WEBVTT 00:00:18.539 --> 00:00:22.519 Welcome to the voice of Americans veterans veterans 00:00:22.519 --> 00:00:33.520 radio And now live from a of 990 wdeo studio 00:00:33.520 --> 00:00:36.579 a Ann Arbor, Michigan your host for today's program 00:00:36.579 --> 00:00:41.439 former helicopter pilot sky chief to zero 195th 00:00:41.439 --> 00:00:45.119 assault company Republic of Vietnam Dale throne 00:00:50.300 --> 00:00:52.600 Good morning, America, and welcome to Veterans 00:00:52.600 --> 00:00:54.820 Radio. It's such an honor to be here to talk 00:00:54.820 --> 00:00:56.880 to you about these brave men and women that we're 00:00:56.880 --> 00:00:59.219 going to be talking about today. I'm very excited 00:00:59.219 --> 00:01:02.119 with today's program, but before we get to that, 00:01:02.240 --> 00:01:05.439 I've got Bob Gould as my air boss today. Stand 00:01:05.439 --> 00:01:07.659 in the door. Good to be with you, Dale. It's 00:01:07.659 --> 00:01:09.700 good to have you here, and I've got Gary Lilly 00:01:09.700 --> 00:01:12.799 who's trying to run our webcast at a secret location, 00:01:12.879 --> 00:01:15.659 so we won't be able to talk with Gary, but I 00:01:15.659 --> 00:01:18.680 think he's... They were having a fundraiser here 00:01:18.680 --> 00:01:21.799 at WDEO last week and unfortunately some of the 00:01:21.799 --> 00:01:23.439 equipment didn't get put back where we thought 00:01:23.439 --> 00:01:27.000 it should be. Yes, but we may do. I think we 00:01:27.000 --> 00:01:29.299 may do. I've got to get Gary to record though 00:01:29.299 --> 00:01:31.620 because it looks like right now it looks like 00:01:31.620 --> 00:01:33.640 we might not be webcasting at this particular 00:01:33.640 --> 00:01:36.120 moment. But we'll get that figured out as we 00:01:36.120 --> 00:01:38.140 go along. So those of you out there, be patient. 00:01:39.000 --> 00:01:40.980 We will not have a camera in the studio today 00:01:40.980 --> 00:01:42.959 so luckily you won't be able to see my pretty 00:01:42.959 --> 00:01:48.180 face. But we will be talking. to our guests and 00:01:48.180 --> 00:01:50.060 we have a bunch of slides that hopefully we're 00:01:50.060 --> 00:01:52.019 able to get up and we'll be able to show you 00:01:52.019 --> 00:01:54.359 of the events that occurred. We're going to be 00:01:54.359 --> 00:01:57.560 talking about an incident that occurred back 00:01:57.560 --> 00:02:01.239 in 1968 and I really want to make sure that you 00:02:01.239 --> 00:02:03.680 stay tuned for this program because we're calling 00:02:03.680 --> 00:02:06.599 it or it's called Left 4 Dead and this is about 00:02:06.599 --> 00:02:10.439 a helicopter crewman whose aircraft was crashed 00:02:10.439 --> 00:02:13.400 and unfortunately he was left out in the field. 00:02:14.139 --> 00:02:15.659 We're going to come back to that in a moment 00:02:15.659 --> 00:02:19.139 but we have him on our program. He did survive 00:02:19.139 --> 00:02:22.379 and we also have his major at the time who came 00:02:22.379 --> 00:02:25.479 out and got him which is just a great story because 00:02:25.479 --> 00:02:26.659 they both were out there in the middle of the 00:02:26.659 --> 00:02:28.879 night and I think you're going to find it to 00:02:28.879 --> 00:02:32.379 be fascinating. I've heard that place. We're 00:02:32.379 --> 00:02:35.120 back on veterans radio and we're going back in 00:02:35.120 --> 00:02:38.219 time folks. We're going to go back to the night. 