KINGBEE H-34's at FOB-1 Pad at Phu Bai. Photo courtesy Colonel Bill Shelton

KINGBEE with two on a string at FOB-1 Phu Bai. Photo courtesy Colonel Bill Shelton

L-R Colonel Bill Shelton, CO FOB Phu Bai USA Special Forces MACVSOG CCN, John Stryker Meyers, USA Special Forces, One-Zero ST/RT IDAHO, Major An 219th VNAF Squadron "KINGBEES", Cliff Newman, USA Special Forces, One Zero RT FLORIDA and one of the men who participated in the first combat HALO jump into Laos.

The image at the top of the page holds a special significance in the history of Scarface and in the lives of the men in the photograph above. The common thread is an incredible story that began with not only with a war and the brave men who gave so much for their comrades and countries, but a homework assignment for an elementary school class...

Mark Byrd while serving as a Gunship pilot in HML-367 met Major (then Captain) An in the Marble Mountain O-Club after a mission. Mark asked Dai Uy An if he would be interested in trading an insignia patch. Dai Uy An responded in the affirmative and without missing a beat withdrew his SOG knife and proceeded to remove the patch above from the sleeve of his copilots flight suit. Thus begins the story of the patch however the story of the KINGBEES and the relationship with MACVSOG goes back to 1965 and "Shining Brass" and the need for helicopter support for the first recon missions into Laos.

The 219th VNAF Squadron with whom Major An flew the H-34 was to become the guardian angel of the men who went into harms way on these covert and dangerous mission. They put them in and they got them out.

Kingbee crew The flight crews of three Kingbee H34's waiting for the call to launch at MLT-2, Quang Tri in late 1969.

On the left is "Mustachio" Nguyen Van Hoang and in the center is Major An Nguyen

The above photo is from John L Plaster's book "SOG: A Photo History of the Secret Wars" Palladin Press

One extremely notable event involved the shooting down of a Scarface gunship while on a SOG mission over Laos. As recounted in Mike Brokovich's story, "A Few Good Men" the gunship went into the river after bursting into flames. Major An piloting a Kingbee H-34 found Major Hill and Corporal Dean alive on the opposite bank of the river, about 100 meters down stream from the crash site. One of the Army Huey slicks subsequently lifted them out on strings. Meanwhile the Kingbee drew continuous enemy fire as he air taxied back upstream to the crash site and looked for the other two crew members, Ron Janousek and Bruce Kane. He hovered close to the sunken wreckage and pushed the main landing gear wheel of his H-34 through the cockpit window. Then he lifted the wreckage up so that his crew chief could see the interior of the cabin. No survivors were seen. Throughout this time the Kingbee was under continuous enemy fire as he performed an extremely dangerous maneuver which risked trapping his aircraft in the wreckage of the Huey.

This incredible example of heroics is but one of many for Major An and the Pilots of Kingbee.

Moving to the present Mark Byrd who has been researching the squadrons involvement with MACSOG found a report of an incident of a helicopter shoot down in Laos during the period that the squadron was flying the Prairie Fire mission package. This report mentioned the name of Dai Uy An and Mark found this to be a familiar name in the context of the mission. His interest piqued he made contact with a former Scarface pilot, John Upthegrove who is a School Teacher in upper Michigan. John related a story of how he gave his math class an assignment to bring in news clippings about people who use mathematics in their jobs. To his surprise one young girl brought in a clipping with a picture that John recognized as Captain An, he told the little girl that "I know this man, he is Dai Uy An" to which she replied..." no that is Major An." Mark was able to contact An Nguyen from this information.

With the upcoming reunion and Squadron dinner Mark had decided make a point of returning the patch to one of the original Kingbee pilots. He invited Major An and his wife to join us and have the patch returned and they did.

But it has been a long tough road to get here. Major An flew over 1000 MACV SOG missions starting in 1966 until his flight career was ended when he lost both hands due to burns while rescuing men trapped in his burning H34 in September of 1970. After the fall of South Vietnam he was forced to endure imprisonment, a reeducation camp and poverty in Vietnam. Finally, in 1994 through the efforts of a United States legislator from Colorado and the Marine Corps Association he was able to join us in the United States and is on this podium at the USMC Vietnam Helicopter Association Reunion, in the presence of a roomful of true American heroes.

Those present in addition to the members of VMO-3 and HML-367 the Finest Squadrons in the history of Marine Helicopter operations were...

The men of VMO-6 "KLONDIKE"

Mrs. Nancy Pless, mother of Stephen Pless, MOH.

Colonel William Shelton CO FOB Phu Bai United States Army Special Forces

John Stryker Meyer, ONE-ZERO, RT "IDAHO" United States Army Special Forces MACVSOG CCN

Cliff Newman, ONE ZERO, RT "FLORIDA" United States Army Special Forces MACVSOG CCN. (Cliff and the members of RT "FLORIDA" were the first members of MACVSOG to Combat HALO into Laos.)

Haunting memories of brave comrades

J. Stryker Meyer

North County Times

When I die, if the Lord gives me a moment to reflect before I breathe my

last breath, my first thoughts will be not of my loved ones, nor my

children.

I'll reflect on and thank God for Sau, Hiep, Phouc, Tuan, Hung, Son,

Quang, Chau, Cau and Minh. Captains Tuong and Thinh and lieutenants Trung

and Trong will follow them in my thoughts.

