The FReeper Foxhole Remembers Chris Woods - Frequent Wind - Saigon(4/30/75) - Apr. 30th, 2003

http://fallofsaigon.org/woods.htm ^

[SAMWolf]

Dear Lord,

There's a young man far from home,
called to serve his nation in time of war;
sent to defend our freedom
on some distant foreign shore.

We pray You keep him safe,
we pray You keep him strong,
we pray You send him safely home ...
for he's been away so long.

There's a young woman far from home,
serving her nation with pride.
Her step is strong, her step is sure,
there is courage in every stride.
We pray You keep her safe,
we pray You keep her strong,
we pray You send her safely home ...
for she's been away too long.

Bless those who await their safe return.
Bless those who mourn the lost.
Bless those who serve this country well,
no matter what the cost.

Author Unknown

.

FReepers from the The Foxhole
join in prayer for all those serving their country at this time.

.

.................................................................................................................................

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Operation Frequent Wind
. . . as told by Chris Woods,
Crew Chief of Swift 2-2.

"Gentlemen, start your engines." The laconic command copied from the Indianapolis 500 auto races, echoed from the 1MC, the public-address system of the U.S.S. Hancock. Moments later, the Commanding Officer of Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 463, LtCol. Herbert Fix, lifted his CH-53A Sea Stallion off the deck of the aging carrier. When the other seven choppers in his squadron had left the deck, they fluttered off in a tight formation through blustery winds and dark, ominous rain clouds that hovered over the South China Sea. Operation "Frequent Wind," the emergency evacuation of the last Americans in Saigon was under way.

The rescue operation had been delayed as long as possible-too long, in the view of many Pentagon officials. In recent weeks 44 U.S. Navel vessels, 6,000 Marines, 120 Air Force combat and tanker planes and 150 Navy planes had been moved into the area. Nevertheless, Secretary of State, Henry Kissenger and the U.S. ambassador in Saigon, Graham Martin, argued that the final withdrawal of the American community would probably set off a wave of panic in Saigon and hasten the fall of the South Vietnamese government.

During the preceding eight days, U.S. planes had evacuated almost 40,000 American and South Vietnamese refugees from Tan Son Nhut airbase near Saigon. By last week, the airlift was growing increasingly dangerous. Artillery shells and rockets closed Tan Son Nhut airport Monday morning, April 28, 1975. The next day, an U.S. C-130 transport was hit by a rocket on the runway and burst into flames as the crew escaped. A short time later, two Marine Corporals, Cpl. N. McMahon of Massachusetts and LCpl. D. Judge of Iowa, guarding the US defense attaché’s compound at Tan Son Nhut, were killed by Communist artillery.

News of the destruction of the C-130 and the Marines’ deaths reached President Ford during a meeting with his energy and economic advisers. He scribbled a note to the deputy director of the National Security Council, LtGen. Brent Scowcroft: "We’d better have a NSC meeting at 7."



Plainly, evacuation by commercial flights, by military airplanes or by sea was no longer feasible. The security advisers discussed whether conditions might permit a resumption of the military airlift. If not, they would have to go a fourth option, the riskiest of all: evacuation by Marine helicopters. Scarcely two hours after the meeting ended with no decision, Ford learned that two C-130s attempting to land at Tan Son Nhut had been waved off; the airport was blocked by thousands of panicky South Vietnamese, by then all of Ford’s advisers, including Martin agreed that it had to be "Option Four." At 10:45 p.m., the President ordered Operation Frequent Wind to begin.

Kessinger telephoned Ford to report that a fleet of 81 helicopters was about to embark on its mission, then, at 1:08 a.m. Tuesday, he called again with the news that the evacuation had begun. In Saigon, the center of activity for much of the day was the landing at Tan Son Nhut airport, a tennis court near the defense attaché’s compound. Landing two at a time, the helicopters unloaded their squads of Marines- 860 in all, who reinforced the 125 Marines already on the scene- and quickly picked up evacuees.

As the operation continued, many helicopters came under fire. Most evacuees sat in cold panic as their choppers took off. "For the next three minutes as we gained altitude," reported TIME Correspondent William Stewart, "we held our breaths." We knew the Communists had been using heat-seeking missiles, and we were prepared to be shot out of the sky. As I turned around to see who was aboard, Buu Vien, the South Vietnamese Interior Minister, smiled and gave a thumbs-up signal. "Forty minutes later we were aboard the U.S.S. Denver, a landing-platform dock, and safe."



