Up, Over, Sideways, Down
Lt. Mike "Elf" Cryer - Covey 597, 1970-71 Pleiku
The following extraction mission was caught on tape by a Huey pilot.
The recording graphically
captures how a routine flight could quickly become a struggle for
the survival of the men on the
ground, and an all-out effort by the men in the air to do everything
they could to support them -
wishing they had done more.
On
January 29,1971 I had an uneventful flight in my OV-10 from Pleiku
to Kontum to pick-up my Studies and Observation Group (SOG) rider,
John "Plasticman" Plaster, a tranquil flight that foreshadowed
none of the events to follow that day. After Plaster was snugly strapped
in the back of the Bronco, we were off for a day of fun in the sun
in Laos.
The flight was scheduled as a typical Prairie Fire mission in support
of SOG's Long Range Patrols (LRPs). SOG teams were normally composed
of three US Army Special Forces and 10 Montagnards. One-Zero was leader,
the One-One assistant lead and One-Two the radio operator. We were
to make radio contact with two teams and confirm their positions by
map reading and triangulation (pre GPS) and were scheduled for one
extraction.
Once we were "over the fence," we found Recon Team (RT)
Hawaii in a heavy fire fight with a NVA mortar company. So much for
a normal extraction! Plasticman and I relieved the O-2 on station
and got busy.
I coordinated UHF communications with C-130 Hillsboro for fighter
support while monitoring two FM frequencies with Plasticman to communicate
with the team on the ground and the inbound helicopters.
Hillsboro sent us an A-1E two-ship and since we were deep into Vietnamization
in 1971 the support we received was Vietnamese. Batman Charlie was
a flight of two excellent pilots who were just as capable as their
American counterparts at performing air-to-ground, close-air-support
for troops in contact. Communication was slow with the Vietnamese
pilots and instructions had to be precise and strong. (On one occasion
the language barrier landed me in a one-and-a-half with a Vietnamese
two-ship after I told them to leave the area so I could asses the
damage. They were headed east as they broke through the haze for their
own assessment, and I was going north - I split the two!)
We used Batman Charlie to bring the Prairie Fire Emergency back to
a Tactical Situation. Batman Charlie silenced the mortars with a few
500 pounders and some napalm as well as a little 50 cal.
While Hawaii One-Zero Les Dover settled down for lunch, the extraction
got underway with Panther 36 Cobras and White Flight Hueys on station.
I initiated the routine of Cobra 20 mike-mike and rocket passes. Plasticman
was settling into communications with the Hueys on picking up the
team's panel and briefing them on the best heading for an approach
into the hot landing area, now bristling with plenty of small arms:
AK-47s, RPGs and the SOG team's response.
Minutes after the Hueys arrived for Hawaii, all hell broke loose!
The radio filled the airwaves with urgent calls from Colorado One-Zero,
Pat Mitchell, who was eight miles to our Sierra: "Tango Papa,
Tango Papa!" "Covey, Covey, Covey!" This was his first
call for help after being overrun by an NVA attack. The initial attack
had left Colorado's One-One David "Lurch" Mixter dead and
One-Two John St. Laurent wounded by an RPG. There was quite a bit
of confusion about who was actually making the emergency call. Hawaii
was yelling range and direction over ground fire and the Huey door
gunner's grunting M-60, so we had trouble confirming the call for
help.
About a minute later we received a second panicked call from Colorado
One-Zero Pat Mitchell: "Prairie Fire, Prairie Fire!" He
was breathing heavily as he was trying to tow his dead assistant and
seriously wounded radio man to safety. Even though they had killed
ten of the enemy, they were running for their lives. Once we cleared
the confusion over who was in a Prairie Fire and who would lead the
Hawaii extraction, we lowered the nose and hauled ass.
The A-1s had returned to Pleiku for more ordnance, and we turned the
Hawaii extraction over to the Cobra lead over his protest. That was
one of the great thrills of being a FAC -- Air Force Lieutenants occasionally
got to tell Army Captains what to do!
It was a long eight miles. The Bronco's two turbo props couldn't get
us to Colorado fast enough. I got the M-60s and all four pods of Willy-Pete
and HE rockets armed to hot.
