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Viet Nam - Memories and Stories of our Heroes

July 11, 2015

My wife and I will be attending a Viet Nam Helicopter Pilots Reunion in Washington DC later this year.  During the trip we will be attending the dedication of a new memorial stone honoring the helicopter pilots who gave their life during the war.  So the Viet Nam era has been on my mind a lot lately.  A guest of a recent fashion show I was shooting was proudly wearing his Viet Nam Veteran cap. While I was visiting with him about his service, he mentioned the life expectancy of helicopter pilots in the war.  Suddenly, it occurred to me that I knew very little about the war and the people who served. 

So, I am creating this blog as a place to capture the stories of the Veterans and their families.  My intent is to honor the Veterans,  What are the real stories from Viet Nam? How did it impact your family?  What stories can you tell that can't be learned in the history books?

Please take a minute to share a little about your Veteran.  What unit were they in?   What was their rank? When did they serve?  Then, share a little about them - Is there a funny story? A touching story? A horror story? 

I am hoping to be able to allow pictures to be uploaded to your posts.  Unfortunately, right now that is not possible.  I will let you know if I get that corrected. 

Many thanks to the Veterans for their service.  And, thank you for sharing your stories.

 
Viet Nam - Memories and Stories of our Heroes
 

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Comments (2)

Susan Clotfelter Jimison

on September 20, 2015 9:51 AM
Not a day goes by that I don't think of my brother lost to the Vietnam War over 47 years ago. CWO Mark Clotfelter was my only brother and like most families we buried our feelings and plowed through life. It took the sudden death of my father in 1996 to motivate me to reach out and find the men my brother flew with. With the power of the Internet I was able to find them and learn not how my brother died but how he lived.

When I realized how much this did for me I hoped to shared my story with others to encourage more Gold Star family members to do the same. I wrote Dear Mark to share my journey with others.

CWO Mark Clotfelter served 9 months in Vietnam flying the attack helicopter, the Cobra, with the 361st Aviation Company (Escort). Did my heart good to learn they never forgot Mark and they too, touch his name on the Wall in D.C.


Terrell Fry

on July 13, 2015 9:21 PM
My wife's dad was Joseph Michael Wilsher. He was in A TRP, 3RD SQDN, 17TH CAVALRY, 1ST AVIATION BDE, USARV. He was killed in a helicopter accident on Feb. 24, 1971. The official records indicate the aircraft crashed on short final to An Loc from about 20 feet after witnesses heard an explosion and saw a fire. The helicopter dipped it's nose slightly to the left and fell straight down, exploding on impact. It appeared to be making a normal approach. Then, at about 20 feet above the ground, the aircraft yawed to the right, (a small explosion was heard and fire was sighted at this time), dipped its nose to about 045 degrees below the horizon, rolled slightly to the left and fell straight down exploding upon impact.

Mike's death has been and still is very difficult on my mother-in-law. Therefore, we know very little about him. We have been able to find a book that has two chapters dedicated to the incident that killed him. Amazingly, the book was written by the one person whose life was directly saved by Mike.

As this man tells it, he was on the helicopter as it lifted a few feet off the ground and moved onto the flight line waiting for permission to take off. They were contacted by the tower and ordered to sit back down and wait for another passenger. The helicopter was already at it's weight capacity and couldn't take another passenger. The order was given to "bump the gunner" so the officer could board. Shortly after that, the helicopter crashed killing everyone on board.

I did some research on the gunner that was bumped and discovered that he survived the remainder of the war but has since passed on. In reading his book, it is apparent that he was a strong Christian man and often reflected on why God chose to let him live while others died.

Mike's death set into motion many changes in my wife's family that ultimately led them to moving to Oklahoma where we met. I believe that as he looks down at his children and grandchildren, he would be proud of them.
 
 

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