military and police forces that were keeping the peace. Protesters even burned and
bombed College ROTC buildings.
The Viet Cong, and the NVA, (Northern Vietnamese Army) used guerilla warfare tactics,
had intricate underground tunnel systems, and would even disguise themselves as South
Vietnamese villagers at times as part of their tactics. These were all very different from what the
U.S. military was used to. This, in addition to the thick unfamiliar jungles, made it very difficult
for the U.S. to locate their enemies. All of these factors combined contributed to the eventual
U.S. failure in Vietnam. The U.S. finally take all their troops out of Vietnam in 1975, ending U.S.
Involvement in the conflict.
Despite the overall failure of U.S. involvement in Vietnam, the U.S. military did
successfully keep out the communist oppressors for the time they were in Vietnam. The U.S.
military also won every major battle during the war. Their failures only came at the little jungle
skirmishes and other small, surprise battles.

Works Cited
Dabney, Dan. "Vietnam Helicopter Crew Chief." Telephone interview. 14 Apr. 2015.
"History.com." History.com. A&E Television Networks. Web. 14 Apr. 2015. <http://www.history.com/>.
"Vietnam." The Other Half of History. Web. 14 Apr. 2015. <http://historyhalf.com/>.
"Military Aircraft of Vietnam." Military Aircraft. Web. 15 Apr. 2015.
<http://www.militaryfactory.com/aircraft/>.

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