[Vhfcn-l] Vhfcn-l Digest, Vol 76, Issue 12

[Arnold B Christensen]

I look at it this way...I have over the many 
years since my last tour (1971 Saigon Warrior) 
seen many documentaries concerning "Our 
War".  Everyone has their spin on it including 
the film makers and those of us that served in it 
and perhaps even those who served with a fear 
that they would be chosen to attend at some point 
in time. I first heard of Vietnam and our 
attendance back I think it was 61 when they sent 
H-21C units to haul Vietnam soldiers and their 
American Advisors around. A guy who crewed 21's 
up in the Ft Devens area reinlisted for an 
assignment in the NYC area and he got us on 
Staten Island. He was a good guy, married with 
kids.  After awhile though he seemed to miss his 
old buddies and so volunteered to go to 
Vietnam.  He did not tell his wife. Then he got a 
long letter from a friend from his old 21 unit 
saying some guys were dying and aircraft were 
getting shot up.  This changed his mind and he 
had to fly down to our HQ's in New Jersey to pull 
back his request.  But when he got 
there...waiting for him were his orders to 
Vietnam and they now could not be retracted as he 
wanted.  His wish was filled.  I don't know how 
he explained it to his wife and there certainly 
was no excess housing for her to stay in.  He went as ordered.

It was just a few months later we got word that 
the ship he was crewing got all shot up with the 
pilot being killed and included the CE being 
wounded.  The CP was trying to get control of the 
ship with the P slumped over and our friend was 
able to get to the front and yank the P loose and 
drag him back to the cabin and he took his place. 
He had a lot of stick time I know and between him 
and the CP kept it flying and headed to Saigon 
and a hospital, but before they "got away" he 
sustained several severe wounds.  That was my 
first intro to Vietnam and all it could entail 
and there I was doing OJT to become a H-21C 
crewchief!  I don't honestly remember what my 
thoughts were at that time and I did not mention them to my brand new wife.

People already in the Army were running to Canada 
if in the States or the Scandinavian Countries if 
they were stationed in Europe.  Don't know what 
guys who were stationed in Korea were doing.

Well, I became a 21 crewchief with new MOS and 
even a raise with flight pay!  But Uncle sent me 
to Germany, where the only 21's were owned by the 
Germans!  So I crewed a H13H and helped with the 
L20A we also had and some L19A's and a 
TL19D.  Good experience for sure. Then I heard 
about Chinook school and with my 21 experience 
behind me I requested it in 1965. Nothing heard 
about it for several months and get a call I have 
orders waiting at personnel for an assignment to 
Fort Huachooka (SP?). Then the clerk opened 
another envelope with more orders for me sending 
me to Hook school and I knew that Hooks were 
training and probably would all be sent to 
Vietnam.  I do remember saying that the date of 
the AZ assignment preceded the one for Chinook 
School.  Sooooo the hell with Hook 
school.  Nope...the school assignment had power 
over the AZ assignment.  Within a week I had a 
letter from the Aviation Section welcoming me and 
explaining the housing and all that and assigning 
me a sponsor, which was followed up by my E5 
sponsor saying how good the assignment was and 
all about the Gov't quarters and they included 
air conditioning and washer and dryer.
Oh well...it was not to be.   I went to school, 
graduated, was assigned to the only Hook 
Battalion at Ft Benning who was already loading 
their Hooks onto the USS Boxer in Florida and 
everyone knew we were going to Nam. So in Sept 65 
I arrived in Vietnam and many of us climbed down 
the nets into landing craft and we rod to the 
beach and eventually ended up where I would live 
with a bunch of other Hookers with just one month 
shy of being in the Army 7 yrs and a Sp/5 and a 
wife and daughter waiting for me and wife is 
pregnant to boot. I survive with head still 
intact and rest of the body too and I go from 
being a PE team leader to CE and then FE.

I go back stateside to an assignment at Ft Carson 
where guess what they do not have...Ayup...no 
Chinooks but they are building up Huey Companies 
but I am in the 5th Aviation Bn and we are sort 
of in charge of them becoming qualified to go to 
Vietnam.For awhile doing that I crew one of our H23 models.