00:02:38.900 --> 00:02:42.479 of the 29th of January, 1968, the night before 00:02:42.479 --> 00:02:44.580 the Tet Spencer actually occurred. And we've 00:02:44.580 --> 00:02:46.620 got two people that were intimately involved 00:02:46.620 --> 00:02:48.460 in what was going on there. And I'm going to 00:02:48.460 --> 00:02:50.280 bring them both on our program right now. And 00:02:50.280 --> 00:02:52.060 first of all, I want to welcome Wendell Skinner. 00:02:52.120 --> 00:02:54.699 Wendell, welcome to Veterans Radio. Good morning. 00:02:55.259 --> 00:02:58.080 How are you doing, Wendell? Pretty good. I'm 00:02:58.080 --> 00:03:01.180 just getting started. It is exciting to get started. 00:03:01.419 --> 00:03:04.259 Also joining us on our phone is Wendell's commanding 00:03:04.259 --> 00:03:06.259 officer at the time, and that was Major Earl 00:03:06.259 --> 00:03:10.020 Carlson. Major, welcome to Veterans Radio. Welcome. 00:03:10.180 --> 00:03:12.860 Nice to be there. It's nice to be anywhere sometimes, 00:03:12.879 --> 00:03:17.080 isn't it? Nice to be alive, yeah. Considering 00:03:17.080 --> 00:03:19.180 the alternative, right? It's a good deal. Well, 00:03:19.180 --> 00:03:21.280 I'm really excited to have both of you on our 00:03:21.280 --> 00:03:23.300 program today, and I'm going to start off with 00:03:23.300 --> 00:03:26.939 Wendell. I'm going to have, this may get difficult, 00:03:26.939 --> 00:03:29.349 I understand that, but let's go back. to that 00:03:29.349 --> 00:03:32.909 night of 29 January 1968. Tell me a little bit 00:03:32.909 --> 00:03:34.789 about the mission you were on and what happened. 00:03:35.789 --> 00:03:41.550 Okay, we were with a Lerp outfit, the 51st Emissary 00:03:41.550 --> 00:03:46.530 Airborne Lerps and we had several teams out along 00:03:46.530 --> 00:03:51.629 the Ho Chi Minh Trail and actually we were in 00:03:51.629 --> 00:03:55.270 the company area watching a movie and just as 00:03:55.270 --> 00:03:58.840 the movie ended the siren went off. Well, That 00:03:58.840 --> 00:04:01.180 meant we got to get on our horse and get out 00:04:01.180 --> 00:04:07.500 of there. If I remember correctly, we didn't 00:04:07.500 --> 00:04:10.800 even have anybody go to the operations tent to 00:04:10.800 --> 00:04:15.319 get the coordinates. We just got the chopper, 00:04:15.439 --> 00:04:19.360 which would be me, Frank Miller, and Woody Woodworth, 00:04:19.480 --> 00:04:21.720 who was my pilot, and Tom Campbell was my co 00:04:21.720 --> 00:04:26.389 -pilot. We just took off and Woody was... getting 00:04:26.389 --> 00:04:28.850 the coordinates as we were flying to the site. 00:04:30.009 --> 00:04:33.850 And as we were going to the site, we also got 00:04:33.850 --> 00:04:38.290 in contact with the team and they were whispering 00:04:38.290 --> 00:04:41.269 on the radio, which meant, you know, that BC 00:04:41.269 --> 00:04:44.029 was probably right on top of them. And they told 00:04:44.029 --> 00:04:46.149 us they were pretty deep back in the jungle and 00:04:46.149 --> 00:04:50.129 they were trying to get to the LZ and they had 00:04:50.129 --> 00:04:53.149 a blue strobe light and they would hit that thing 00:04:53.149 --> 00:04:55.490 every now and again just to let us know where 00:04:55.490 --> 00:04:58.389 we were at, because I think they called flying 00:04:58.389 --> 00:05:00.550 in a holding pattern. I'm not sure about that. 00:05:00.569 --> 00:05:07.029 We just had to kind of fly in a circle to wait 00:05:07.029 --> 00:05:10.730 until they told us to come in. So when we got 00:05:10.730 --> 00:05:15.750 the word to come in, we started in the LZ. And 