Medal of Honor

by Matt Jackson

  “Morning, Ben. Who you flying with today?” Cory asked.

  “And a good day to you, sir,” Ben responded, emphasizing the sir. “Do I salute or not?” he asked.

  “In the mess hall, it isn’t appropriate, but if I had seen you in the hooch, I would have told you to get me my coffee,” Cory bantered.

  “I’m flying with the CO today. Don’t know what the mission is,” Ben answered finally.

  “Well, you fly like you did with me the other day, you’ll have a good day. I got to get moving as I’m flying with Curran and don’t want to hold him up. Take care,” Cory said as he walked out the door with his cup in hand.

  Cory headed over to Ops on the way to the aircraft and picked up the mission sheet. Reading it as he walked to the aircraft, he saw today was a resupply day for one of the ARVN battalions after completing a C&C mission for the MACV advisor, who they were to pick up at Dak To. Reaching the aircraft, he saw that Captain Curran was just finishing up the preflight, with Jonesy reading the checklist.

  “Good morning, folks,” Cory said.

  Jonesy and Dorsey, who were standing with their backs to him as he approached, snapped to attention and smartly executed an about-face, saluting. In unison, and with loud, thunderous voices, they said, “Good morning, Captain Cory, sir!”

  “Oh, you smart-asses. I still put my shorts on the same way you do, so knock it off.” With a questioning facial expression, he added, “What, just because I made captain, I deserve a higher level of respect, is that it?” Cory tossed his helmet into his seat and retrieved his chicken plate.

  “No, sir, it means you receive a higher level of bullshit from us,” Jonesy said, relaxing his frozen posture of attention. Dorsey just snickered and moved to his side of the aircraft.

  “How’s the hand, Jonesy?” Cory asked. Jonesy had been hit in the hand and sent to Japan for two weeks, but since no serious damage had been done, he had been returned to light duty for two months. He had flown with Cory and Dorsey in Lam Son 719, but Cory still was concerned about it.

  “It’s good, sir. See, I was able to salute you, sir,” Jonesy responded with a sarcastic smile.

  Clowns, Cory was thinking as he strapped in and picked up the start-up checklist. As he read it off, Captain Curran checked each item and started the aircraft. Once Jonesy and Dorsey were sure no fire was in the engine compartment, they came forward and closed the pilots’ doors, secured them, then climbed into their seats behind the guns. The guns were loaded with three thousand rounds of ammo. As soon as they cleared Camp Holloway, they would ask to test-fire both.

  “Go ahead and take us out, John, and I’ll get our clearances,” Cory instructed him. John was still a right-seat pilot, not having accumulated enough combat flying hours or time in-country to be considered for aircraft commander, but he was a good pilot.

  “Roger, on the go,” John said, and he was cleared by the two clowns in the back.

  As they moved out of the revetment, Cory noticed Major Adams preflighting an aircraft with Ben assisting. It wasn’t 510, the major’s aircraft, however. Hm, the major’s aircraft must be in for maintenance, Cory thought. Specialist Durand was mounting the guns and Robinson was examining the engine compartment.

  The flight from Camp Holloway up to Dak To was uneventful, meaning no one was shooting at them yet. There was no doubt in anyone’s mind that they would get shot at sometime today.

  “So, John,” Cory said, trying out their new relationship between captains as they cruised at four thousand feet, “what’s the major doing that he needs a C&C aircraft with the MACV advisor on board?”

  John turned to Cory with a surprised look. “You don’t know?”

  “Know what?” Cory responded with equal surprise.

  “The major’s going into Firebase Five to retrieve the bodies of the downed crew,” John responded.

  “What! That’s a damn suicide mission. He can’t be serious. Hell, Colonel Shelton won’t allow that,” Cory stated a bit too loudly. “You can’t be serious.”

  “He ran it by Colonel Shelton last night and got approval, and he is serious. Told Colonel Shelton that back on his previous tour, he had a similar situation. Grunts were surrounded and cut off, and if they didn’t get off a hilltop, they were going to be overrun. He took a single ship and went in low and popped over the top and landed before the gooks knew he was there. Coming out with a full aircraft and one soldier hanging, literally hanging on the skids, he dove the aircraft over the side of the hill and got away. Landed in a small clearing and got the soldier on board. Everyone went home that night. Got his first of two Silver Stars for that one.”

