Mortar Attack: Our Helicopter Was Broken Down in a Field, and the Viet Cong Opened Fire

by Hooligan

I hoped to shoot the first VC I saw who poked his head over the wall, and at least get his AK to defend myself.  All this while the enemy machine guns were firing and mortars going off.

It started out as just another boring Ash & Trash mission, flying people around to wherever they needed a lift. The Army’s Green Taxi service in Vietnam. Some of those missions did a lot of good. Soldiers loved it when we showed up with mail (as long as it was good news!), or brought holiday dinners. We also were paperboys, delivering “The Stars and Stripes” newspaper. Instead of riding bikes, we arrived by helicopter. But sometimes, Ash & Trash was more like Burn & Churn – as in, we had to get the hell out of there fast. This was one of those times.

We were working out of Ben Tre, which lies about halfway between Can Tho and Saigon. It was mostly the Wild West. But we had that small American compound on one end of town. 

On this mission we were flying to pick up a passenger, which was a good thing because we hadn’t collected him yet, and it meant we didn’t have an extra body on board. 

READ MORE from Hooligan: Escape and Evasion at ‘Mother Rucker’: A Pilot’s Story

It was a beautiful sunny day of about 90 degrees. Early in the mission, about 10 AM,  the Engine Warning Chip Detector Light came on. We landed in a soccer field on the other side of town.On one end was a school and at the other end, an ARVN hospital. We sat mid field.

We checked the plug and found metal particles on it. This meant the engine was chewing itself up. Good thing we decided to check!

I called Maintenance back at the Company area on the radio and told them the problem. They said Maintenance would be on the way out. The Americans at the compound told us we should be out of there by nightfall, as the VC were due to attack from the next tree line over.

We waited for maintenance, and did our own checks too. We spent the time running up the helicopter three times, with the same results on the chip detector plug. More metal in the oil. 

Being next to the school, there were kids; lots and lots of kids. There always seemed to be kids around in Viet Nam. I would estimate over 100 of them played with us as we waited, and tried to keep everything on board from being stolen. 

The Unmistakable “Ploop” of a Mortar Tube

My crew and I were lounging around the rear of the cabin, waiting for Maintenance, when at about 5 PM (or 1700 Hours for you military types) we heard the unmistakable “Ploop” of a mortar tube going off close by.  

Those 100-plus kids were gone in an instant. The mortar shell impacted between us and the school, less than 50 yards away. The second one hit 50 yards to the other side.

I was already diving for my pilot seat to start the helicopter. Once in my seat, I looked up to see out the windshield, nothing but the a@@holes and elbows of my crew heading out at warp speed, running for the American compound on the other side of town.

I continued to crank the ship until I heard a mortar explode right behind the ship, and machine gun fire open up from the next tree line over, about 100 yards away.

I figured it would be a good time to get the heck out (I didn’t swear much back then !) of the helicopter, which had now become a good target. I ran over to the ARVN hospital, as it was just 50 yards away and had a couple of our “allies” there. Little did I know, they were Very Old Guards with old M1 Carbines.

What Would John Wayne Do?

All I had was a .38 special Smith and Wesson revolver and 14 bullets, and a wall to hide behind.  I was alone.  All that went through my mind was, what would John Wayne do in a situation like this?  

I hoped to shoot the first VC I saw who poked his head over the wall, and at least get his AK to defend myself.  All this while the enemy machine guns were firing and mortars going off. They still hadn’t hit the helicopter.

After what seemed like forever, there was a lull in the action, so I ran back to the helicopter and started it up – screw the chip detector light!   

Just then the crew arrived back, driven by some of the guys from the American outpost, in a Jeep. The crew jumped in and we took off in a 100 foot vertical takeoff, because of the trees, and were out of there FAST. We weren’t happy with Maintenance’s response time. Something to think about next time AAA is a little late…..

We made it back, and I made sure to Red-X the ship so no one else would fly the thing. 

That was the end of the Ash & Trash for the day, and we thankfully did not become the Ash. It was just another day at the office.

This post is dedicated to those air crews that flew the missions to keep our Soldiers alive.

Hooligan was a helicopter pilot in Vietnam.