00:05:15.750 --> 00:05:26.220 as I remember, we were taking a little bit And 00:05:26.220 --> 00:05:28.399 at night it's even worse. Cause I mean, you're 00:05:28.399 --> 00:05:31.139 trying to look for obstructions and everything, 00:05:31.139 --> 00:05:33.079 but it was a, it was a pretty clear area. And 00:05:33.079 --> 00:05:37.120 I was a lot of chatter going on and I looked 00:05:37.120 --> 00:05:39.660 up front to say something to Woody and all of 00:05:39.660 --> 00:05:43.519 a sudden all this stuff come flying over the 00:05:43.519 --> 00:05:48.220 windshield. And next thing I know, um, I mean, 00:05:48.220 --> 00:05:52.480 I'm laying in a bunch of wires and I had no clue 00:05:52.480 --> 00:05:57.049 what had happened. And what happened is the that 00:05:57.049 --> 00:06:00.509 area had just been burnt out for some reason. 00:06:01.089 --> 00:06:10.149 Now this is near Bearcat, Vietnam. I got that 00:06:10.149 --> 00:06:12.750 mistaken when I put out the flyer. That's cool. 00:06:12.850 --> 00:06:14.269 But it's okay because some of the people that 00:06:14.269 --> 00:06:16.269 were there corrected us right away, didn't they? 00:06:20.069 --> 00:06:22.649 That's okay. Anyway, well, that's cool, because 00:06:22.649 --> 00:06:26.930 the guys on the website, our website, the 195th, 00:06:26.930 --> 00:06:28.810 you know, they're pretty much up to date on all 00:06:28.810 --> 00:06:32.889 this stuff. But anyway, we come in and in talking 00:06:32.889 --> 00:06:35.970 to Woody just the other night, we go over this 00:06:35.970 --> 00:06:40.829 thing every time we talk. And he said that he 00:06:40.829 --> 00:06:43.110 just lost contact with the ground. He had no 00:06:43.110 --> 00:06:45.850 clue. And he thought he was close to setting 00:06:45.850 --> 00:06:52.470 down. Well, he just cut power. He said we hit 00:06:52.470 --> 00:06:56.389 real hard and he went flying out of the front 00:06:56.389 --> 00:06:59.470 windshield and still in his seat and his one 00:06:59.470 --> 00:07:01.930 arm just about got tore off. It was all screwed 00:07:01.930 --> 00:07:04.449 up, of course. I didn't know all this until after 00:07:04.449 --> 00:07:10.529 the fact. I'm laying underneath the helicopter 00:07:10.529 --> 00:07:13.490 and I really am not sure what's going on. I knew 00:07:13.490 --> 00:07:17.790 I was in a bad way, but I thought I was dreaming 00:07:17.790 --> 00:07:21.449 and I was waking up and passing out. And I kept 00:07:21.449 --> 00:07:26.850 hearing all this chatter outside. I actually 00:07:26.850 --> 00:07:29.509 saw a gunship fly over once. And I kept hearing 00:07:29.509 --> 00:07:35.970 that thing circle. And all of a sudden, the chatter 00:07:35.970 --> 00:07:41.629 stopped. And then I hear the slow whine of that 00:07:41.629 --> 00:07:55.939 chopper motor whining up. Man, I'm in dead silence. 00:07:56.699 --> 00:07:59.740 And I thought, holy mackerel. I mean, I thought, 00:07:59.779 --> 00:08:02.899 man, what is going to happen here? I had all 00:08:02.899 --> 00:08:05.639 kinds of things going through my mind. Then I 00:08:05.639 --> 00:08:08.240 just kept passing out, coming to, passing out, 00:08:08.240 --> 00:08:12.319 coming to. And evidently it was about a five 00:08:12.319 --> 00:08:15.399 hour, six hour period. Maybe that might be a 00:08:15.399 --> 00:08:18.620 little bit much, but it was like from nine o 00:08:18.620 --> 00:08:20.819 'clock to one in the morning. The major can probably 00:08:20.819 --> 00:08:25.949 expound on that a little bit better. All I could 00:08:25.949 --> 