Twenty miles northwest of Vinh Long Army Airfield was a "Numba Ten" chunk of terrain know as the Wagon Wheel. It got its name because a number of canals originated at what could be described as the hub of a wheel. Canals stretched out for miles in all directions. Some ran to the west as far as Cambodia. A few easterly meandering canals and streams went all the way to Saigon and maybe points beyond. For years the Viet Cong and NVA troops had used these many waterways as avenues to and from their scattered areas of operations in the northern parts of the Mekong Delta and IV Corps.
Our Air Cavalry Unit, D Troop 3rd Squadron of the 5th Cavalry, was better known by its callsign, "Lighthorse". We could always count on good hunting and excitement when we worked the areas in the vicinity of the Wagon Wheel. Unfortunately, over the years we also suffered a number of tragic losses in that AO.
Robert (Odie) Odenhiemer and Andy (Midget) Mc Johnston were both AH1G Cobra ACs or aircraft commanders. They had gone to flight school together. They simultaneously attended the Cobra transition, had arrived in the Troop and were assigned to the gunship platoon. Lighthorse’s gunships were called "Crusaders". At the time of their adventure the unit was suffering from a shortage of co-pilots, referred to as "petes" or "front seats". Because of the excess of ACs, the Crusaders’ Cobras were frequently crewed by two aircraft commanders.
This was the case the day Midget and Odie were flying together on a mission near the Wagon Wheel. They were both ACs but not yet fire team leaders. A light fire team usually consisted of two Cobras. The Crusader fire teams usually flew out to support ground units as part of an asset package.
D Troop’s complete Air Cavalry Package consisted of thirteen helicopters. The Command and Control (C&C) UH1H Huey was flown by the Air Mission Commander (AMC). This ship also provided a platform from which the regional American military adviser and/or the local ARVN commander could observe and direct the action below.
Reconnaissance was done by the Scout Platoon. With the callsign "War Wagons", they flew small, highly maneuverable and heavily armed Hughes OH6A, Light Observation Helicopters. The acronym, LOH, is pronounced "Loach". There were four Loaches in a package, but only two were used to complete each recon team.
The CAV Pack included four AH1G Cobra attack helicopters. The Crusaders were armed with rocket pods loaded with 2.75mm folding fin air to ground rockets. Mounted under the nose of each Cobra and operated by the front seat pilot was a chin turret containing a 40mm grenade launcher and a 7.62 Gatling type minigun. Other combinations of wing mounted armament could be attached to the wing store hard points. 20mm cannons and miniguns in pods were occasionally carried. The Cobras were also split into teams of two.
The Lighthorse lift platoon was called the "Long knives" and was made up of four UH1H Hueys.
Typically, the entire package would arrive at the supported unit's rear base location. All aircraft would be shut down while the AMC met with the ground mission commander to discuss the operation. Once the mission was sorted out the C&C Huey, the guns and Loaches would crank and takeoff. They would arrive over the "target" area with C&C orbiting at near 1000 feet above the ground. The Cobras would be making left turn orbits outside the arc of C&C and at higher altitude, around 1500 feet. On command, the War Wagons would descend to treetop level and often below. They would search for the enemy and try to draw his fire to determine his position. The orbiting Crusaders maintained a constant vigil, never loosing sight of the Loaches while they were low level. They were constantly alert, ready to roll in and pounce on any enemy foolish enough to engage the Scouts. If the Scouts could develop a good fight or locate a sizable unit, the ground commander would request for the Long knives to begin inserting ground troops.
Of course there were variations in the use and even abuse of our assets. There were times when entire battalions of ARVN soldiers were moved from one secure area to another. One day, just four of our Long knife Hueys moved over 800 troops while the rest of the package sat on the ground at the PZ. There were times when a ground unit may have requested an Attack Helicopter Company's services but got D Troop instead. On those occasions the rest of the unit sat on its collective ass while the bored gunship pilots took turns in teams of two dumping rockets on a target, then landing to re-arm while the other team dumped their rockets. Without Scouts flying they never really knew how effective their rocket runs were.
Odie and Midget were in the wingman helicopter of a team doing just what has been described. The ground unit had requested some gun cover but it turned out to be just a rocket dump. The pilot in the lead Cobra suggested Midget and Odie should take the lead position to gain some experience. The guys thought it was a good idea. After all they were just flying around in circles, dumping rockets. Odie, at 170 pounds, was flying from the back seat and firing the rockets. Midget, all 5 feet 4 inches, 120 pounds of him, sat up front tending to the turret while he hunkered down behind his extra large ceramic, bullet resistant "chicken plate".
