Mekong Rescue (Paperback)

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Sun, 3 Jul 2011 | Review by: Bernie W.

Review Written By Bernie Weisz, Historian, Vietnam War, July 30, 2011 Pembroke Pines, Florida, USA E Mail Contact: [email protected] Title of Review: Doctors., Donut Dollies and Dust Off Pilots in Vietnam: The War, Life and Death Not Making Sense! David Freeman has cleverly released a new book entitled "Mekong Delta." While the plot to this novel is loaded with nonstop action gripping suspense, it is actually the framework for the revelation of facts rarely found in documentaries, college curricula and historical memoirs. While there is a dirge of literature on the plight of prisoners of war and military action conducted in the southernmost part of Vietnam, it takes the resourceful reader keen research to find information on the plight of medical evacuation pilots, particularly in the last two years of the conflict in S.E. Asia. Look no further then Mr. Freeman's book. Sure, the plot will tempt you into finishing this in one read. However, "Mekong Delta" is stacked with information regarding the situation medical evacuation pilots, who flew what was called "dust off" missions, had to face in a war America had only one goal left: extrication. Actually written as an improved version of a prior publication Freeman entitled "The Jesus Nut," this novel commences in the fall of 1971. Perhaps the author felt that the former title dissuaded potential readers who might be put off by overly religious books with preachy doctrinal overtones. "Mekong Delta" is not a story full of ecclesiastical assertions. In fact, the former title was a complete misnomer. The "Jesus Nut" is one of the most important parts of a helicopter. The term was coined by Mr. Dr. Igor Sikorsky, the inventor of the rotor wing aircraft. This piece of metal has to do with helicopter maintenance and refers to the one piece of hardware that holds the entire rotor system in place to the mast of the helicopter. The protagonist of Mr. Freeman's book, Army Warrant Officer Eric Mohr, happened to be an ardent Christian, who shed some spiritual light in a situation where immorality and violence were rife. Desperate evacuation of critically injured troops, the goal of war, i.e. finding, fixing and killing the enemy, rescuing a captured prisoner of war, senseless suicide, and infidelity because of the separation imposed by war are all issues dealt with in this amazing story. In the end, even the most agnostic reader will feel the dynamism of a higher power in helping mankind overcome any odds faced, regardless of one's personal convictions. This is testimony to the fact that faith, fellowship and prayer does in fact work! America had one goal regarding its embroilment in Vietnam in 1971: achieve "Vietnamization" and remove its troops with what President Richard Nixon would later coin "peace with honor." He used this phrase in a speech on January 23, 1973 to describe the Paris Peace Accord end to the Vietnam War. Vietnamization was a plan to encourage the South Vietnamese to take more responsibility for fighting the war thus enabling the U.S. to withdraw all of their soldiers from Vietnam. There were no major U.S. combat offensive operations in 1971, with the year's major highlight being the termination of "Operation Ranch Hand." Started in 1962 and lasting until May of 1971, it involved American spraying of an estimated 12 million gallons of defoliants over rural areas of South Vietnam in an attempt to deprive the Viet Cong of vegetation, cover and food. The story line is about two married men, Eric Mohr and Steve Cooper. They are married to two identical sisters. Eric Mohr is a passionate Christian who believes it is his divine calling to go to Vietnam and fly dust off missions for the Army. The other, Steve Cooper, is already there prior to Mohr's arrival. He flies a Navy OV-10 Bronco with the celebrated "Black Pony Squadron" in the Mekong Delta. Both aviators are participants in the rapidly dwindling defense of the South Vietnamese in IV Corps. Mohr's passion for fellowship, preaching the virtues of Christianity and extolling a Christian lifestyle do not win him acclaim with most of his peers, who are in a spiritual vacuum and numb with just wanting to do their tour and go home unscathed. Despite separation, Mohr and his wife have faith that God will preserve their marriage and see a safe reunion despite the travails of war. His brother and law's marriage has estrangement and infidelity issues, causing Cooper to take reckless chances. Eventually, he is shot down and taken captive by the Viet Cong. When Mohr realizes that the Navy, due to the lack of both military assets and volition, has no plans to rescue Steve, he embarks upon a personal crusade to liberate him from the enemy's clutches. Through a bizarre amalgamation of connections, and a whole lot of faith in his higher power, he sets off to undertake a rescue mission only capable of taking place with divine assistance. One must realize that while this titillating plot will captivate you to the last page, the novel provides the structure that holds esoteric information about the conflict rarely found elsewhere. The book in itself is a mini history lesson, informing