Friday, June 2, 1972
Daring Helo Sortie Rescues 4 From An Loc
LAI KHE, Vietnam --A knot of American Army officers wandered around jeeps parked next to the landing pad, somewhat ill at ease under overcast skies -some with hands in pockets, others kicking haphazardly at stones underfoot, one or two scanning the horizon to the north.At the sound of an approaching flight of Hueys they looked at each other and grinned.In a daring daylight sortie into An Loc, a Huey helicopter escorted by gunships landed long enough to pick up four American advisers who had been living in the besieged city for more than a month. It marked the fifth successful mission into the city by pilots from the 120th Corps Aviation Co., stationed in Long Binh.The four Americans, haggard and with uniforms covered with red clay, scrambled off their pickup ship at Lai Khe to be met by an impromptu reception committee."It was a difficult flight into An Loc. The weather was bad and I could see tracer rounds streaking past the front of the ship as we went in," said Lt. Col. Jack Dugan, commander of the 12th Aviation Group, whose pilots led the low-level insertion.It was the second trip to the provincial capital in 10-days for Capt. Donald Nimblett, the lead pilot.The 26-year-old officer from Fort Rucker, Ala., said he touched down in An Loc for no more than 15 seconds as the advisers hustled onboard.He said his crewmen reported intense fire as the ship neared the pickup area but that he couldn't see any because he was too busy concentrating on the controls.Other pilots on the hour-long flight said they saw small arms and scattered .51 caliber antiaircraft fire.Dugan said North Vietnamese Army elements at An Loc did not know the flight was coming. "If they had," he said, "They would have blown us out of the sky."With three Cobra gunships as cover, the team flew through a drizzle of rain which at times obscured their visibility but also helped to give them cover, Dugan said."Daring Helo Sortie Rescues 4 From An Loc" by S&S Vietnam Bureau, published in the Pacific Stars and Stripes Friday, June 2, 1972 and reprinted from European and Pacific Stars and Stripes, a Department of Defense publication copyright, 2002 European and Pacific Stars and Stripes.