By nightfall, the mission had been completed at Tan Son Nhut, but the evacuation of the embassy was still to be accomplished. Sheets of rain were pelting the city, and visibility had dropped to barely a mile. Some choppers had to rely on flares fired by Marines within the embassy compound to find landing zones; others homed in on flashlights.

Through Tuesday night, the Vietnamese crowd grew uglier, hundreds tried to scale the ten-foot wall, despite the barbed wire strung on top of it. Marines had to use tear gas and rifle butts to hold back the surging mob. Some screamed, some pleaded to be taken along. Floor by floor, the Marines withdrew toward the roof of the embassy with looters right behind them. Abandoned offices were transformed into junkyards of smashed typewriters and ransacked file cabinets. Even the bronze plaque with the names of the five American servicemen who died in the embassy during the 1968 Tet offensive was torn from the lobby wall. Marines hurled tear-gas grenade into the elevator shaft; at time the air was so thick with tear gas that the helicopter crews on the roof were effected.


A HMH-463 crew stands before YH-12 on the deck of the USS Hancock sometime during operations Eagle Pull (the evacuation of Phnom Phen, Cambodia) and Frequent Wind (the evacuation of Saigon). Standing left to right are: Major J. R. Howell, pilot; Cpl R. L. Bartlett, crew/chief; and 1Lt C. L. Stonecypher, co-pilot. Sitting left to right are Cpl D. R. Levin, 1st mech. and Sgt R. D. Brookins, gunner. - photo courtesy of R D Brookins

By that time, tempers were frayed in Washington as well as in Saigon. Martin had drawn up a list of 500 Vietnamese to be evacuated; he refused to leave until all were safely gone. His delay prompted one Administration official to quip, "Martin got all 600 of his 500 Vietnamese out." Finally, at 5:00 p.m., Washington time- it was 5:00 a.m., in Saigon- Kessinger told the president that Martin was closing down the embassy and destroying its communications equipment. Minutes later, Lady Ace 09 landed on the embassy helo pad and Ambassador Martin boarded the helicopter as Major James Kean urged the CH-46 pilot Captain Berry, to please be sure someone comes for them. After lift off, Captain Berry broadcast the message; "Lade Ace Zero Nine, Tiger-Tiger-Tiger."

As many as 130 South Vietnamese planes and helicopter, including F-5 fighter-bombers, transports and attack planes, were reported meanwhile to have reached the US run Utapao airbase in Thailand with about 2,000 soldiers and civilians; already some 1,000 Cambodian refugees were crowed into tents there. Alarmed, the Thai government announced that the refugees had to leave within 30 days and that it would return the planes to "the next government in South Vietnam." Defense Secretary James Schlesinger firmly advised Bangkok that it should do no such thing; under aid agreements, the equipment cannot be transferred to a new government but must revert to U.S. possession.



By the end of the week, another seven or so South Vietnamese helicopters had landed or tried to land on the U.S. naval vessels. One South Vietnamese pilot set his chopper down on top of another whose blades were still turning. Others ditched their craft and had to be fished out of the water. An American search-and-rescue from the U.S.S. Hancock crashed at sea, and two of its crewmembers, Captain William C. Nystul and First Lieutenant Michael J. Shea were listed and missing, possible the last American fatalities of the war. The Crew Chief, Cpl. Steve Wills and the left gunner were rescued by another CH-46, Swift 0-7, during a zero visibility, night water landing to pick up the two wounded Marines.

"The last days of the evacuation were very hairy indeed," Ford confesses afterward. "We were never sure whether we were going to have trouble with the mobs." As Ford noted, the whole operation had gone better "than we had any right to expect." According to the Defense Department, 1,373 Americans and 5,680 South Vietnamese- many more that the US had originally intended- had been removed. Another 32,000 desperate Vietnamese had managed to make their way by sampan, raft and rowboat to the US ships offshore, bringing to about 70,000 the number evacuated through the week.