  “John, he pulled it off once, doesn’t mean he can pull it off again,” Cory said. The rest of the trip was quiet, each crew member deep in their own thoughts.

  Approaching Dak To, Dan called the advisors and was told to refuel and shut down. Once the aircraft was shut down, Jonesy started checking fluid levels and Dorsey started cleaning guns. Cory pulled out a hammock and hung it under the tail boom to rest his head. John pulled out a worn pocket-sized Western novel by Zane Gray.

  “Hey, Captain C, the CO is on short final,” Jonesy said, looking at an aircraft approaching the runway a half hour later.

  Cory reluctantly opened his eyes and raised his head. Shit, I best get up and look like I’m busy, he thought. He rolled out of the hammock and stretched.

  “Mind if I occupy your hammock, Captain C?” Jonesy asked.

  Cory flashed a “have I been had?” look at Jonesy. “That had better be the CO on final or your ass is going to be out of there really fast,” he said, still trying to focus his eyes on the approaching aircraft in the bright sunlight. He pulled out his aviator sunglasses to get a better look. Oh, shit, it is the CO, Cory thought as the aircraft landed behind his aircraft, dusting Jonesy with dirt. As the aircraft was shutting down, Cory walked over and opened the major’s door.

  “Morning, sir,” Cory said.

  “Morning, Dan, how you feeling this fine morning?” Wow, the major used my first name. That’s a first, Cory was thinking.

  “Never felt better, sir.”

  “Lying through your teeth, Captain Cory,” the major chuckled. “Even through those sunglasses, I can see the red in your eyes. Sorry I missed your promotion party. Seriously, you okay to be flying today?”

  “Yes, sir. If I wasn’t, I wouldn’t be,” Cory assured him as he glanced over at Ben Hodges. Ben didn’t look that happy. I wonder if the major told his crew about the mission today. He also noticed that Specialist Durand, the door gunner, and Specialist Robinson, the crew chief, didn’t look too happy either.

  “What mission you flying today, sir?” Cory asked, wanting confirmation that John wasn’t bullshitting him about the day’s mission.

  “I need to talk to the senior ARVN advisor,” Major Adams said, not really answering Cory’s question, as he climbed out of the aircraft. He turned to First Lieutenant Hodges. “I’ll be back in about thirty minutes and we’ll get going.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Major Adams walked towards the senior advisors’ headquarters across the airfield.

  Cory turned to First Lieutenant Hodges. “So how goes it today, LT?” Cory noticed that Durand and Robinson, nicknamed Short Shaft, also hadn’t said much, and they wandered off to talk to Jonesy and Dorsey.

  “Not for shit, sir,” Ben answered.

  “What’s wrong? You screw something up?” Cory asked.

  “No, sir. You asked what our mission is today. We’re going to Firebase Five to get the bodies and the injured crew member that went down yesterday,” Ben explained. So the major has informed his crew, Cory noted.

  “Yeah, I heard. We’re flying C&C for you,” Cory said apologetically.

  “Wish I was, sir. He tells us that place is too hot, and yet he wants to go up there and get them out. I have a bad feeling about this one, sir.” So did Cory.

  “Come on, get out and let’s go talk to the Ops officer, Captain Curran.
He’s my copilot today.” Cory motioned Lieutenant Hodges out of the aircraft, and together they walked over to Cory’s aircraft.

  “Hey, John, is there any way you can talk the major out of the mission?” Cory asked, approaching the aircraft.

  “Is there a problem?” Captain Curran asked, putting his Zane Grey book down and sitting up.

  “Yeah, there’s a problem. He tells us not to go into that place, but now he’s going there, after one aircraft has been shot down and medevac can’t get a guy out. What is he thinking?” Cory asked a bit overzealously. “John, you’ve got to talk to him about this. He declared it too hot for us, and yet he’s going up there with a brand-new copilot. Hell, Lieutenant Hodges here’s been in-country all of a month,” Cory added.

