A Poem by John J. Duffy

Jaws of Death
(Captain Jack Heslin)

A Special Operations Force was surrounded.
They had five seriously wounded,
And they needed to evacuate them,
Before they could fight their way out.

I was "Blue One", the mission commander.
My job was to pull out the wounded.
I had five lift ships, plus gunships.
This mission is a "hot" exfiltration.

The friendlies are deep within enemy territory,
Trapped on a mountain side.
The enemy had them cornered and was waiting.
They knew a helicopter rescue would take place.

I launched our package of lift ships and guns.
The Forward Air Controller was working air,
Phantoms were diving in and bombing the enemy.
Anti-aircraft fire was coming out of the jungle.

The radio was chattering with directions:
"Blue One, you are cleared in now."
The pick-up site was a "hover hole".
I dropped out of the sky in a corkscrew approach.

Enemy fire shattered the front canopy window.
My co-pilot was bleeding from his face.
"How bad are you hit, can you still fly?"
"I'm OK. I'm OK. Let's get them out."

In we went, bullets lacing the ship,
A hanging touch down on the right skid.
Wounded loading through the right door.
The rotor blades clipping the branches.

I see an enemy machine gunner in front of me,
Ankle-chained to a tree and aiming at me.
My left door gunner opens up on automatic,
Blasting the enemy from his killing perch.

Wounded on-board, lift-up and fly away,
Enemy gunfire tears our ship apart.
I'm bleeding power and going down.
"Blue One going down. Mayday. Mayday. Mayday."

I see an opening on the "Ho Chi Minh Trail" below.
I'll land on the road, and we'll fight from there.
I auto-rotate in with the last element of power.
We hit hard and bounce twice: "Everyone out!"

The crew grabs their machine guns and ammo.
I grab my automatic rifle and pistol.
The enemy is all around - they are running away.
They are afraid, they think we are attacking.

The chase ships come in right behind us.
They quickly load the wounded on one bird.
My crew and I jump aboard the other bird.
It is up and away from the jaws of death.


Online Poetry Collection of John J Duffy