I do make hard stripe E6 only because I happen to 
be visiting upstairs in the hangar our office and 
the NCOIC is leaving to turn back the E6 
promotion position because they have nobody 
qualified. Whoa says I! And as all heads turn 
towards me I explain that I held the MOS of 
Transportation Supply Specialist  and they 
finally made the job I had a 76T MOS and called 
it a Aircraft Supply Person and it so happens he 
was about to turn back a 76T40 MOS as Aircraft 
Supply Supervisor.  "Chris, how would you like to 
be an E6 next week." Well that would be fine with 
me since I had almost 10 yrs in and another mouth 
to feed.  And so it was without even a board to 
go to and to make PFC many years before I had to 
go before a board!  Soon Uncle decided to send me 
to TI School which as my NCOIC explained...That 
would make me a Chief TI that the Army had 
decided that with all these TI's running around 
because of Vietnam there needed to be a few 
Chiefs to control them in higher maintenance 
units like maybe DS and certainly GS units.  I 
had to be interviewed by the Sgt Maj of the 
school at Eustis who told me somebody screwed up 
real bad sending a Parts guy to a Aircraft TI 
course.  What the hell do you know about working 
on Helicopters. "I know a little bit from being 
around Helicopters and Fixed Wing a few 
years."  He make a funny noise and I realize that 
in his position with my 201 file on his desk wide 
open he does not have a clue how to read and 
interpret it and all he sees is the orders 
assigning me as a 76T40 Aircraft Parts 
Supervisor, and he is thinking that a Supply Sgt 
has been sent to school to be in charge of Tech 
Inspectors.  He tells me I will be very lucky to 
reach graduation!  He is sitting behind his big 
wide desk and I am standing in front of him at my 
full 6'41/2" and I look him in his glaring eyes 
and say, "Tell you what Sgt Major, I think this 
is going to be a rather easy school for me and if 
I don't come out Top Man I will be the second in 
the class. Can I go now?  Get out of my office! I 
walked out smiling. I did not graduate as top man 
and distinguished graduate.  That went to a Sp/5 
who had gone most of the way through the course 
until there were problems at home and he ended up 
being granted a months leave to handle it and 
came back and they made him start all over again. 
But there was Da Foot being called up to be 
handed his graduation papers and announcing that 
he would be a Chief Tech Inspector because he was 
a hard stripe.  Some of you specialist that have 
graduated with him may be lucky to work with him 
someday. The Colonel shook my hand and then the 
way it worked you shook hands with the Sgt Maj 
and he hands you orders. He hands me orders and 
puts his hand out and I smile at him and 
say...didn't I tell you it would be easy Sgt 
Major. Suddenly the light goes on and he realizes 
I am the guy. I did not shake his hand but turned 
around and sat down. I was assigned to Ft Campell 
to an evolving Post unit that someday would be a 
GS unit.  Didn't know when but someday!!!  Then I 
get an assignment to Germany, Hanua, 42nd Trans 
(DS) and I walk in there and am put in charge of 
the Quality Section with7 inspectors, 5 67W's and 
2 67F's and one lone 710 clerk.  That last a 
couple of years until the Europe command does not 
answer a Congressional Letter of why that good 
man and one of his inspectors has not received 
his TDY pay in over a month for a IG inspection 
they helped out in with the aviation portion for 
a unit in Nelligan who was turning in there 
CH37's for CH47's. So good ole Sen.Pell hits the 
Pentagon and Europe with another letter from 
Christensen's Home Town Senator who recognized 
his constituent as being the son of a gal he went 
to High School with. This time everyone gets the 
sxxt together and there is  big meeting of Full 
Bulls and Sgt Majors and I am 
asked...really...what did I think needed to be 
done. Never bitch unless you have an answer I 
have always said!  I explained the real  problem 
my not getting the pay me and my inspector were 
due ASAP and preferably before we travelled on 
our own dime to do a job that nobody else could 
do at that moment.  I being an ex-Hooker and my 
TI, David Welborn had many hours on 37's in 
Vietnam. BTW the unit passed and all I could say 
at the out briefing was that all of you that are 
still flying these sorry sick 37's and making 
mission with them are downright crazy...all of 
you...or the most dedicated bunch of guys I had 
ever met in Germany.  Well all those guys took up 
what I said needed to be done in the Hanua area 
by opening a full time Finance branch of V Corp 
right away.  But about a month or so I suddenly 
became excess to Europes needs but of course 
Vietnam could certainly use me!  So David drove 
me and family to Rhine Main and we shook hands and departed as life friends.

