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>Monday, January 12, 2009 CONFESSIONS OF A VIETNAM >CH-54 PILOT >Thank you for your suggestion and encouragement >(<dlp@war-stories.com>) to publish my experiences in >Vietnam in “War Stories.”I am telling this story to >let you know that more often than not, when I was in >trouble, I was scared to death. > The reason I did not originally post my 158th Assault >Helicopter experience (Lancer 24, 1970) on war stories >is because I believed that was only for people who had >done something courageous who posted their experience. >I was just a combat assault pilot like every other >Lancer pilot or crew member. However, I thank you for >your suggestion. And I followed your advice and posted >my letter on "war stories". Thank you very much for >your invitation. I am filled with humility and sadness >and appreciation for those young warrant officer and >officers and crew members who gave their lives. God >Bless You, Bob Archer (alias Lancer 24 and Lancer 11) >p.s. I am not a hero. I was often scared once I >experienced my enemy fire. >Ironically, I never took a hit as a Lancer. I was >“shot down” as a CH-54 pilot. I was forced to land >after taking a hit from small arms fire while taking >off from a Vietnamese village where we dropped off >some supplies - just a log mission. Our Cobra escort >had left us early so we had no support at the time. A >CH-54 Skycrane has no guns, and are easy targets due >to their size. We have a 72-foot rotor span. One of >the bullets struck the spar or main support for our >rotor blade. If we had not landed we would not have >made it very far before catastrophe struck. We were on >the ground in an open field for several hours while we >waited for assistance from our maintenance crew. Our >crew set up a defensive perimeter and waited for >assistance from the 478th Maintenance crew. They flew >out a new blade and we were back in business without >further incident. Again, I was very fortunate. This >was apparently the act one person. I think that we >were the only CH-54 ever "shot down" (forced to land >under power) in Vietnam. >I also flew secret missions in Laos to support the >Mong and Mien military who were busy fighting their >Pathet Laos and the North Vietnamese (with our help). >After we left, they lost the war in Laos, and many of >them fled to Thailand refugee camps. We left some very >good friends behind. Some of them made it to the U.S. >eventually. There is a group in Richmond, CA. that get >together every year to celebrate. Those people say >that they lost the war, but gained something more >precious, their freedom with their families in the >United States. >Some of those missions in Laos scared me more than >anything I did as a Lancer. I guess the more time and >experience one has to anticipate what could happen, >the greater the fear factor, at least for me. >Although, I never let the crew know when I was afraid. >That would have destroyed their confidence, and >increased their fear. We supported Air America which >I later found (via TV about 20 years later) was >working for the CIA!. We were the only aircraft >powerful enough to put a 105 Howitzer on a 11,000 foot >mountain top. We referred to this act as a "controlled >crash". The winds were fierce (strong updrafts and >down drafts). Our approach angle had to be perfect. >The aircraft would shudder severely from the strong >winds. And constant and quick use of the collective >and trim were critical to maintain the proper glide >path. I was fortunate to have learned on a previous >mission from one of the best Army CH-54 pilots that I >ever met. He was WO3 Joe Winters from Texas. He was a >big guy, very tall. He had to get his height waived by >the Army to get into flight school. Thank God for >that! He taught me a lot on my first mission to Laos. >He trusted me to make several of those mountain top >landings. >The weather was not always good in Laos. I remember >flying at tree top level trying to keep up with our >Air America friends. The top speed (VNE) on a CH-54 is >about 115 knots. They were flying at about 115-120 >knots. The clouds were very low, almost on the deck >(tree tops). In fact, I found myself flying through >enough low clouds on the way back to base camp that I >would momentarily lose track of the tree tops. This >happened over and over again. I was terrified that I >would go IFR, and have to rise up off the deck. That >was white knuckle flying all the way back. Near the >end, I was totally exhausted (after about 1 hour of >this type of flying). Acting perfectly normal, I >calmly said to the co-pilot, and excellent Warrant >Officer, “okay, why don’t you take the controls for >awhile. I don’t ever remember being more scared. I >really did not know if we would make it back on the >deck. Those Air America pilots were absolutely >fearless, and a little crazy, but very good guys. >Thanks Again for your help. >Warm Regards, formerly CPT Robert J. Archer >478th Heavy Lift, Red Beach, DaNang. >On Mon, 1/12/09, War Stories
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