the reader of the standard method of travel to warfare initiated in the Vietnam war: a commercial airplane. Similar to others first going off to war for the first time, Freeman writes of a trio of new Warrant Officer aviators who despite thinking they were invincible, had a premonition that they would come home in a pine box. For one of these men, this will become a self fulfilling prophesy. Other pilots in the Vietnam war flew an assortment of aircraft, such as "Slicks," which were troop carrying Hueys that flew troops into hot landing zones as well as picking them up upon completion of their mission.. In addition, there were the Cobra gunship pilots that with their blistering machine guns wrought terror on opposing Communist forces. Other pilots flew the OV-10 Bronco, a multi-purpose, light attack aircraft acquired by the Marine Corps for observation squadrons to conduct anti-guerrilla operations, helicopter escort, close air support, armed visual reconnaissance and forward air control. However these three volunteered for the most perilous mission of them all, flying medical evacuation missions on unarmed Hueys into hot landing zones to evacuate the wounded and the dead. Freeman also exposes the tragic valor of "FNG" dust off pilots in their initial enthusiasm and the heartbreaking destiny they would eventually would face: "Now they were joining the Army's elite in the only place on the globe where Americans were involved in combat action. They were ready to get on with it.It was only in their minds they were God's gift to aviation, ready to help America win the war. It never occurred to them they wouldn't be allowed to win it." Freeman's description of Saigon's atmosphere in 1971 mimic the realism of countless other memoirs, explaining why the American desire to win the "hearts and minds" of the South Vietnamese populace as a goal would never be attained. As these three pilots were being transported in buses to their final destination on the familiar olive drab bus with screened windows designed to prevent grenades from being tossed in, Freeman wrote this ominous passage that would predict the fate of winning the indigenous of South Vietnam to Democracy: "Children stood at the edge of the street, staring at the buses with their American occupants inside. There were no smiles, just vacant stares." In terms of where this story took place, IV Corps, or the Southern most part of Vietnam, flying a helicopter was in reality a dangerous job. In October of 1971, the Viet Cong were given a new weapon from their Soviet supporters: a shoulder held, surface to air missile. Freeman wrote: "They were Russian-made A-7's and they were knocking helicopters out of the sky like doves on the opening day of dove season." As correctly pointed out in this book, Washington wanted Vietnamese Air Force (VNAF) pilots fully trained by their American counterparts, with a timetable of April of 1972 for Vietnamization to be completed. There was a shortage of U.S. pilots to fly missions as well as to train the VNAF, as most pilots who completed their tour did not want to be the last to die in a war winding down and refused to re-up. In terms of the future of Vietnamization and training South Vietnam's helicopter pilots to fly medical evacuation missions, the following comment would be a harbinger of how the South Vietnamese aviators would fare after America's departure: "It's a tough assignment, because the Orientals don't value human life like we do. They're not prone to risk their own lives to save another. To them, life is cheap. But if a Vietnamese dies, they'll take any risk imaginable to recover the body. It has something to do with their belief in reincarnation. Most of them are Buddhists. The Vietnamese pilots are really good. Some of them have eight to ten thousand flying hours, and they all learned to fly at Fort Wolters and Fort Rucker, but they have little regard for the safety rules we teach them. They're likely to go anywhere and do anything, without regard to air traffic control instructions or aviation relations." While this is not a generalization and cannot be applied to all VNAF pilots, this might be an explanation for what occurred during "Operation Frequent Wind." On April 30, 1975, servicemen on American carriers of the Seventh Fleet witnessed scores of helicopters piloted by VNAF personal heading out to the offshore American armada following the fall of Saigon. With reckless abandonment fortunate VNAF aviators packed their soon to be discarded Huey's with their family members and comrades on a one way flight to the safety of the American fleet rather than risk incarceration in Communist "Reeducation Camps." Another facet of the war David Freeman recognizes in "Mekong Rescue" was a Helicopter Attack Squadron (HAL-3), nicknamed the "Seawolves." Early in the war, the U.S. Navy was first given the responsibility of denying the V.C. usage of the Mekong Delta. In addition to constant river patrols conducted by small River Patrol Boats called PBR's, aerial surveillance was needed as well. "Game Warden," conceived in December of 1965, was an operation to deny Communist access to the resources in the Mekong Delta. PBR's, unarmored and restricted in their ability to see through the often dense riverbank