So after getting the wife into excess Gov't 
Quarters at Ft Campbell Da Foot arrives in the 
Repo Depot on the last day of 1970, and he sits 
there for about 30 days while someone figures out 
where to place him. Finally in the dark of the 
night he and 3 other guys leave the Repot Depot 
to Saigon and a HQ's Company of 34th Group.
2 days later all 4 of us report to Col Jersey's 
office to be interviewed.  One of the SP/5 has 
served in the 15th TC of the Cav and worked in 
Maintenance.  They were a DS unit when I was 
there. The other SP/5 had been a Hook CE.  The 
SP/4 had been to Hook school and was sent off to 
Vietnam.  I asked the Col's NCOIC what was going 
on in a private conversation.  He tells me not to 
worry  I have the job.  What job.  You will 
become the NCOIC of the small section we have at 
the Air Vietnam Maintenance Facility where they 
overhaul and modify B model Hooks into C minus 
Hooks and we run them up and we test fly them and 
you all get Crewmember Pay except for the parts 
supply guy who you may never see. You will have 
two full time Hook Pilots who will be assigned to 
the Air Vietnam Facility solely to see that the 
troops who pick up finished aircraft when they 
turn one in get the best.  Col Jersey and me got 
along. He wanted to know everything going on at 
Air Vietnam about the status.  The Major in 
Charge of Det 14 when he met me the next morning 
told me that Jersey wanted to know what we were 
doing and you Sgt Christensen and to not tell 
that son of a bitch anything.  It does not fall 
within his concerns.  It is a Contract between St 
Louis AVSCOM and Air Vietnam only. In fact there 
are two Col's from AVSCOM who are TDY here for 6 
months at a time watching over the contract. When 
there was a problem getting a ramp repaired as 
part of the contract not as over and above which 
I had to sign off on and would not. I called a 
number given to me and 10 minutes later The Col 
was walking into our office and we met and he 
told me to show him the problem and explain it. 
After about doing the dog and pony show with the 
director of Air Vietnam standing off to the side 
the Colonel walked over to him and said it was 
definitely under the contract but not meet the 
requirements of the over and above portion and if 
it was not repaired that he would shut down the 
contract and move the contract back to the 
USA.  Walking back to his vehicle which was being 
washed I asked him if he was bluffing.  Not at 
all as I and my partner have full authority to 
shut the contract down and the Director knows 
about.  Wow.  The ramp was fixed 2 days later and 
I inspected it myself several times after Air 
Vietnams inspectors inspected it and it was 
installed on the next hook nearing completion.

Anyhow, flew on many a test flight and survive 
and I laugh because some of them were hair 
raising until the Scas was fixed.  Most all you 
Hookers know that when doing a full on Scas check 
and I mean to the edge... if you pull the cyclic 
back to the factory limits for doing this and I 
forgot the  degrees you pull it back to and you 
calmly take your hand off the cyclic the Scas 
should cause the nose to drop back to just under 
level flight then bring it back to up and maybe 
just hit level flight.  So the pitch is set up 
right.  But you all have seen film or pictures of 
a Hook in almost a full nose down flight and 
wonder if she can do that.  Well yes she can and 
she did several times in 71. The first time I 
experience it I was standing up in the rear of 
the ramp hinge. I will always be more than very 
happy I had a very tight grip through a lightning 
hole.  I did speak over the intercom to quietly 
as I could in the moment that if they ever did do 
another SCAS check with out telling us in the 
back and getting the ok I would offer to kill 
them...if I survived falling the length of the 
ship from the ramp to the cockpit.  That did not 
stop the SCAS from acting up now and then but we 
all got a tight grip and looked at each other and 
with thumbs all up then the ok was given from the back!

So I came back again to the world and ended up 
assigned to the 507 Trans Co (General 
Support)  and after a year and a half of putting 
up with units of the One O Worst which we 
supported and having to send 2 TI's to CCAD to 
watch over things being repaired for the 101st 
and having to fly to Pensacol to do acceptance 
inspections and go on test flights several times 
I got tired of Ft Campbell and put in for a 
transfer to several places to be an advisor to 
the NG's.  Ended up calling FORSCOM and speaking 
to a lady there who had just picked my request 
out of a bundle on her desk.  After chatting a 
bit she said she sees that my home of record is 
Newport, RI. Yes it is.  Have you ever been to Ft 
Devens?  No.  It is not far from Newport she 
says.  I know that. We are starting a new unit 
there where we are taking the top 10% of our 
people and putting them in these few units and 
pulling advisors back out of the NG and Reserve 
units and centralizing them so we can send all 
sorts of good help to those units. Oh?  Would you 
be interested in being part of the MAIT at the 
1st Readiness Region at Ft Devens. How soon can I 
leave Campbell and get to Devens I ask. Will I 
get orders sent to Campbell and it sure would be 
nice if you could send me a copy at my 
Quarters?  I still owe her a steak if I ever meet 
her.  She told me I would have my personal copy 
at my quarters in 2 days.  None of you have ever 
seen me so happy!  True to her word 2 days later 
I had my "Copies"  I could not do anything with 
them as the Post had to do their thing with their 
copies and then send them to all concerned 
including me, my Commander who had held on to my 
request for longer than needed because he wanted 
me to stay in his unit as his Quality 
Representative.  He and I came to an agreement 
that we liked each other but if he did not 
forward the request through channels...which 
nobody could stop or hold up...he would be in 
deep dark stuff.  We parted as friends when I 
left rather quickly because I had a early report 
date at Devens with a with a 30 day delay 
enroute. Of course I drove from KY to MA in 3 
days and reported in.  That assignment was the 
best assignment I ever had during my 20 yrs.

