Answering
this letter was one of the hardest things I've had
to do at that time.
There were others that followed, but this is the one I
kept.
I don't know why, but I did.
I always regret after Vietnam not trying
to find Billy Burnside and talking with her and her family.
She is
on my mind everyday.
Capt. Derrill Burnside,
Capt. Martin Gromberg and
myself (SGT. Michael Duffy) were flying along the Ho Chi Min trail
north and
west
of Khe Son and found a huge Cash about the size of a football
field.
We had
to leave to rearm and refuel and call for air strikes, but we were
requested to
go back and pop smoke and mark the area.
My asshole was really tight after I
heard that request.
And sure enough we went back and Capt. Burnside was
flying left seat and Capt Gromberg was Pilot and I was the Door Gunner
(
Sgt.Michael Duffy).
When we went down to work the area, we kept flying left and
I got on the horn and said I can't cover the left side stay right.
And
sure enough we got hit with a 51 & 23 Cal. and it ripped us apart.
I
thought we were going to crash at that site but Capt. Gromberg pulled
the
aircraft up and we flew about 2 clicks east and
I was checking out the aircraft,
which was full of holes and on fire,
I also checked Capt. Burnside out because
he was slumped over and not attentive to what was happening, so I
checked him and
found he had been hit,
the round went through the chicken plate on the
rear of the seat, his personal back chicken plate and his front chicken
plate.
At that time I reached over and tried to feel for a pulse but
couldn't feel
one.
And about that time the engine the aircraft's engine just quit
and we
crashed on top of a hill and rolled down the side in a ravine.
We were on fire
still. I jumped out and tried to set up a perimeter, but my 60's barrel
was
bent in a U shape, so I grabbed Capt. Burnsides Car 15.
When I did that I
also checked Capt. Burnside again and found him with no pulse and not
breathing.
I unstrapped him and tried to get him out but being the aircraft
was
on fire when we went down,
my grenades and Willy Peat's started to cook off, so
I couldn't get him the rest of the way out,
and I've always regretted that
because he burned and I second guessed myself if he was truly dead.
He had a
hole in his chest the size of my fist.
Billy, If you or your children ever
read this I really tried to save him.
At this point I helped Capt. Gromberg and
we set up a perimeter, again.
It took them a while before we got out and a
couple of cobras were lost suppressing fire for us.
Capt. Derrill L. Burnside was my friend, Billy. He was a very brave man. May he rest in Peace!
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