For the next three hours the Marines wait, and grow more concerned as they discover no one responds to their radio signals. Finally, after they have resigned that they will not be rescued, and have voted to make an Alamo-like stand, the Marines hear the familiar sound of rotor blades slapping the humid air, a CH-46 Sea Knight, and two AH-1G Cobra escorts come in to view.

Dodging small arms fire and using riot control agents against people attempting to force their way to the rooftop, Major Kean and his 10 Marines boarded a HMM-164 CH-46 helicopter, Swift 2-2. After closing the ramp, Swift 2-2 (piloted by Captains Holden and Cook, and crewed by Sergeant Stan Hughes, left machine gunner and Sergeant Chris Woods, Crew Chief and right gunner) lifted into a hover and the pilots were overcome by CS gas had to set back down on the embassy helo pad. Regaining their composure, Captain Holden lifted the helo and departed the embassy rooftop. The last American helicopter to leave South Vietnam, Caption Holden radioed the last official message from Saigon: Swift 2-2 airborne with 11 passengers, ground security force onboard. Clearing antennas and church steeples, Swift 2-2 picked up the Saigon River and descended to tree top level and followed the river out to the awaiting American Forces. During the flight along the river, Sergeant Woods sighted approximately eight communist tanks, parked side-by-side, waiting until the eighth hour to enter the city. Checking his watch, Major Kean noted that it was two minutes until eight, only 23 hours since the NCOIC of Marine Security Guard, Manila, had called him to relay a message from his wife in Hong Kong that she was pregnant. Only 32 minutes later on that unforgettable day, 30 April 1975, the 11 Marines exited Swift 2-2 onto the deck of the U.S.S. Okinawa.



Disembarking, many on board the Okinawa, the consensus was why so much time had elapsed between the arrival of the Ambassador’s flight and Swift -2-2, well over two hours. Had someone forgotten these Marines were still at the Embassy? The answer is no. The intention was to remove the Ambassador while some security still remained at the Embassy, and then have other helicopters pick up the remaining Marines, but it appears that when Captain Berry’s aircraft transmitted "Tiger is out," those helicopters still flying, including Captain Walters who was orbiting the Embassy at the time the Ambassador left, thought the mission was complete. This particular transmission had been the preplanned code to indicate when the Ambassador was on board a helicopter outbound to the task force. Having waited so long for his departure, this transmission caused some to conclude that he had departed as part of the last group to leave the Embassy. Captain Berry late explained that radio message " ‘Tiger-Tiger-Tiger’ was the call to be made when the Ambassador was on board and on his was out of Saigon. It had absolutely nothing to do with the cessation of the operation. We had originally planned to bring the Ambassador out on the afternoon of the 29th."



At this juncture, thinking the mission complete and the Ambassador safe, Captain Walters headed back to the USS Okinawa. Subsequent to his landing at approximately 0700, the command realized that Captain Walters did not have the remaining Marines on board. Due to a misunderstanding and miscommunication, they were still at the Embassy. General Carey immediately recycled the HMM-164 CH-46 "Swift 2-2", but by this time due to the ships’ offshore movement, the time required to reach the Embassy exceeded 40 minutes. With two hours of fuel on board, the CH-46 did not have any room for error. Swift 2-2 landed on the USS Okinawa with two "LOW FUEL" lights, or 20 minutes of fuel remaining.

To the Marines waiting in Saigon, attempts by the South Vietnamese to reach the rooftop kept them busy and as a consequence, they did not notice the extended gap between the flights. Major Kean later stated that he and his Marine did not become alarmed because they knew that another CH-46 would arrive. "We never had a doubt that our fellow Marines would return and pick us up. They had been doing it all night long."



This was a term paper in did in August 1996. I have made every attempt to state the facts to the best of my knowledge having dusted the cobwebs from my memory.

[Johnny Gage]

Air Power
Boeing CH-46 Sea Knight

The Boeing CH-46 Sea Knight helicopter has served the US Navy and Marine Corps faithfully since the early 1960's. This venerable aircraft's primary mission areas in the Navy (as the H-46D) include Combat Logistics Support and Vertical Replenishment (VERTREP), Search and Rescue, and Special Operations. As a Marine Corps platform, the H-46E is used primarily during cargo and troop transport. The unique tandem-rotor design of the Sea Knight permits increased agility and superior handling qualities in strong relative winds from all directions, allowing, in particular, rapid direction changes during low airspeed maneuvering. This capability has resulted in the safe, efficient and graceful transfer of many millions of tons of cargo and many thousands of passengers over the years.

