They were veterans. Each had ground combat experience. They were new to the 362nd and to CH-47s. Nevertheless, these three were to be key leaders and stay with me until the 362nd furled its colors. Their experience would bring significant benefits to our unit.
Captain Jerry D. Wright (Center) was my Executive Officer (XO). He came up through the ranks and already had his Expert Combat Infantryman's badge earned as a ground commander from a previous tour. Jerry "knew the ropes" and would be my right arm on many a hard decision.
Captain Crump (left) commanded the First Flight Platoon. In essence, he commanded a Chinook Company by today's standards. He displayed a thorough understanding of ground operations which proved to make him invaluable for providing support. He knew what it was like to be on the receiving end of aviation support. This made him a superb leader at providing it.
Captain Tom Tarpley (right) commanded Second Flight Platoon. Tom's previous 'Nam tour was with the 173rd Airborne Brigade as an Infantry Platoon Leader. He had scaled Hill 875 near Dak To on Thanksgiving, 1967. They had to fight their way up wet slopes to dislodge a determined enemy. He was 1 of 20 survivors from his company when they gained their objective. While Tom fought his way up that hill, I was overhead providing Hook support to an adjacent unit. Tom was a survivor. His platoon benefited immensely from his ground experience. Tom became a life-long friend.
"It doesn't leave the ground until maintenance says so," was my first guidance. This unit was most unique. Its structure included depot maintenance. If there was a major problem, these guys fixed it.
Captain Jim Gartley (upper left) headed maintenance until his replacement, Captain David McClintoc (upper right), replaced him a few months later when Jim left for CONUS. Jim was an easy going, quiet guy and Dave was a red-headed, kick butt type. Yet, they both got the job done to perfection. Due to their efforts, the 362nd won every monthly safety award offered throughout 'Nam. The unit accumulated the most continuous flying hours, without an accident, in the history of the 1st Cavalry Division. In addition, no other aviation unit in Viet Nam ever came close.
Chief Warrant Officer George Purdue (lower left) was their sage advisor and "nuts and bolts" professional. George shows the effects of a full night's work in this photo. One could count on George's wit to put bad situations in perspective. "Yeah," he said, "I named my dog Long John Silver so I could call him Long for short." That's George.
Boeing's Technical Rep, Jack Martinez (lower right), probably had more time walking up a Hook's ramp than most aviators had in the air. Jack stayed with us until we furled our colors. Next, he went to the Vietnamese Air Force (VNAF) after we went home. Lord, he pulled us through some tough spots.
Every operations member has two shoulder patches. That's true for every person shown. They're combat veterans and their experience showed in mission planning and implementation. Professionals all!
Captain Tommy Wallace (upper left) earned his position as Operations Officer. There was another crew doing the job when I first arrived. They didn't last. Wallace got the job and formed his team.
First Lieutenant Edwin Den Beste's (upper right) youthful appearance belied a wealth of experience. Wallace selected him and he served Wallace well as Assistant Operations Officer.
Chief Warrant Officer (CWO) James Greer (lower left) and CWO John Parry (lower right) served as Safety Officers. Greer was the primary and Parry his assistant. Seldom does an aviation company have 1 school trained, full-time, safety officer. The 362nd had 2 and the unit's safety record clearly depicts their expertise.
The 362nd did not have a First Sergeant when I took command. We began watching the Replacement Depot with full intent of hijacking one. With personal contacts at MACV, we would seduce one to have his orders changed to come to us. Who wants to hump the bush when they can fly?
The XO snared First Sergeant Carlton Kibbie. Kibbie was infantry. He explained that he knew nothing about helicopters. However, I got a clandestine look at his personnel folder. He had decorations and combat experience "out the kazoo." Somebody had to run the everyday business of the company. Plus, we had to man our defensive perimeter. I needed him and the XO weaseled a deal at headquarters and got him assigned to us. Does he look "bad-to-the-bone" or what?
Top and I shared a farewell drink in CONUS a year later. This man had my utmost respect for I owed him my life. Circumstances surrounding this event will come to light in following pages.
My quarters (Hooch) was a sand bag bunker. A cement slab stretched in front of its entrance. At the bunker doorway there was a red circle around an indentation in the cement. Around the circle's circumference there were painted letters which read, "Here Specialist John Doe reupped for LBJ." Curious, I asked its meaning.
"Sir, Specialist Doe had two days left in country. He threw a hand grenade at the previous commander and that's where it exploded. LBJ is Long Binh Jail," my driver said.
Later that night, I was dozing on my cot when I heard a distinctive snap. It was the release handle on a grenade. I could see sparks from its fuse then it exploded. CS (tear gas) gas filled the tight quarters as I put on my gas mask. I remained and there were no more incidents that night. I never mentioned what happened to anyone. The next day I got some peculiar looks from certain troops as I passed. I remembered who they were. Two of them would ultimately face attempted murder charges.
It was necessary that I inventory unit property and sign for it. This would take months. So I had Captain Wright issue special orders designating commissioned officers to conduct the inventory and report any discrepancies. They were through in two days. There were no missing items.
Actually, some excellent "goodies" came into our possession. For example, 5 50-Cal. machine guns were found in a crawl space above the supply room. Also there was a 4.2-inch mortar with ample ammunition and a fully operational Land Rover! We painted it yellow and used it on the flight line.
The next two weeks were significant ones. There were serious undertones among unit personnel that I found especially disturbing. The problems involved living conditions, hard drugs and racial difficulties. It was absolutely essential that I let these men know that I was there to work with and for them. We would soon have our first "Rap" session.
Top and I met with unit personnel at the Lower Four Club. This was a "no holds barred" session with any subject open for discussion. The men complained of having to pay bribes to get water delivered by the local contractor. Garbage was accumulating in dump areas. Bearcat was a filthy place and they had enough of it. At times matters got rather tense and Top expressed his concerns for my safety. We stayed until every issue received attention. Some stated desires were out of the question. Yet, most complaints were legitimate. I gave my word I would correct matters in short order.
This unit had been thrown together. There were troops from a dozen different units. There was no unity. They had no sense of who they were and what their job was.
Hard drug use was high. Heroin was readily available and inexpensive. The only place drugs weren't running rampant was in the flight platoons. The Flight Engineers, crew chiefs and gunners weren't about to fly with someone using drugs. They had their own methods to take care of pushers and users.
It became necessary to have criminal specialists train officers and NCOs on drug recognition. This was necessary to attain probable cause to search personnel and living areas. Many a case failed when the defense attorney asked, "What did the odor you detected smell like?" If the answer was burning rope or incense, out went the case.
During the first few months, my major problem area was drug use. Young men came into the unit healthy, strong and worthwhile. It was easy for them to get hooked on 95 percent pure heroin. Many overdosed and almost died. It was a trying time. Nonetheless, eventually, drug use declined.