undergrowth, were susceptible to ambush by a well concealed enemy hiding in the brush. To counter this, a system of air coverage was devised that would provide a visual and communications link between the PBR's and the hostile conditions the V.C. confronted them with. The Navy formed the concept of converted LST's of WWII vintage that became mother ships for the patrol boats. Calling themselves "Seawolves," these naval helicopter pilots found themselves faced with a novel mission different than what they had been trained for in a ship to shore air logistics role. In supporting the PBR's, naval crewmen soon learned that war in the Mekong Delta was as deadly and fierce as anywhere else in Vietnam. The primary job of the Seawolves was the prevention of V.C. movements on the rivers of the Mekong Delta, and the Rung Sat Special Zone swamp area surrounding the shipping channel to Saigon. They used UH-1B Huey helicopter gunships borrowed from the Army, and Freeman pays tribute to this important part of their contribution to the war effort with their inclusion into this novel. Seawolve pilots, crewmen, and maintenance men all contributed to the war effort due to the intensity of action and shortness of staff as the war dwindled to a close. Pilots and crew stood duty on a daily rotation, 24 hours on, 24 hours off. They were on perpetual standby status in case of a "scramble," an emergency call for assistance from a PBR, an outpost under attack, or any time their heavily armed choppers were needed, which was generally quite often. There are less salient points brought up in "Mekong Rescue." The issues of prostitution available to U.S. servicemen, the "Black Market" and hazing rites of all new dust off pilots are discussed. A gruesome subject Freeman touched on was recovering the remains of deceased pilots after a fatal crash, who were labeled "crispy critters," i.e. being burned beyond recognition. The protagonist's description of his observations of Vietnamese and their contrast with our customs and culture is realistically striking: "The women all appeared immaculately clean in spite of their surroundings. Men stopped to urinate in the ditches along the side of the road: those same ditches that a few feet away someone else was washing their clothes. Modesty and sanitation were apparently foreign concepts to the Vietnamese population on the street." Even stranger was the description of where Eric Mohr was stationed, Navy Binh Thuy. Unless a crisis developed, there was no nighttime missions in 1971. This war for dust off pilots had become a "9 to 5" job, with all the amenities of home. Commenting on this type of warfare, Freeman wrote: "People flew off to it, but they came back-to their air conditioners and clubs, hamburgers and french fries, steaks, clean rooms, maids, even a swimming pool-all the comforts of home." This provides a stark contrast to the grunt struggling with an eighty pound pack in the jungles, swamps or mountains of Vietnam in the earlier years of the war. In fact, Freeman wrote of a Christmas party at the hospital officer's club in Binh Thuey, which showed a peculiar side of the war some never knew: "People in civilian clothes-doctors, nurses, Dust Off pilots and Donut Dollies milled around drinking beer or soft drinks and waiting for steaks to get done. They were keeping their minds occupied rather than think about missing Christmas with their families. It was hard to think about Christmas when the temperature was in the high nineties every day." David Freeman gives credit to a group that received scant credit for their contribution to our troops in Vietnam, the "Donut Dollies." These were young, college-degreed women, members of the American Red Cross who spent, like everyone else in the military a one year tour in South Vietnam as morale boosters for American troops. They ran recreation centers, visited hospitals, and, because of the mobility of the UH-1 Iroquois helicopter, traveled to front-line landing zones and base camps to bring games and smiles, and coffee and donuts to soldiers. Many chose to join the program because of President John F. Kennedy, who encouraged young people to serve the country when during his inaugural address, on January 20, 1961 asserted: "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country." 627 Women enlisted for the Red Cross Supplemental Recreation Activities Overseas program to go and entertain the two and a half million troops fighting the Vietnam War. Miraculously, none of them were killed by enemy fire. A Donut Dolly had to be college educated, bold, highly social, and more courageous than she ever expected. Once on the ground, the Red Cross girls didn't wait in safe recreation centers, they took their program to the war. Their uniforms were powder-blue dresses and they were armed only with a smile and a bag of games. Regardless of whether it appeared in a historical memoir or novel, it is very refreshing to see David Freeman recognize their valuable contribution. Apart from being mortared, shot at, and even shot down, the Donut Dollies had to contend with the behavior of soldiers that had not seen a "round eye" (a term for a non-Asian female) for some time. Despite all the dangers, Donut Dollies were given no special training