Readily identified among current Navy and Marine Corps helicopters are the H-46 series Sea Knights, with their tandem rotor configuration setting them apart from the single rotor design of other Navy/Marine helos. Tandem rotors have been a feature of all production helos built by Boeing/Vertol, and its original predecessor company, Piasecki.

The H-46 “Sea Knight” helicopter is one of the largest helicopters in the US Navy inventory. The “Sea Knight” is a twin-turbine powered, dual-piloted, tandem rotor helicopter designed by the Boeing Company Vertol Division. The aircraft is 16 feet 8 inches tall. There are six rotor blades on the aircraft, each measuring 25 feet 6 inches. With blades spread, the aircraft is 84 feet 4 inches long. The average weight of the H-46 is 18,000 pounds, with a maximum lift capability of 6,000 pounds. It can carry 25 combat-loaded troops, or can be outfitted to carry medical evacuation litters in case of disaster. It has the fuel endurance to stay airborne for approximately two hours, or up to three hours with an extra internal tank.

The helicopter has the ability to land and taxi in the water in case of emergency, and is able to stay afloat for up to two hours in two-foot seas. Because of its tandem rotor design, the “Sea Knight” is an extremely versatile aircraft. It is able to excel in various flight maneuvers, such as rearward and sideward flight, while other helicopters are extremely limited. This makes the helicopter ideal for its primary Navy mission of vertical replenishment.

The CH-46 Sea Knight was first procured in 1964 to meet the medium-lift requirements of the Marine Corps in Vietnam with a program buy of 600 aircraft. The aircraft has served the Marine Corps in all combat and peacetime environments. However, normal airframe operational and attrition rates have taken the assets to the point where a medium lift replacement is required. The safety and capability upgrades are interim measures to allow continued safe and effective operation of the Sea Knight fleet until a suitable replacement is fielded.

Production continued in subsequent years, along with modifications to improve some of the H-46's characteristics. With service in Southeast Asia came installation of guns and armor. Increased power requirements were met by installation of higher powered T-58-GE-10s in the CH/UH-46D models, which also featured new cambered (droop snoot) rotor blades. The final CH-46E, with further increased power, was preceded by the last production version, the CH-46F, before production was completed with delivery of the 524th H-46 in February 1971.

The early A models now serve as search and rescue HH-46As. CH-46s equip Marine Reserve squadrons, and conversion of earlier aircraft to the new CH-46E version was completed with fiberglass blades slated added to its other improvements.

The mission of the CH-46E Sea Knight helicopter in a Marine Medium Helicopter (HMM) squadron is to provide all-weather, day/night, night vision goggle (NVG) assault transport of combat troops, supplies, and equipment during amphibious and subsequent operations ashore. Troop assault is the primary function and the movement of supplies and equipment is secondary. Additional tasks are: combat and assault support for evacuation operations and other maritime special operations; over-water search and rescue augmentation; support for mobile forward refueling and rearming points; aeromedical evacuation of casualties from the field to suitable medical facilities.

The CH-60 Fleet Combat Support Helicopter will complement and eventually replace the Navy's aging fleet of H-46 helicopters. As a result of the advanced airframe life of the H-46 fleet, the Navy's logistics helicopter force is experiencing a near-term inventory shortfall.

The Navy Air Systems Command ordered the grounding of all CH-46 helicopters on 18 August 2002 as a precaution after discovery of a crack in a rotor component of a Sea Knight at the Cherry Point Marine Corps Air Station in North Carolina. A similar problem was found a few days later in a CH-46 deployed aboard the amphibious assault ship Belleau Wood in the Persian Gulf area. Inspection of all 291 CH-46 Sea Knight helicopters in the Navy and Marine Corps found only one with a flaw of the kind that triggered the temporary grounding of the fleet, and the full fleet was returned to service.