I was back on the UHF for any available air support and they found
Devil 61, a flight of two F100s, who were bingo bombs but still loaded
with 20 mike-mike.
"Evade, Evade!" Plasticman pleaded with Colorado to do their
best until we arrived on station. "Hold out!" he begged.
Colorado was obviously in deep shit and let us know. An anguished
"Fuuuuuck!" came over the radio punctuating the team's frustration.
Ten minutes after Colorado called Prairie Fire we arrived on station.
"Pop Smoke," Plasticman ordered. Colorado's green smoke
filtered through the dense, Laotion canopy near a small clearing.
"Got your smoke," Plasticman acknowledged. "Where do
you want the fire brought?"
"Two of us together . . . Behind a log . . . Charlie's still
on our ass! 50 meters . . . South!"
We were in hot with all four unsynchronized M60s pumping out as much
lead as we could muster. Pop, pop . . .pop, pop, pop . . . Pull up,
Roll over, Pull sideways to put the front end where the ass end was,
let the nose slice down, (with lots of rudder) and back on target
with every thing we had and wishing for more.
"Bring it in Closer!" Colorado demanded.
Shit, I was already laying it right on top. Plasticman told me to
hit the smoke again.
Up, over, sideways, down.
Pulling out of a gun-run, I worried over the intercom to Plasticman
that we might be putting holes in the good guys. Plaster assured me
it was suppressive fire - we were trying to keep everybody's, mostly
Charlie's, head down until the Cobras and A1s got back. HE rockets
in the tree line and M60s on the smoke.
"We're gonna be doin' it again," Plasticman consoled the
troubled warriors.
Up, over, sideways, down again and again until the Cobras cleared
Hawaii.
Devil 61 checks in and we bingo their guns.
"Gimme another smoke . . . Cobras on station" The Cobras
had secured Hawaii and were now ready to put 20 mike-mike on the bad
guys. Back into orbit and coordinating Panther 36's Cobra set-up.
White lead had to drop off Hawaii at Dak To and refuel before we could
extract. The added firepower from the Cobras allowed Plasticman and
Colorado to catch up.
"Lurch is dead," Colorado lamented.
Mitchell wanted to fight for the body of his fallen comrade, but Plasticman
urged him to sit tight. "Forget about the dead, we're worrying
about you now."
Batman Charlie arrived back on station so we coordinated a couple
of 50 cal passes to let the NVA know we were at full strength, and
then I held the two-ship high with White lead inbound. The Cobras
were off, the panel was out and the Hueys were on final and Cobra
36 was back on their wing. Lots of ground fire and the door gunners
were busy. The NVA was probably shooting at us during our runs, but
the OV-10 is so noisy you can't hear it and you're too busy to care.
Things started to slow down after about 20 minutes of intense fire.
The Montagnards had melted into the jungle to survive leaving Mitchell
and Laurent, the two remaining members of team Colorado, on their
own until the extraction started. "Tango Papa, they're gonna
need to help my man on board," Mitchell relayed to Plasticman.
White lead set down to pick up the exhausted warriors. The door gunner
took a round through his M-16 and dusted off a shrapnel souvenir in
a crease in his pants. An airburst slightly confused the extraction,
but as White lead explained over the radio it was just "some
dumb fucker" who threw a grenade out of the helicopter.
Before we started back to Pleiku, Plasticman had one more obligation.
"Please confirm. Lurch is dead?" he asked Colorado. The
message was relayed through White lead to Mitchell who was now recuperating
in the relative safety of the Huey.
"Affirmative, Lurch is gone." White lead reported.
David "Lurch" Mixter was the last SOG recon man lost in
Laos. The mission was turned over to the Vietnamese with our support
on February 7th while Melvin Laird reported in Time Magazine that
"There never have been and never will be Americans on the ground
in Laos".
The extraction was complete, so we Winchester'd the A1s' napalm on
the tree lines and clearing just to say goodbye.
The next time I was in Kontum, Pat Mitchell thanked me for my help
and asked me if I wanted to "run" with them next time. I
told him thanks for the offer, but I had a bum knee.