and no special gear for protection. This group of brave women brought entertainment, a smiling face, and a reminder of home to millions of young American men stationed in S.E. Asia who otherwise faced the grim, daily reality of death. The reader also gets a glimpse of being a Medevac pilot and what it involves. Freeman explains that back in the U.S. the pilot and crew were trained to constantly inspect their aircraft using a written checklist before each mission. This training was not practical in Vietnam. With rapid departures, getting off the ground on an emergency Medevac mission was done in under 2 minutes, thus pre-takeoff checks had to be completed ahead of time. A Huey Medevac pilot, with critically injured troops on the ground needing evacuation to the rear as a matter of life and death, had to learn how to fly his Huey up, down, sideways, employing any evasive maneuver necessary to avoid being shot down, not to mention landing between trees, on the side of cliffs, or in soft rice paddies. Pilots would have to fly into hot landing zones with tactical approaches that almost seemed like the Huey was plunging to certain destruction, resist "target fixation," and then pull out of the dive at the last second and perfectly land. Target fixation occurred when a Huey pilot's brain was focused so intently on his observed object that his awareness of other obstacles or hazards diminished. Consequently, the pilot become so fixated on his target that he forget to take the necessary action to avoid it, thus colliding with the object. In rapid departures, a Dust Off pilot would have to learn to use the aircraft's torque that would spin his Huey to a safe altitude like a corkscrew at more than 2,000 feet per minute. A Huey pilot had to learn all different types of autorotations. This is a state of flight where the main rotor system of a helicopter, usually due to engine malfunction or failure, forces the helicopter to fly and descend with the engine disengaged from the main rotor system. The the rotor blades are driven solely by the upward flow of air through the rotor. In Vietnam, helicopters were parked in revetments, which were walls built to separate and protect the aircraft. According to Freeman, one of the hardest things to do with a Huey was to hover the chopper in and out of a revetment. Another issue was the situation with flying Medevac missions in late 1971 and without adequate accompanying gunship support. A majority of the U.S. helicopter fleet in Vietnam by 1972 was transferred to the Philippines for global repositioning. There were hazardous instances where Medevacs were done solely by an unaccompanied helicopter.. Freeman also discusses V.C. treachery. Before a dust off helicopter landed, the troops on the ground would "pop smoke", i.e. ignite a beckoning with a distinctively colored flare based on prearranged radio communication with the pilot. The enemy would listen in on these transmissions and attempt to trick pilots into an ambush by popping the same colored smoke called for in a devious attempt to lure the Huey into an ambush. The reader is reminded that one of the saddest sights of the war were Dust Off Medevac pilots during their preflight inspection of their Huey washing blood off the floor from the previous mission. One of the most sensitive topics David Freeman broaches is America's deliberate abandonment of POW's, in an attempt to end the war and remove it from public consciousness. As mentioned previously, this is brought up in the novel as mentioned earlier. According to the Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office there are still 1,713 U.S. servicemen still unaccounted for from the Vietnam War. About 80 percent of those missing were airmen who were shot down over North Vietnam or Laos, usually over remote mountains, tropical rain forest, or water; the rest typically disappeared in dense, confused fighting in jungles. Investigations of these incidents have involved determining whether the men involved survived their shootdown, and if not efforts to recover their remains. POW/MIA activists played a role in pushing the U.S. government to improve its efforts in resolving the fates of the missing. This is a hotly contested subject arousing indignation from Veterans and family members of the missing as well, demanding a full accounting and a closure rightfully deserved. Through his novel David Freeman makes a statement that the U.S. was so busy standing down and moving units back stateside that they sidestepped the P.O.W. issue entirely. "Mekong Delta" will arouse the reader on many levels. The reader will understand a Dust Off Crew's ambivalent desire for action, as an American had to get hurt for this to occur. Perhaps the most poignant comment Freeman made about the end of America's involvement in Vietnam was as follows: "The U.S. wasn't going home because they'd won the war. They were going home because the politicians in America were giving up on it. The thought was enraging, especially in light of the deaths of so many. Pulling out before the job was done would make those deaths senseless." 58195 souls reflect that sentiment. Congratulations, Mr. Freeman! My compliments on a terrific book!

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