  “I’ve been all over this with him, most of last night in fact. He ran it by Battalion, and Colonel Shelton finally approved the mission. He feels responsible for those guys. Someone has to try to get the remains of that crew out of there, and he’s not going to send someone else. He won’t ask someone to do something he wouldn’t do. He’s been through this before and figures he has the best chance to pull it off. The MACV advisor has laid on gunships to cover him going in and coming out. Medevac didn’t have any gun support when he went in, so he had no protection. He’ll be fine,” Captain Curran concluded a bit forcefully. Fine my ass, he was really thinking.

  Captain Curran looked over at Ben. He could see the insecure look on the young officer’s face. In fact, he could see the look on everyone’s face. Standing up, he moved to his seat in the aircraft and began gathering his stuff. “Tell you what. Lieutenant Hodges, you fly with Captain Cory today and I’ll fly with the CO. I’ll talk to him about this once he’s in the aircraft and see if I can get him to abort this plan. Let’s get your gear and swap seats.” With that, they both walked over the CO’s aircraft.

  Returning, Ben placed his equipment in the right seat. “Do you think the CO will be pissed with me?” he asked Cory.

  “I doubt it. Captain Curran will cover for you with some bullshit excuse about why you two exchanged aircraft. Probably blame me for an excuse to get away from me.”

  “So what’s our mission for today?” Ben asked.

  “We’ll fly C&C for the major and then a resupply mission.” Cory looked up and saw the advisor approaching. “Here comes the details now,” Cory added.

  “Hope it’s not a resupply to Firebase Five,” Ben mumbled. So do I, thought Cory.

  “Captain, are you ready?” the advisor asked, handing Cory a map, which Cory spread out on the cabin floor.

  “Yes, sir,” Cory responded. Ben came up on the other side of the advisor, examining the map.

  “We have an aircraft down on Firebase Five and we’re going to provide navigation for the aircraft that’s going in to get the crew out. I believe your CO is the pilot on that aircraft, is he not?” Cory and Ben exchanged looks.

  “Yes, sir, he is,” was all Cory could say. Cory didn’t notice that Major Adams was standing behind him.

  “Any questions, Captain?” the major asked, looking at Cory and then Ben. He didn’t look happy, but he did look determined.

  “Sir, what frequency do you want to use, and what is your route going to be?” Cory said. Ben was attempting to become invisible.

  “Let’s use company UHF, and I’ll get the guns up on it,” the major indicated, turning to observe the four AH-1G gunships that had just landed at the refuel point. Each carried four nineteen-round rocket pods as well as two miniguns in the nose turrets with six thousand rounds for each gun.

  Turning back to the map, the major pulled out a grease pencil. “I studied the route last night and think the best approach up there is go in low along this route and pop up over the top. That way they won’t see me coming, and if they do, only those that I fly over will get a shot at me. What do you think, Captain?” Major Adams concluded. Cory was a bit surprised that the major had asked his opinion.

  “Sounds good to me, sir. If you went in high, every one of those little mothers would be waiting for you. I can navigate for you, and if I stay high over the firebase, maybe I’ll have their attention and they’ll be looking at me instead of looking for you. My rotor and engine noise might mask yours,” Cory responded. But what he was thinking was Sir, you’re going to get the piss shot out of your aircraft.

  “Okay, sir, I just need call signs for the guns and we’ll get going. I’ll contact you on company UHF when I see you coming off the runway,” Cory said, folding the map into a manageable size for the cockpit. Cory was interrupted by a pig squealing as it was waiting to be loaded on the major’s aircraft for a resupply of food and ammo. Going to this place, I’d be squealing too, Ben was thinking.

  “Sir, are you resupplying the firebase too?” Cory asked.

  “Might as well. No point going in empty,” Major Adams answered.

  “Sir, with all due respect, you want to get in and out fast. You don’t want to be sitting there on the firebase while they dick-dance getting the resupply off and everyone loaded. Leave that shit here for another trip when things quiet down.”

  “I appreciate your concern, Dan, but it’ll be okay. Resupply out one side and wounded loaded on the other simultaneously,” Major Adams said, gripping Cory’s bicep. “But thanks. We’ll be off as soon as the gunships finish refueling,” Major Adams indicated and turned towards Lieutenant Hodges. “Are you okay, Lieutenant Hodges?” Major Adams asked, placing his hand on Ben’s shoulder.

  Straightening up, Ben replied, “Yes, sir, and good luck, sir.” Major Adams patted him on the shoulder again.