Then, I'll think of my loving wife, our talented and unique children, and

our folks.

Why the Vietnamese men before my loved ones? Without the courage, strength

and fearless verve as combatants in America's secret war in Southeast

Asia, I wouldn't have returned to the United States.

Today, on the 25th anniversary of the fall of Saigon, I'll pause to salute

those warriors, men most Americans will never hear about, including the

more than 3 million U.S. troops sent to South Vietnam during America's

longest and costliest war.

There are many who do not respect or salute the Vietnamese who fought in

Vietnam. That's because our country has failed to educate them about the

Vietnamese, the country they sent us to and its history and customs. As

Green Berets, we fought side by side with them, laughed with them and

learned about their families, their dreams and hopes and fears.

The first group were members of Spike Team Idaho, a reconnaissance team

that ran classified missions into Cambodia, Laos and North Vietnam under

the aegis of the Military Assistance Command Vietnam, Studies and

Observation Group ---- SOG. Green Berets, Navy SEALs and U.S. Marine Corps

Force Reconnaissance troops manned several special operation commands

throughout South Vietnam.

I joined Spike Team Idaho in May 1968, after six members of the team

disappeared in a Laos target area. Three U.S. Green Berets and three

Vietnamese mercenaries were never heard from again and remain listed as

missing in action today. By '68, Idaho operated out of Phu Bai, 10 miles

south of Hue. In May, there were 30 recon teams there. By November, Idaho

was the only operational team left in camp. The enemy troops in Laos,

Cambodia and North Vietnam were well-trained, fearless and well-equipped.

Captains Tuong and Thinh and lieutenants Trung and Trong were helicopters

pilots who flew Sikorsky H-34s in the Vietnamese 219th Helicopter Squadron

for SOG. Time and again, they flew the older H-34s, which we called

"KINGBEES," into landing zones where enemy soldiers tried to knock them

out of the sky.

For several months in '68, the KINGBEES were the only aircraft flying SOG

teams "across the fence" deep into enemy territory. In Laos, the CIA

estimated there were between 30,000 and 40,000 North Vietnamese troops

keeping the Ho Chi Minh Trail open, bringing supplies from the north to

South Vietnam ---- and fighting SOG troops.

During my 17 months on Idaho, we always left targets under heavy fire from

North Vietnamese troops. The ride home was in KINGBEES and every time we

asked for one, it came, regardless of enemy fire. There are many Green

Berets alive today thanks to the incredible flying skills of Vietnamese

Kingbee pilots. And without the Vietnamese or Montagnard team members,

there would have been more than the 161 killed in SOG operations.

Sau was the Vietnamese team leader on Spike Team Idaho. When I landed at

Phu Bai, Sau had been fighting for Special Forces nearly five years.

Weighing less than 100 pounds soaking wet, Sau had a remarkable sixth

sense: He could smell the enemy. In the jungle he moved with complete

stealth and silence, often cursing his larger American counterparts.

Hiep was the team's interpreter, who sometimes corrected U.S. troops on

their English, as well as speaking Vietnamese, French and some Chinese.

Phouc, Chau, Son and Hung all signed up with Special Forces when they were

15 or 16. After hundreds of hours of intensive training, their age didn't

matter as they stood tall in combat.

On Oct. 7, 1968, Spike Team Idaho, after trying to escape from North

Vietnamese trackers, was attacked by NVA soldiers, who opened fire on full

automatic. Sau had warned they were near. Although none of the Americans

heard anything, Sau, Phuoc, Hiep and Don Wolken were on alert, with their

weapons on full automatic, ready to go.

In those firefights the first seconds are crucial. The submachine guns we

carried fired 20 high-velocity rounds in 1 1/2 seconds. Sau, Phouc and

Hiep reloaded and drove the NVA back down the jungle-shrouded hill. We

gained fire superiority, but the NVA never stopped coming at us. After a

while, they were firing at us from behind stacks of dead bodies. They came

at us from 2 p.m. until dusk, time and again rushing us, trying to overrun

our position. We had Air Force Phantom jets, Skyraiders and helicopter

gunships dropping bombs, napalm and cluster bombs and make strafing runs.

That was the first time I could recall smelling burnt human flesh.

By dusk, we were low on ammo, hand grenades and rounds for our grenade

launcher. Capt. Thinh flew his H-34 to a slight rise above our position,

hovering in deep elephant grass ---- thick-bladed grass that grew more

than 12 feet tall. Because the grass was thick and the NVA tried to close

in on us again, it took us several minutes to get to the Kingbee.

When I arrived under it, I looked up at Capt. Thinh, sitting there looking

as calm as a Rocky Mountain breeze in springtime, and he smiled. Finally,

we were loaded and he yanked us out of there. Sau, Hiep, Phouc and I fired

off our last magazine of rounds and threw our last grenade as we pulled

out of the landing zone, again under heavy enemy fire.

Within a few minutes we were at 4,000 feet, returning to Phu Bai. We were

safe and unharmed. The Kingbee had 48 holes from bullets and grenades in

its side panels and propellers. The new American on the team quit the next

day. Sau, Hiep and Phouc ate dinner before I arranged for Sau and Hiep to

return to their families that night.

That scene unfolded hundreds of times over the course of SOG's history. I

carry a deep, haunting guilt for having left them in South Vietnam.

J. Stryker Meyer, a North County Times staff writer, served in the Special

Forces from 1968 to 1970.