Primary function: Medium lift assault helicopter
Manufacturer: Boeing Vertol Company
Power plant: (2) GE-T58-16 engines
Thrust: Burst: 1870 shaft horsepower (SHP) - Continuous: 1770 SHP
Length: Rotors unfolded:84 feet, 4 inches (25.69 meters)- Rotors folded: 45 feet, 7.5 inches (13.89 meters)
Width: Rotors unfolded: 51 feet (15.54 meters)- Rotors folded: 14 feet, 9 inches (4.49 meters)
Height: 16 feet, 8 inches (5.08 meters)
Maximum takeoff weight: 24,300 pounds (11,032 kilograms)
Range: 132 nautical miles (151.8 miles) for an assault mission
Speed: 145 knots (166.75 miles per hour)
Ceiling: 10,000 feet (+)
Crew: Normal: 4 - pilot, copilot, crew chief, and 1st mechanic
Combat: 5 - pilot, copilot, crew chief, and 2 aerial gunners
Payload: Combat: maximum of 14 troops with aerial gunners
Medical evacuation: 15 litters and 2 attendants Cargo: maximum of 4,000 pound (2270 kilograms) external load

All pictures, copyright of GlobalSecurity.Org

[SAMWolf]

Thanks for profiling the Sea Knight today, Johnny.

[Johnny Gage]

Happy to do it.

Threads like this make it kinda easy to pick out an aircraft.

: )

[SAMWolf]

LOL. Yeah I guess the Revolution and Civil war make it a little tougher to choose.

[snippy_about_it]

Good Morning Sam. Good read. I remember watching the famous footage shown of that rooftop. It's good to read further detail about the men. Thanks.

[snippy_about_it]

I had to post this one.

[SAMWolf]

Good Morning Snippy. I remember that footage and the dumping of helicopters overboard very well.

[SAMWolf]

Not a great camo job, but beautiful to look at.

[snippy_about_it]

One more.

[SAMWolf]

LOL! Looks like someone is a "Hot Rod" fan.

[Johnny Gage]

Hooyah...

I LOVE THOSE PAINT JOBS

: )

[Darksheare]

History Bump.
Love the tagline.. *chuckle*
Windows tagline bump.

[SAMWolf]

Morning Darksheare.

[EternalVigilance]

The politicians let this war divide the Nation. They let it drag on and on and just wouldn't make the decisions to fight the war to win it.

Indeed. The failure of political leadership has caused more grief and more loss of life throughout history than most people could ever imagine. That should be a warning and a lesson for us today.

[SAMWolf]

Unfortunately I don't believe we'll ever learn.

[Darksheare]

Noon.
Kinda chilly here today.
Gonna be bouncing around a bit, as is usual.

[SAMWolf]

Saigon's Finale

By MALCOLM W. BROWNE

October 13, 1999



Suddenly, it was the last day.

For 30 years the tides of civil war had washed over Vietnam, but there had always been a non-Communist south--a broad, fertile region south of the 17th Parallel that was home not only to ethnic southerners but the million or so ethnic North Vietnamese who had fled the North after France's colonial forces were defeated in 1954. Most people in South Vietnam had counted since then on perpetual United States support against Hanoi's forces.

But it was not to be. America's troops had pulled out in 1973, Communist forces had swiftly prepared for their victory push, and the White House announced that the United States would no longer back President Nguyen Van Thieu in Saigon. In March, 1975, the country began its death throes.

When Thieu's forces decided to abandon Ban Me Thuot and the jungle-covered central part of South Vietnam the panic began. With the country effectively split in two, refugees from Hue, Da Nang and other towns in the northern part of the Republic of Vietnam began a mass exodus, first on ox carts, motor bikes and afoot along coastal Route 1 to the south, and then aboard any kind of boat that would carry them southward.

One day in April my wife and I drove from Saigon to Vung Tau, where we expected the arrival of one of the refugee boats from Da Nang, an American-built landing craft. As the boat limped into port after nine days at sea, we learned that the people aboard it had been without food, water or shelter from the scorching sun the whole time. More than 50 of them lay dead on the hot deck, flies droning over the pitiful corpses of children clutching dolls and teddy bears. Vietnamese entrepreneurs in sampans had met the landing craft along the way and offered water at $1 a glass, but the impoverished refugees could not afford more than a taste.

Offshore a few dozen miles, American sailors aboard ships of the 7th Fleet drank cold sodas, oblivious of the nightmare unfolding nearby.