00:08:29.649 think of when I woke up every time is if the 00:08:29.649 --> 00:08:32.870 VC come inside or come into Chopper and find 00:08:32.870 --> 00:08:35.950 me, I mean I was all tore up and I figured they 00:08:35.950 --> 00:08:38.330 would just shoot me because I wouldn't be much 00:08:38.330 --> 00:08:41.549 good to them. Well your leg was hurt pretty badly 00:08:41.549 --> 00:08:43.970 wasn't it? Well it was pinned under the helicopter 00:08:43.970 --> 00:08:49.889 and I was actually, I was kind of sitting in 00:08:49.889 --> 00:08:57.360 an upright position with my leg. leg under the 00:08:57.360 --> 00:09:02.539 top of the roof my knee and my thigh was just 00:09:02.539 --> 00:09:06.940 completely crushed by the helicopter but believe 00:09:06.940 --> 00:09:10.259 it or not I wasn't feeling any pain and I don't 00:09:10.259 --> 00:09:12.960 know if that's a mental mechanism kicking in 00:09:12.960 --> 00:09:19.460 or you know I have no clue so I'm all of a sudden 00:09:19.460 --> 00:09:22.120 I'm you know I'm I'm thinking all this stuff 00:09:22.120 --> 00:09:28.820 and then I'm going in and out and I never heard 00:09:28.820 --> 00:09:31.679 Major Carlson's helicopter come up, so I must 00:09:31.679 --> 00:09:37.399 have been completely out. Then I hear this noise 00:09:37.399 --> 00:09:41.299 and I'm thinking, oh boy, this is either good 00:09:41.299 --> 00:09:48.179 or bad. I don't know who came up into the chopper, 00:09:48.580 --> 00:09:58.659 but whoever it was kind of looked down. It was 00:09:58.659 --> 00:10:03.360 like a matter of fact, you know? And so they 00:10:03.360 --> 00:10:07.000 get me out and I'm going, I remember being put 00:10:07.000 --> 00:10:10.120 on the evac helicopter, which Major Carlson was 00:10:10.120 --> 00:10:14.440 flying, and I remember going into the 1930 evac 00:10:14.440 --> 00:10:20.299 hospital, but when I woke up the next morning, 00:10:20.480 --> 00:10:24.720 I was in a ward of amputees. Everybody around 00:10:24.720 --> 00:10:29.700 me was an amputee. I'm not looking, you know, 00:10:29.700 --> 00:10:33.899 I just, I just looked at the ceiling and I was, 00:10:34.379 --> 00:10:36.860 I was just petrified. I thought, Oh man, I, you 00:10:36.860 --> 00:10:39.019 know, I've lost a limb or something, but you 00:10:39.019 --> 00:10:41.659 know, still I was grateful I was alive, but you 00:10:41.659 --> 00:10:43.340 know, you don't think about a lot of that stuff. 00:10:43.360 --> 00:10:46.159 And then the doc came in and I just looked at 00:10:46.159 --> 00:10:48.720 him. I said, am I in one piece? He said, yeah, 00:10:48.720 --> 00:10:50.779 but he says, you'll never, you'll never walk 00:10:50.779 --> 00:10:55.360 right again. And anyway, from there I came back 00:10:55.360 --> 00:10:59.710 to camp Zama, Japan. Then I went to Watson Army 00:10:59.710 --> 00:11:02.990 Hospital and then I ended up at Valley Forge 00:11:02.990 --> 00:11:08.649 for a year. Rehab and you know, all the stuff 00:11:08.649 --> 00:11:11.250 they did to me. Let me stop you there. Okay. 00:11:11.529 --> 00:11:15.070 I want to go back to the night that you were 00:11:15.070 --> 00:11:18.649 shot down or crashed and I want to try to set 00:11:18.649 --> 00:11:22.090 up the picture for our civilian audience. I want 00:11:22.090 --> 00:11:24.509 you to imagine that you're driving in fog. I 00:11:24.509 --> 00:11:28.740 mean really thick fog. You can't see the ground 00:11:28.740 --> 00:11:31.659 and you're trusting your own judgment instead 00:11:31.659 --> 00:11:33.080 of the instruments, which is what they always 00:11:33.080 --> 00:11:34.940 taught us in high school. Trust your instruments. 