An Army '01 went down south of
Danang. Army helos got the backseater but the front seater was pinned in and
could not be removed. The Jolly alert birds were sent and the low bird was
hit and lost an engine as it landed. The crew looked at the '01 and the pilot
seemed to be dead. He was pinned in by the engine which was in his lap and
against his chest. He was not moving or responding. The high bird picked up
the Jolly crew and the low bird was left behind. When the Jolly crews
reported, they could not confirm that the pilot was dead, only that he
appeared to be. I decided that we needed to be positive one way or another,
so I got Lt Lance Eagan (Coast Guard), Sgt Steve Northern, Airman Dennis and
Airman Palmer to form a crew with me as co-pilot. Then, I went next door to
the fire station and recruited Sgt Ellis A Thompson to come along with a
gasoline powered cut off saw. The wreckage was at the edge of a pool of water
with the nose up on the bank. The pool was in a depression so that the crew
was protected from enemy gunfire while below the rim. Lance put the Jolly down
at the opposite side. The enlisteds jumped out quickly and waded into the
water, immediately dropping the saw. Lance and I departed in order to get
the aircraft out of harms way. The saw was fished out and when started, it
was OK. When the rescue team got to the pilot they saw his eyes move. The
fireman and his saw were instrumental in removing him. We delivered him to
China Beach.
Next morning we went to check on
him and he was sitting up, looking good. His name was Urban F. Reinhart.
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