LZ Ross lay straight ahead, six miles northwest of LZ Center and eleven miles southwest of LZ Baldy. Then Id have to make a dramatic movement with my cyclic stick at the bottom to flare and dissipate airspeed before touchdown, even if I located an open area. (Div Arty ORLL AT903232) (Newly opened and used April 19, 1969 per artillery ORL), 11th Infantry Brigade BS700830 (Div Arty ORLL BS702827), Was LZ Buff - renamed (21 May 1969) for LTC Stinson killed on A/123d Avn Co. I soon discovered that this old soldier, of many military campaigns around the world, had a heart of marshmallow which he continually hid behind a tough-appearing exterior. As John Keats so aptly stated, Nothing ever becomes real til it is experienced. (Div Arty ORL BT 063 470) (named after 4th Inf Div unit nicknamed "Blue Cacti" in Task Force Oregon) (Also listed at AT055470 in Frederick Hill COARS). Welcome home and thank you for your service and sacrifice. are any questions. Tactical landing zones (abbreviated to TLZ) are landing zones selected on the battlefield for the insertion of troops or supplies. BT231315? We gathered our crewa medic and crew chiefand flew out to cover the action that would keep us in the air over 31 hours, which included 12 night hours, evacuating dead and wounded from both sides of the action. Neither of us said a word. In Hiep Duc Valley 1 mile northeast of Vinh Dong hill. Satellite and aerial maps of LZ Laramie with nearby locations Then John bottomed the collective controlwhich governs the pitch of the bladeswith his left hand and we transitioned into a smooth, 4,000-foot-per-minute descent. (L-R) SP5 Bill Bergman, crew chief, who was recently recuperated from being wounded in the leg) and SP5 Tom Franks, medic, both crewmembers on the 13 Sep 69 mission, carry a rescue hoist to the helicopter on 7 Mar 70. But ours had suddenly bled off to 5,800 rpm. Under heavy enemy fire, with Tango 2-4 guiding us visually, John tore across the landscape on two runs10 feet above the landing zone tree lineas our crew chief dropped our own smoke grenades. Thank you, sir, for your contributions to this website. Medical personnel unloading patients from a 236th Med. The LZ was abandoned two weeks later. (Photo courtesy of the author.). Merely the process of getting the wounded aboard our aircraft often made Dust Off flying appear like some bizarre form of Russian roulette. Im going up and over to get out of here, John said over the intercom, above the intense ground battle being waged outside our Plexiglas windows. But our bird was unaffected. LZ Karen was just the next hill west of LZ West. Dewey Canyon II-Lam Son 719. MSG (R) Dan Gillotti, Historian Four white guys had been determined and fortunate to evacuate three black and one white grunts under enemy fire in their government-issued Huey, that also involved a series of serious emergency situations. The battalion mortar platoon's four tubes fired 1500 rounds, ranging from critical illumination to searing WP. WE WERE IN VIETNAM site] [terms of use] Then John and I did a post-flight inspection. [what's new] [links] The previously dry paddyfields were now filling up with water from a dike that had been deliberately opened or destroyed in the bombing and the ground was now too muddy to be crossed. Please dont get Top of hill is much smaller than before. When we were barreling along at nearly 140 miles per hour a few feet above the ground, with people shooting at us, that extra split second of time was important. Id have to autorotate if it did. John trimmed the aircraft through the use of a button on the cyclic stick so that there was aft pressure on the cyclic at all times. (LogOut/ The memory, alone, of the danger and drama surrounding that mission was enough to make me sweat even more than I already was. One light howitzer section was caught in an enemy crossfire between a heavy machine gun and rifles, until the artillerymen managed to turn their lowered muzzle and pump BEE HIVE flechettes into the enemy. Det. In Que Son Valley. The standard procedure is for troops already on the ground at the landing area to "pop smoke" (set off a smoke grenade). Not only have my Dust Off comrades read theVietnam book, but weve also played unique roles in the movie version while it was being filmed on location. The United States used LZs to a greater extent in the Vietnam War than in other wars because of the widespread use of helicopters, which provided increased mobility and rapid transportation of forces. That soft inner voice had been right on target. Later. reunions] CTZs and Cambodia. named after 4th Infantry Colonel Kimmel's wife (He was killed in Vietnam). On Sun, Oct 25, 2020, 3:18 PM CherriesWriter Vietnam War website wrote: > pdoggbiker posted: This Dust-Off crew worked throughout the night > evacuating wounded from different battles within their AO. Copyright 1998-2009 The landing point is the actual point on which aircraft are going to land (e.g., a point of the field). Landing Zone Lowboy Tam Quan Quang Ngai. Heading into a slow, shallow, and straight-in, long final approach for a large open dirt area at Ross, I could see our American flag on a tall flagpole to the north. He told me hed reached up and merely touched my cyclic stick. (Div Arty ORLL AT946342 Frederick Hill AT949345), Five miles northwest of Duc Pho. 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