  “We’ll need it,” Major Adams said softly with a slight smile. With that, Cory came to attention and saluted Major Adams. Sir, this is a one-way trip at best, Cory was thinking. Following Captain Cory’s lead, Hodges, Jonesy and Dorsey all came to attention and saluted. This surprised the major and caught him off guard, as saluting on the flight line was not a common practice. The major returned their salutes, a bit embarrassed, then turned and walked slowly off toward the refueling AH-1G gunships.

  Once the MACV advisor and his team were loaded, Cory was given the FM frequency for the advisor on Firebase Five and put it on FM 2. Ben took the controls and started out. Jonesy handed the MACV advisor a headset so he could talk to the advisor on Firebase Five. His Vietnamese counterpart, Colonel Thien, was on an AN/PRC-25, talking to the ARVN commander on Firebase Five.

  “Ben, just follow the road west. Climb to and maintain two thousand feet, ninety knots airspeed,” Cory instructed. Addressing the MACV advisor, he said, “Sir, you’re up on FM 2.”

  “Thank you, Captain. I’ll contact the ground unit and see what’s up in their area,” the advisor said.

  As they reached altitude, Cory had his radios tuned. FM 1 was on the artillery frequency, with FM 2 on the ground contact frequency. VHF was tuned to the tower at Dak To, and UHF was tuned to the company frequency.

  “Joker Three-Six, Gambler Six, over,” called the MACV advisor colonel.

  “Gambler Six, Joker Three-Six, over,” the senior advisor on Firebase 5 responded.

  “Joker Three-Six, Gambler Six. We are inbound to your location. What is your situation? Over.”

  “Gambler Six, currently all is quiet, over.”

  “Roger, Chicken-man Six is inbound to your location for drop-off and pickup. He won’t require smoke, but be ready to wave him in with a panel when he’s on short final. He’s coming in low. I’ll be at two thousand and guide him in. How copy?”

  “Gambler Six, good copy. Wind is light. Some enemy contact to the south around Firebase Six, so stay away from that area. Over.”

  “Good copy, Joker. Will call for panel in five mikes. Gambler Six out.”

  Simultaneously, Cory was on the UHF radio talking to Major Adams and the gunships.

  “Chicken-man One-Niner, Death Dagger Three-One, Chicken-man Six, over.”

  “Chicken-man Six, Death Dagger Three-One, go ahead.”

  “Chicken-m
an Six, One-Niner, over.”

  “Roger, Chicken-man Six. We will depart low-level out of here. Chicken-man One-Niner will provide route navigation. Any questions?”

  “Death Dagger will have two aircraft alongside you, Chicken-man Six, and two high birds. We’ll switch out when you land, low birds going high and high birds coming down when you lift off. They’ll lay down a barrage in front of you as you’re coming out. Over.”

  “Roger, Death Dagger, sounds good. Just give me an up when you’re ready. Over.”

  “Chicken-man Six, we are ready to go,” Death Dagger stated.

  “Roger, Chicken-man Six is on the go.” And with that, Major Adams started down the runway.

  Sitting up at two thousand feet, Cory had a clear view of the runway at Dak To, the proposed route to Firebase Five, and the firebase. There were no clouds out this morning to obscure his vision. Ben was setting up a left-hand orbit over the firebase, wide enough that Cory could maintain a visual on the entire operation. Death Dagger’s two high birds came up to one thousand feet and held back, allowing Chicken-man Six and his immediate escort to take the lead.

  “Six, One-Niner, over.”

  “One-Niner, Six, go.”

  “Six, come left at the draw that you’re approaching. Joker reports light winds on the LZ and some light activity vicinity Firebase Six. All quiet at the LZ, over.”

  “Roger.” And Chicken-man Six turned forty-five degrees to his left and entered a draw that skirted the bottom of the hill Firebase Five was atop.

  “Chicken-man Six, Death Dagger Three-One, over.”

  “Go ahead, Death Dagger,” Chicken-man Six replied. It was Captain Curran.

  “Chicken-man Six, when you depart the LZ, we’re going to position our fire with two birds on each side and ripple fire whatever we have left in rockets on and along your path out as well as laying down suppressive fire. We’re going to expend everything, over.”