Photos 68-69

Sept. 68

After John Boness and I used the the sea bees equipment at night to fill in between the new barracks, Boal sends me this picture with them putting turf down .They probably built a golf course also -who would have figured? Photo Courtesy of Mike Kujawa

Picture of Pat Reese standing behind the the HML-367 "living quarters" in Phu Bai.

Photo courtesy of Pat Reese

PHU BAI : Looking out my barracks at the 367 line shack and flight line Sept-Oct '69. Pat Reese

Bugjuice drop.... Marines from HML 367 distributing cold drinks and candy to the children at the Catholic orphanage new the base at Phu Bai. The orphanage was a regular stop as part of the squadron's "civic action program". On this day the orphan boys seemed upset with us. Lt. Randy Crews learned from the Nuns that on the previous day the US Army had visited them and given them about ten times as much candy and Kool Aid as we did. We asked her what they did with so much candy and she said "they sell it!" Copyright 1969, Mark Austin Byrd.

This was taken on the flight line at Phu Bai Sept-Oct '69. I don't remember his last name but his first was Dick. I do recall that he was one of the well respected and admired Crew Chief's that we as new "green turds" looked up to with an almost God like reverence. It seems to me that he rotated before Dec of '69. He was a good guy and liked by all. Pat Reese

VT4 Slick. Before the conversion to Cobras, Scarface flew Huey gunships and Huey slicks. VT4 is seen in this photo on the LZ near "The Rockpile" just below the DMZ, in the fall of 1969, probably on a VIP mission. This was the standard paint scheme for Scarface Hueys. A black tail boom with the squadron emblem, a yellow circle surrounding a cobra poised to strike. Photo Credit: This photo was taken by 1st Lt. Richard Bennett, a Scarface pilot. Richard was killed in a car wreck shortly after returning to CONUS. Copyright 1969 Richard Bennett.

Slick over Dong Ha. A Scarface UH-1E Slick flying a VIP mission in the vicinity of Dong Ha, winter of 1969.

Change of Command 1st Lt. Mike Williams transferring the colors as Lt. Col. Wilkinson turns over his command to Lt. Col. Warren G. Cretney. Mike Williams remained in the Marine Corps after Vietnam and is now a Major General.

Change of Command Ceremony in fall of 1969, on the Scarface flight line at Hue Phu Bai. Photo Credit: Richard Bennett, Scarface Pilot

Duckpond 1st Lt John Upthegrove with his ducks. John built this duck pond in front of our hooch at Phu Bai in late 1969. With the rain we had that monsoon season the ducks hardly needed a pond when Phu Bai had the most rain recorded in one minute, in one hour, in one day, and in one month on the planet Earth. Copyright 1999, Mark Austin Byrd.

SCARFACE Pilots. A group photo of pilots at what is believed to be the Marble Mountain "O" club. This was taken during the transition from Hueys to the new Cobra's.

Dennis Grace and Jim Brown in the foreground at the Marble Mountain "O" club in late 1969. Dennis Grace was killed in a crash a few months later. Jim Brown received the Silver Star for leading the rescue of the crew of John Rhodes huey gunship downed in Laos. In the background can be seen a Vietnamese officer that may be Captain An of the VNAF squadron "Kingbee". At any rate, he is one of the pilots who flew with us regularly on the Prairie Fire missions. Photo copyright 1969, Mark Austin Byrd.

Scarface pilots and crew chief checking out their aircraft logs in the line shack on the flight line at Phu Bai in late 1969. From Left: Lt. John Rhodes, Lt. Harry Phipps, Cpl. B.D. Hatcher, Lt. John O'Meara, Lt. Rick Harrington, and Lt. Frank Sacharanski. Photo courtesy of Scarface Cruise Book collection

Scarface Gunship pilots wondering if the hard points, Tat turret or the Crew Chief could handle this one??? Captured enemy ordnance from up around the DMZ. Any guesses???

Photo courtesy of Scarface Cruise Book collection

UH-1Es at Fire Support Base CUNNINGHAM during Operation DEWEY CANYON in northern I Corps in 1969. Without guns, the UH-1E was an excellent observation aircraft, but it often was diverted to other missions, as here supplying a remote firebase. VT-23 foreground, VT-13 background.

USMC Photo A192655

The real truth about the Picture

This photo was taken just before the lifting of the siege of Khe Sanh. I was flying VT-13 and Pete Laux was either my Copilot or was in VT-23, I think Andy Wells was also part of the mission crews. The LZ is FSB CATES on a high ridge above Highway 9. There was another FSB West of the highway, also named for a former commandant, Pate I think. Both provided support for Khe Sahn. The FSB is not Cunningham and the operation was not Dewey Canyon. We were picking up some grunts to recon the area around Khe Sahn for the evacuation of the Base. I have an 18"x24" copy of the photo that I got from FMFPAC where a much larger copy hung in the main entrance to the Hqtrs. in 1970.

Colonel William Percival USMC Ret

Former CO HMLA 367