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C123 at Boc Hoa

A C123 "Provider" landing at a dirt airstrip at the village of Boc Hoa near the Cambodian border. This was during the time when our government wasn''t "officially" fighting in Cambodia. The C-123 was a short-range assault transport used to airlift troops and cargo onto short runways and unprepared airstrips. it was also the primary Agent Orange defoliant spray ship.

C 123 at An Khe

This C123 is at An Khe the home of the 1st Cavalry Division. An Khe was approximately half way between Qui Nhon on the coast and Pleiku. The airstrip is made out of steel matting called PSP (Perforated Steel Plate). This runway was quite short and planes also had to contend with enemy soldiers firing at the planes when they took off and landed. This airport was right next to Camp Radcliff and Hon Cong Mountain.

B-Model Gunship
This is a UH1A "Huey" Model B Gunship. It had two rocket pods firing 2.75 inch rockets and four M-60C 7.62 machine guns on the M6 armament subsystem. The 2.75 inch rocket weighed 13.6 pounds, was four feet long and had a range of over 10,000 meters. It was unguided, air launched, and not very accurate. It had a 2.7 kg (6 lb.) warhead. If you were a "Grunt" under attack this chopper was a life saver. However, these guys got shot down on a regular basis and their job was very dangerous.

B Model Gunship Gets A Lift

When you get shot down or have a mechanical problem the Chinook was always there to give you a lift. The Chinook was the real work horse of the Vietnam War and is still in use today in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Monsoon Filling Station

This is how you gas up your helicopter during the monsoon season. The air base is under 3 feet of water and pontoon landing pads had to be fabricated in order to refuel the aircraft. Picture taken at Soc Trang.

"The Hog" waiting for orders.

The gunship in the foreground was nicknamed "The Hog" because it was overloaded with rockets, grenades and ammunition. Gunships were always the first to be called in when ground units were in trouble. A very dangerous job.

CH54 Skycrane at An Khe

An Khe was home to the First Cav. Mobile Airborne Division and they had quite an air armada of helicopters and fixed winged aircraft. Note how small the ****pit is to the rest of the aircraft. This was a true heavy lifter.

CH54 Skycrane Getting A Fill Up
A CH54 "Skycrane" getting gassed up. This aircraft could lift tremendous loads of ammunition or even a 155mm howitzer. The large boxes above the ****pit contained special air filters because this was a high dust environment and the huge blades kicked up a lot of dirt and debris that could be ingested into the turbines.

Có 1 cái nhà em thắc mắc: Trong sách vở của ta, kể cả trong 1 số hồi kí...cứ ghi HU-1A mà ko ghi UH. Nhiều sách ghi nhầm lắm. Hay ghi HU là viết tắt cho Huey nhỉ?

Medivac at An Khe
Dust off at An Khe Airport - Home of the 1st Cav. Whether a "dust off" or a "medivac" this was the main air ambulance for wounded troops. Most times the red cross provided no safety for the pilot and crew because the enemy would shoot at anything that flew. Those sandbag walls on either side were called revetments. They were supposed to provide protection from incoming mortar and rocket rounds.