00:11:36.059 --> 00:11:40.419 And you suddenly stop 10 feet short of where 00:11:40.419 --> 00:11:43.240 you really wanted to be. And then you just let 00:11:43.240 --> 00:11:45.580 it coast forward and you crash into the wall. 00:11:45.659 --> 00:11:47.720 That's similar to what happened. Sounds like 00:11:47.720 --> 00:11:49.879 what happened. I'm sure he probably got a little 00:11:49.879 --> 00:11:51.919 bit of vertigo and wasn't sure what was up and 00:11:51.919 --> 00:11:53.600 what was down and thought, man, I'm so close 00:11:53.600 --> 00:11:55.870 to the ground, I'll just land right now. because 00:11:55.870 --> 00:11:58.429 of all this ash flying around. So he brings it 00:11:58.429 --> 00:12:02.129 in hard, and when he brought it in hard, the 00:12:02.129 --> 00:12:05.350 pilot goes out the windshield. This is what... 00:12:05.350 --> 00:12:09.710 I mean, seat and awe. We used to sit in armored 00:12:09.710 --> 00:12:12.190 seats, and he goes out the windshield, just about 00:12:12.190 --> 00:12:14.610 tears his arm off. There was a lot of panic and 00:12:14.610 --> 00:12:16.950 a lot of concern on the ground because you not 00:12:16.950 --> 00:12:19.370 only had a helicopter that had now rolled over 00:12:19.370 --> 00:12:21.629 and just about beat itself to death, probably. 00:12:22.730 --> 00:12:25.690 Oh yeah. You've got a team of special forces 00:12:25.690 --> 00:12:29.250 on the ground and everybody's trying to get everybody 00:12:29.250 --> 00:12:31.309 out and get them on that one helicopter and get 00:12:31.309 --> 00:12:32.870 them out because they're, by the way, they're 00:12:32.870 --> 00:12:36.129 getting shot at at the same time. Yeah and it's, 00:12:36.629 --> 00:12:39.230 you know, what happened and Woody and I were 00:12:39.230 --> 00:12:41.769 talking about this the other night. We had a 00:12:41.769 --> 00:12:45.470 belly man that went out with us and he was actually 00:12:45.470 --> 00:12:50.169 a pilot that we just, he wanted to go along and 00:12:50.169 --> 00:12:56.559 experience a night extract. Well, we think that 00:12:56.559 --> 00:13:01.960 when they found him It was me. Oh, okay. So in 00:13:01.960 --> 00:13:06.399 the meantime Woody They got out of his seat and 00:13:06.399 --> 00:13:09.240 he was over there He heard me screaming and he 00:13:09.240 --> 00:13:11.820 was trying to dig me out when he passed out from 00:13:11.820 --> 00:13:14.559 loss of blood And you know when they found him 00:13:14.559 --> 00:13:16.759 they just threw him and it's pitch black I mean, 00:13:16.759 --> 00:13:19.580 you know, and I'm not sure if these guys had 00:13:19.580 --> 00:13:23.970 flashlights. I have no clue You know, we flew 00:13:23.970 --> 00:13:26.169 these guys everywhere, but I never paid a lot 00:13:26.169 --> 00:13:28.409 of attention to their equipment they carried. 00:13:28.929 --> 00:13:32.750 I'm sure they had those red flashlights. Yeah, 00:13:32.870 --> 00:13:34.990 with a little red covering over for night vision. 