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Greetings,

The MOH for Pitts was long overdue. His exploits were well-known in the ranks of the ARRS but I can tell you first hand that they were by no means unique. I flew with the 40th ARRS (67-69) primarily out of NKP, sometimes DaNang and various Lima sites in Laos. Each CSAR was approached in the same manner, a very coordinated effort with no distinct plan of execution in mind until the OSC surveyed the situation.

The mission took the shape of an inverted pyramid with the fast movers running MIGCAP on top, the King bird(HC-130) in the middle, the FACS ,Sandys and Jollys near the bottom with the PJs being at the tip. When the SAR force went into someone's neighborhood it was no secret. By that time in the war, the NVA had captured enough of our pilots that they had plenty of our emergency radios and signal smoke to attempt to lure the Jolly to an ambush. No crypto or sophisticated satcomm. Everything in the clear for all to hear. Prior to executing the extraction, if the crewman was conscious, an ISOPREPS verification was attempted to verify his/their identification. Many times due to weather, proximity of enemy forces, etc it was necessary to go in with blind faith.

The dedication, confidence and attitude of the PJs became infectuous to others in the crew. The AF identified my AFSC as a flight engineer which really translated into spotter, gunner, mender of hydraulic leaks, extinguisher of fires. It was all done to give the PJs the room to do what they do best. In these days of the diminished meaning of the term 'hero' I feel I have witnessed truly heroic acts performed by a special breed of man. By the blessings of God and Sikorsky most missions were successful. Many were not. Due to the conditions and locale of most of the AOP, most downed ARRS personnel went KIA/BNR. Very few ever became POW.

Our customers included USMC, Navy, Army, AF, locals, CIA, Laotian Army/AF, DoD civilian, Peace Corps, and on one occasion an entire orphange which was caught in an artillery crossfire. I have never since experienced the feeling I got when we would break hover and come out while the Sandys 'wasted' the area
and only then be able to turn around and see who came aboard. The look on the survivors faces made it all worthwhile. To this day I carry on my keychain a silver-plated P38, given to our crew by a Marine recon team we evacuated near Hue, with the inscription 'Honorary Marine'. Something of which I feel very proud.

We had a business card that went something like this:

Feeling down? In need of a Pick-Me-Up?
Just dial 243.0 Uniform or 121.5 Victor.
We pick up and deliver.

Thank you for your service and/or concern for our folks in uniform.