DAK TO MEMORIES
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A rope extraction story
​From Bill Brown's compilation of 100 soldiers' stories: "Our Vietnam Wars"

​

Dr. Ed Schein was an Army MD and the Flight Surgeon for the 52nd Combat Aviation Battalion, the "Flying Dragons" at Camp Holloway.  In an unusual move, he started relieving a door gunner with PTSD on occasion, not something a doctor was supposed to do.

His story:

It was in January [1968] when the legend of "That Crazy Doctor" was born.  I was on one of my usual flights as a door gunner on a Huey, when we received an Emergency Notification that a four-man Special Forces team was in trouble over the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Laos.  Our bird and another one immediately went "nose over" and headed west.  We located the Green Berets in a clearing too small for us to land in, so we had to hover and drop Maquire Rigs from the side doors for them to get into.  We didn't have hoists, so they were supposed to sit down in the rig and we'd take off, hopefully pulling them straight up, and not banging them into too many trees on the way.

Anyway, just as they got into the rigs, we began taking incoming fire.  You could see the tracer rounds coming at us from the jungle on my side, and the pilot screamed in his mic to me, "Goddamnit Doc, shoot!"  I screamed back, "Shoot what?  I can't see where they are!".  The pilot replied, "They don't know that!".  So, I opened up and blazed away at the edge of that jungle clearing, from one side to the other.  That was the first time I had done that, and holding an M-60 in your hands when it's firing full automatic is an amazing feeling.  I have no idea if I hit anything, but the NVA stopped shooting, and we got away.

We flew to Dak To with the four Green Berets dangling under the two helicopters and set them down on the runway.  After we landed, they came running over to shake our hands and thank us.  One of the Special Forces guys saw me, looked at my uniform, saw the insignias I was wearing, and asked in an astonished voice, "You're a Captain?  And a Doctor?  Flying as a door gunner?  What?  Are you crazy?"

To my surprise, it took three to four weeks for our colonel to come storming into my infirmary, glaring at me.  "Doc, if you ever fly again, I'm gonna put you in jail!  We need you here!".  I tried to look chastened.  "But we have plenty of help" I answered.  "I don't care!  Don't you ever fly again!".  Well, of course I kept flying, once a week, at least, but I told the pilots not to put me on any manifests or put me up for any Air Medals.  As it was, I think I got seven or eight.
-----------------------------------------------

Dr. Schein's story is included in the book, "Our Vietnam Wars, Vol. 1" by William F. Brown. It is used here by permission.
For more from William F. Brown, go to 
https://billbrownthrillernovels.com/
https://www.facebook.com/WilliamBrownAuthorPage

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B079P35BT5/
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  • Home
  • Battles
    • Operation Hawthorne
    • Battle Of The Slopes
    • November Action Hills 823, 875
    • Defenders of Dak To 1969
    • Special Forces Camps >
      • Ben Het
      • Dak Seang
      • Dak Pek
  • Photos
    • AirfieldPhoto
    • Airfield Landmarks & Map
    • 125 ATC >
      • List-1 >
        • Arrival, June 1967
        • Airfield Attack 671115
        • ATC facilities
        • ATC Team Members >
          • ATC Roster
          • Bartlett
          • Camacho
          • Saveski
          • Scott
          • Short
          • Other Team Members
          • Christmas 1967
        • Runway
        • Runway Ramp
        • Road
        • Shooting Range
      • List-2 >
        • Aircraft
        • Vehicles
        • Weapons
        • Soldiers
        • EOD - Explosive Ordinance Demolition
        • Fuel Fire
        • A1E Skyraider Emergency landing
        • Rope Extraction
      • List-3 >
        • Air Strikes, Artillary
        • Arc Light Bombing Run
        • Around The Field
        • Local Folks
        • Outside Dak To Area >
          • Nearby Countryside
          • Trip to Pleiku
          • Holloway Airfield, Pleiku
          • Around The Country
          • Vung Tao USO show
          • Qui Nhon
    • 4th ID-HQ
    • 4th ID - Norm Spaulding >
      • Norm Spaulding
      • 2nd_Indochina_War
      • Dec. 1967
      • Jan. 1968
      • Mar. 1968
      • Apr. 1968
      • May 1968
      • June 1968
      • July 1968
      • Sept. 1968
    • Casper Aviation - Tony Bolivar
    • 4th ID - Chris Ross >
      • SwampFox
  • Documents
    • Ivy Leaf - 4th Inf. newsletter >
      • Nov. 19, 1967
      • Nov. 26, 1967
      • Dec. 17, 1967
      • Dec. 24, 1967
      • More Issues
    • Pacific Stars and Stripes >
      • Nov. 11, 1967
      • Nov. 15, 1967
      • Nov. 16, 1967
      • Nov. 22, 1967
      • Nov. 24, 1967
      • Nov. 25, 1967
      • Nov. 26, 1967
      • Nov. 29, 1967
    • News Items
    • Leaflets
    • ATC reports >
      • 30 November 1967
      • 18 December 1967
      • 29 February 1968
      • 18 March 1968
      • Definitions of terms
  • Audio
  • Stories
  • links
  • Contact
  • About Me
  • Site Map