Odie made the first run and pulled out much higher than usual because they were just "training". He liked that run, it felt pretty good so he made another one. He fired some rockets and pulled out high again at about 800 or 900 feet above the ground. As they pulled up from the second dive and were climbing through 1200 feet Odie felt an unusual "thump" in the airframe of the Cobra. In all the time he'd been flying in Viet Nam, Odie had never been in a ship when enemy rounds had hit it. He knew Midget was a "lead-ass" and the he'd been shot up and shot down before. He said, "Midget! What was that"!
As Odie was using the radio to let the lead know they were coming up behind him as the radio tone faded away and he couldn't talk to Midget on the intercom. Suddenly the caution panel in front of him lit up with numerous systems’ red warning and amber caution lights and the controls began to get sloppy. As if the boys didn't have enough to keep them busy, the cockpit began filling with dense, acrid gray and black smoke. Odie felt the controls gradually stiffen and he yelled to Midget that he was sure they were loosing the hydraulics system that was so essential for controlling the Cobra. He headed for the ground, intent on parking the helicopter in a rice paddy 1000 feet below.
A thought instantly raced through Midget's mind. He recalled that on that morning while inspecting the aircraft, the pilots found that a hydraulic pressure reservoir, called an accumulator, that held emergency pressure to operate the collective pitch was not functioning properly.
Midget's, "Ah Shit" was quickly re-focused as Odie yelled again over the inoperative intercom, "Hit the Accumulator Switch"! Midget quickly flipped the switch and miracle of miracles, the accumulator was energized and Odie was able to force the collective pitch down and begin a rapid descent. As they passed through about 600 feet the nose jerked to the left. More red lights. He knew the engine had quit and he entered autorotation. The thick smoke was getting so dense Odie could barely see outside the ship, let alone study the engine instruments.
Midget's thoughts flashed to the fact that both pilots were "Looking Cool" wearing their "old guy" faded jungle fatigues while their Nomex flight suits were neatly folded in their lockers back at Vinh Long. He quickly dug out his Nomex flight gloves. As he put them on he imagined the first guy to arrive at their crash site who would find only his gloved hands and say, "Yup! Those are Midget's hands. That Nomex stuff works really good". As the cockpit was filling with smoke he squirmed himself around to look to the rear of the Cobra. He saw flames licking up the side of the fuselage near the hydraulics compartment. There was fire down to the belly just behind the rear pilot's seat. While Odie wrestled the ship Midget opened his own front canopy. Knowing it would surely break his neck on impact he tossed the huge chicken plate over the side. He slammed the gunsight for the turret to one side, then he unhooked his seatbelts and leaned into the slipstream outside the cockpit to try to assess the damage and maybe help Odie determine where the ground was. He could see they were falling with the tail low. As he saw the rice paddy rush up he shoved himself back into the cockpit just as the helicopter hit the unyielding earth. As the ship rolled over on its left side, the front cockpit collapsed and the canopy shattered. During the helicopter's death throes Midget felt a powerful blow to his helmet. At that instant of impact he knew it was to be his last thought. He was terrified that a rotor blade had sliced through the cockpit and was about to cut him in half.
Odie had decided to make the autorotation just like he'd done so many times in flight school. But because of all the black smoke in the cockpit he had no idea just how high above the ground they really were. He tried to visualize the descent all the way down to where he thought it was about the right height. He pulled the stick back to flare and lose some airspeed. He readjusted the stick to get the aircraft level. Then he started pulling the collective pitch to cushion their landing. He kept pulling and pulling. He pulled until he hit the upper travel limit of the lever. He could feel from the vibrations of the rotor that there just wasn't anything left in the bird. He felt the helicopter begin to roll to the left. He put in right cyclic but it didn't do any good. The Cobra just kept rolling. He knew they weren't flying any more. Just before he was over come by smoke and toxic fumes Odie thought, "Welp, that's it, it's all over". He passed out and "slept" through the entire crash sequence.
The Gunship was on fire and lying on its left side. Somehow, Midget was alive and still in the aircraft when the debris settled. When he reached behind his head and did not find blood he quickly realized it had been the turret sight that had smacked him and now he was ready to un-ass the crippled ship. He looked back and saw Odie was still strapped in his seat in the aft cockpit. His helmet was off and his eyes were open but all Midget could see were the whites. Odie’s eyeballs had completely rolled back in his head. As Midget crawled out of the wreckage there was fire everywhere. The Cobra had been carrying wing pods with miniguns in them. The 7.62mm machine-gun rounds from both pods were cooking of. The downed pilots were taking fire from unpleasant people in a nearby treeline and their flight leader hadn't missed them yet. All that Midget could think of was the aircraft was on fire and that Odie was trapped inside and that he had to get him out, now! He stood up. He was a little wobbly but he made his way to Odie’s canopy latch. The crash had twisted the fuselage and the whole canopy was jammed. He felt so helpless and angry. In a moment of unexplained shock or frustration he ran around to the front of the aircraft where the main rotor blade was broken in half. He grabbed the blade and venting his anger tried to tear it off. He felt that he just had to do something. Midget was spent; He collapsed in a heap. He couldn't walk any more. He now had to crawl back to his cockpit. His pistol was gone but he always carried a bayonet. He found it and dragged himself back to the canopy that trapped Odie. With a spurt of adrenaline, Midget chopped through the Plexiglas until he'd made a hole big enough to pull his unconscious friend through. He unsnapped Odie’s seatbelts and lifted him out of the smoldering cockpit. To Midget, Odie seemed light as a feather as he extracted him then struggled and crawled away from the fiery scene while dragging Odie by his Cav scarf behind him.