Each day as the North Vietnmese troops and tanks drew closer to Saigon I had less distance to drive to catch glimpses of their forest-green uniforms and the muzzle flashes of their guns. By the last week of April the rumble of Communist artillery and rockets was audible in Saigon and the panic was in full cry.

It was a profitable time for racketeers, both American and Vietnamese. By offering money, gold or sexual favors, Vietnamese hoping to be accepted for transportation on the CIA's humanitarian airlift enriched many a crook offering bogus American sponsorship promises and counterfeit refugee documents. Countless babies were thrust at departing Americans by mothers who hoped at least to send a little emissary to the golden world across the Pacific.

A C5 Galaxy transport plane loaded with 243 "orphans"--most of them children whose parents were abandoning them to save them--crashed on takeoff at Saigon's airport, killing most aboard. A Vietnamese air force officer watching the tragedy bitterly remarked to me, "Never mind, we have plenty more to send you."

On April 28 Hanoi's army was less than one mile from The New York Times office. Throughout the previous night the whoosh and bang of artillery rockets hitting the center of town was incessant, and one neighborhood of about 5,000 huts was blazing fiercely, sending a towering column of smoke into the sky. Panicky people were running aimlessly through the streets, yelling for lost children. Above, American reconnaissance planes circled like hawks, evading the storm of communist antiaircraft shells and bullets rising to meet them. Occasionally one of the planes would fall, blazing and smoking.

Throughout the last week families were torn asunder as some escaped the country while others chose or were forced to stay. The social fabric of the nation disintegrated as the nation died.

At the end, throngs of people tried to storm the American Embassy, the American enclave at the airport or other places where there seemed at least a forlorn hope of an exit from the rat trap--a hope that dwindled with each helicopter that departed for the 7th Fleet.

As swarms of Vietnamese air force helicopters set down on the American warships, each helicopter was quickly unloaded and heaved overboard to make room for the next one. Meanwhile, legions of refugees used their sampans and fishing boats to reach the fleet, setting their craft afire to keep them from falling into communist hands. The tranquil sea, covered from horizon to horizon with blazing watercraft, looked like a vision of hell.

And on the ships, as on shore, a stricken people wept.

[snippy_about_it]

President George Bush signed the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2003 (H.R. 4546) on December 2, 2002.

Section 542 of this bill gives members of the Fall of Saigon Marines Association and other veterans who participated in Operation Frequent Wind (the evacuation of Saigon) the option to convert their Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal to a Vietnam Service Medal.

This provision in the bill was spear-headed by Congressman Duncan Hunter from California. The Fall of Saigon Marines Association is grateful to Congressman Hunter for his successful efforts allowing us to join the ranks of other Vietnam veterans in proudly wearing the Vietnam Service Medal."

The eligibility dates for the Vietnam Service Medal dates are from July 4, 1965, through March 28, 1973. Veterans who served in Operation Frequent Wind now join Vietnam veterans who served in Vietnam prior to 1965 with the option of converting their Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal to the Vietnam Service Medal.

Fall of Saigon Marine Association

[SAMWolf]

Thanks Snippy. IMHO, these Marines deserve the medal.

[SAMWolf]

The Fall of Saigon

Imagine yourself in Saigon, April 29, 1975.

Imagine yourself on the American Embassy grounds.

Imagine sweating out a rocket barrage at 3:58 A.M.

Imagine the runways being ripped to shreds.

Imagine resorting to helicopters to evacuate the grounds.

Imagine the throaty roar of the choppers as they swoop down.

Imagine being told you can't rescue your true love from the eternal hell of chaos befalling the city.

Imagine that you are in the last group of Marines to leave the Embassy.

Imagine your true love half a world away, on the other side of the gate.

Imagine the panicked screams of civilians as they scramble over the wall.

Imagine the ambassador saying that he'll take no more civilians on board.

Imagine holding civilians at bay, when every last fiber of your being wants to bring them with you.

Imagine the sun going down, and rising again, as the evacuation continues.

Imagine the ambassador leaving on the next to last chopper convoy.

Imagine your captain screaming for you to get into the last helicopterout of the Embassy.

Imagine your best friend having to haul you into the final helicopter, trying to talk you out of a hopeless cause.

Imagine screaming out in terror as you leave behind the only one in the world you love.

Imagine having nightmares about her for a long time.

Imagine the terror of rebuilding your life from scratch.

Peter W. Owens