There is more but I am boring myself.  I don't 
need to watch a presentation on Vietnam as I 
lived part of it in a great unit of Hookers and 
the second assignment of being your own boss with 
2 great pilots and several good TI's...one of 
whom taught me alot many years ago when I was 
OJTing to become a H21C crewchief. Dave Welborn 
retired and went to work in St Louis at AVSCOM 
for years and retired from it due to health 
reasons and move his big family up to Alaska even 
though he and his wife were from St Louis 
originally. He passed away several years ago and 
his wife Pat remained there in AK.

I learned about telling the truth no matter what, 
I learned about the politics in the Army, 
sometimes because you tell the truth and some 
people cannot stand the truth. I met some really 
great  people during my Army career.  I knew a 
few bastards too!  The number of good far exceed the few bastards.

The history of the Vietnam War is well enough 
known by me not to watch some film pukes idea of 
it. Some of us on this Net lived the history at 
one time or many times. The thing we lived and 
not the politics behind the war are not important 
in our lives anymore.  It is over and done with 
except the for the imports, ie, the shorts I am 
wearing today were made in Vietnam.
Chris the Bigfoot.





At 21:22 9/16/2017, Richard Lewis wrote:
>Gary I am very much planing to watch this have 
>been waiting it seems like forever. Richard 
>lewisMsg, USA {ret}     On Saturday, September 
>16, 2017 8:58 AM, Gary Calhoun 
><gcalhoun at umich.edu> wrote: I have heard 
>nothing, but posted this on Facebook to 200 
>friends: Watch "The Vietnam War" on PBS starting 
>Sunday night 8 p.m. "Welcome to our world." Gary 
>On Fri, Sep 15, 2017 at 12:00 PM, 
><vhfcn-l-request at vhfcn.org> wrote: > Send 
>Vhfcn-l mailing list submissions 
>to >Â  Â  Â  Â  vhfcn-l at vhfcn.org > > To 
>subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, 
>visit >Â  Â  Â  Â 
>http://lists.vhfcn.org/mailman/listinfo/vhfcn-l > 
>  or, via email, send a message with subject or 
>body 'help' 
>to >Â  Â  Â  Â  vhfcn-l-request at vhfcn.org > > 
>You can reach the person managing the list 
>at >Â  Â  Â  Â  vhfcn-l-owner at vhfcn.org > > When 
>replying, please edit your Subject line so it is 
>more specific > than "Re: Contents of Vhfcn-l 
>digest..." > > > Today's Topics: > >Â  Â  1. The 
>Vietnam War Documentary (Mel Canon) > > > 
>----------------------------------------------------------------------  
> > > Message: 1 > Date: Thu, 14 Sep 2017 
>22:18:20 +0000 (UTC) > From: Mel Canon 
><melcanon at yahoo.com> > To: Viet Nam Helicopter 
>Flight Crew Network <vhfcn-l at vhfcn.org> > Cc: 
>VHFCN1 Pilots and Crew <vhfcn-l at vhfcn.org> > 
>Subject: [Vhfcn-l] The Vietnam War Documentary > 
>Message-ID: 
><47017321.9637.1505427500659 at mail.yahoo.com> > 
>Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 > > 
>Anyone have any insight to this 8 part 
>documentary that starts Sunday on > PBS?? I was 
>just reading the synopsis and watching some of 
>the trailers > that showed up on Facebook...and, 
>it looks like it may be slanted more > towards 
>the VC and NVA than the U.S..? Anyone else get 
>that take on it? > Mel Canon > > > 
>------------------------------ > > Subject: 
>Digest Footer > > 
>_______________________________________________ > 
>  Vhfcn-l mailing list > Vhfcn-l at vhfcn.org > 
>http://lists.vhfcn.org/mailman/listinfo/vhfcn-l > 
>  > > ------------------------------ > > End of 
>Vhfcn-l Digest, Vol 76, Issue 12 > 
>*************************************** > 
>_______________________________________________ 
>Vhfcn-l mailing list Vhfcn-l at vhfcn.org This 
>message was delivered to 
>richardlewis133 at yahoo.com 
>http://lists.vhfcn.org/mailman/listinfo/vhfcn-l 
>_______________________________________________ 
>Vhfcn-l mailing list Vhfcn-l at vhfcn.org This 
>message was delivered to abc15 at mindspring.com 
>http://lists.vhfcn.org/mailman/listinfo/vhfcn-l