Odie slightly came to as Midget was dragging him across the rice paddy. He knew he must be alive because the air was hot and smoky. He felt like there were boulders banging into his back. He was vaguely aware that he was being roughly bumped and skidded along the ground and all he could hear was Midget screaming, "God dammit Odie, Kick! Kick God dammit! Kick! Help me out here Odie"! Odie tried to get himself up on one elbow to help reduce the resistance. But as Midget jerked him again by his scarf he plunked back down, flopping comically while alternating from his back to his belly. Midget heard the enemy firing from the treeline and verbally prodded Odie to help hurry with the escape. Even though he thought Odie was dead, he kept yelling, "God dammit Odie, Kick! Kick and push God dammit!
C&C had seen the smoking Cobra go down and then crash in the rice paddy. They landed as Midget was still pulling Odie and himself to safety. The Long knife crew chief and gunner unceremoniously tossed their smoldering carcasses into the back of their Huey and the pilots were flown to the dispensary at their home base at Vinh Long. On the way Midget could see that Odie was about half awake and moving around and he felt a great sense of relief that his friend was alive. After a quick medical assessment at the dispensary they were to be transferred. A Full Colonel, thought to have been the Aviation Commander of IV Corps, landed with his pushily equipped VIP Huey. He picked up the two injured pilots and flew them to the hospital at Can Tho. Midget recalls that he thought it was funny that they were so filthy and nasty and riding in such a luxuriously equipped helicopter. During the flight, the Colonel shouted to Midget in his gruff voice, " I’ll come to see you boys in a couple of days"! He never showed but rumor had it he received a Silver Star for his actions.
Our guys were left alone laying and sitting in the Emergency area at the Can Tho hospital. The adrenaline rush was beginning to wear off. The pain and reality was beginning to set in. Midget couldn't believe how lucky they had been. Odie was still in a daze. He remembered some stuff about the crash but he was still experiencing the out of body feeling so many traumatized people go through. Midget was feeling pretty good. He thought Odie looked real good to have survived the crash. Odie began to look at Midget. His eyes got big and he started yelling for the medics, "Come over here, come over here!" Several people rushed to Midget, finally saw his condition and began removing his clothing. Their first wrong act was to attempt to cut Midget's filthy yellow Cavalry Scarf off. Midget started a scuffle while yelling for Odie to keep them from cutting off the scarf. The medics relented and allowed him to keep his scarf and then got busy on the Crusader’s injuries.
Midget's injuries included three fractured vertebrae; three compressed vertebrae plus burns on his face, back and arms.
Odie made out strangely well. His worst injury was caused when Midget dragged him through the hole in the canopy. The jagged Plexiglas had given him a scratch on his back and a couple of scratches on his arms. That was it!
They were in the hospital for four days. Odie slept the entire time. Midget experienced a lot of pain and some temporary paralysis from the undiagnosed spinal injuries.
They'd had enough of Can Tho. Odie called the Unit and shortly a Long knife slick landed at the med-evac pad and secreted them back to Vinh Long. Doc Waller cleared both pilots for flight duty. He said all that Midget really needed for his back was a board under his mattress. Odie cut up some rocket boxes and stuck the slats where they were needed. Midget had his "Pete" help him in out of the Cobra so he could continue flying missions.
Odie and Midget were shot down
on the
23rd of April 1970. Seven days later, at three
o'clock in the
morning, flying in separate ships, they were among the first
helicopters
to begin the Allied Forces' invasion of the NVA's sanctuaries in
neighboring
Cambodia.
Larry Sprader remembers:
My memory of April 23, 1970, I was door gunner on
the C&C aircraft.
The crew chief was Stephen Dyment and Major
Livengood was the Pilot.
The call came in that one of our Cobras had taken
fire and was hit.
Our A/C decided to assist in the rescue of the
downed aircraft.
As we banked to the left for landing in the LZ I
looked out the crew chief’s side and saw the Cobra, smoke in
the cockpit and made a hard landing.
We landed in the LZ away from the downed aircraft
in the event the fire set off the remaining armament.
We exited the aircraft, taking small arms fire, and
went to assist with getting the pilots out.
Midget had gotten Odie out of the aircraft and we
assisted getting both pilots out of there.
As we lifted off we could see their aircraft
burning.
This was just another day at the
office.