00:13:35.149 --> 00:13:37.629 Right. And I mean, I don't know how good those 00:13:37.629 --> 00:13:42.409 are in the dark, but you know, and another thing, 00:13:43.769 --> 00:13:47.429 where we were at was a big buildup for the set 00:13:47.429 --> 00:13:49.690 offensive in that area. And I'm sure that the 00:13:49.690 --> 00:13:52.789 BC did not want to compromise their position 00:13:52.789 --> 00:13:55.700 or what we was going to happen the next day by 00:13:55.700 --> 00:13:59.539 coming in there and just killing everybody because 00:13:59.539 --> 00:14:01.419 reactionary force would come out of it. I think 00:14:01.419 --> 00:14:04.480 that's what they call it and it would have probably 00:14:04.480 --> 00:14:07.120 blown a lot of their cover. I was talking to 00:14:07.120 --> 00:14:09.539 another veteran of the Tet Offensive a couple 00:14:09.539 --> 00:14:13.019 of days ago and he mentioned that he had come 00:14:13.019 --> 00:14:14.879 around the corner. He was in Saigon or someplace 00:14:14.879 --> 00:14:16.879 outside of Saigon and he had driven a jeep around 00:14:16.879 --> 00:14:18.580 the corner and he said he saw a whole bunch of 00:14:18.580 --> 00:14:21.259 NVH regulars and he figured, well, I'm done. 00:14:21.480 --> 00:14:24.240 and they just let him drive right on by because 00:14:24.240 --> 00:14:26.240 they didn't want to, you know, wreck their time 00:14:26.240 --> 00:14:28.700 schedule that they had for their three acrylic 00:14:28.700 --> 00:14:32.120 attack. We're talking with Wendell Skinner and 00:14:32.120 --> 00:14:35.340 Major Earl Carlson of the 195th Assault Helicopter 00:14:35.340 --> 00:14:38.620 Company and we're talking about the night that 00:14:38.620 --> 00:14:42.240 Wendell got, aircraft got shot down and he was 00:14:42.240 --> 00:14:45.820 caught underneath it through panic and confusion. 00:14:45.940 --> 00:14:48.480 He was left out in the field for about five hours. 00:14:48.679 --> 00:14:51.840 before a rescue was attempted. Now I want to 00:14:51.840 --> 00:14:55.200 go over to Major Carlson. Major Carlson, tell 00:14:55.200 --> 00:14:57.639 me what happened around midnight that night for 00:14:57.639 --> 00:15:00.840 you. Well, let me clarify a couple of things 00:15:00.840 --> 00:15:03.779 first. For those who are uninitiated, the LRP 00:15:03.779 --> 00:15:06.279 that Wynn was talking about is the Long Range 00:15:06.279 --> 00:15:10.860 Patrol. These were groups of special forces which 00:15:10.860 --> 00:15:13.720 the 195th helicopter company had been tasked 00:15:13.720 --> 00:15:17.259 to take out along the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Laos, 00:15:17.460 --> 00:15:21.159 Cambodia, and Vietnam, and capture the stragglers 00:15:21.159 --> 00:15:23.340 and bring them back for interrogation so we could 00:15:23.340 --> 00:15:25.659 put together a puzzle about where they were coming 00:15:25.659 --> 00:15:29.320 from, how they were moving, and so forth. And 00:15:29.320 --> 00:15:34.559 there is about 20 miles east of Saigon, down 00:15:34.559 --> 00:15:36.860 near the Delta area. Well, you want to clarify 00:15:36.860 --> 00:15:40.000 this point. I also say how impressed I was, Dale, 00:15:40.019 --> 00:15:43.259 that you were a member of the 195th sometime 00:15:43.259 --> 00:15:45.899 after I had left. That's right, and I heard all 00:15:45.899 --> 00:15:49.580 the stories. It's great to talk with people that 00:15:49.580 --> 00:15:54.379 I only heard about. Well, let me paint a better 00:15:54.379 --> 00:16:00.980 picture now. I had sent from my unit a half dozen 00:16:00.980 --> 00:16:04.340 aircraft up to a place called Strong Bay Mountain. 00:16:04.539 --> 00:16:06.519 They clear off the peak of a mountain and build 00:16:06.519 --> 00:16:09.419 a special forces camp there. That's where we 00:16:09.419 --> 00:16:12.419 went. I put all of our people up there on a two 00:16:12.419 --> 00:16:15.429 -minute notice. You sleep by your aircraft and 00:16:15.429 --> 00:16:17.590 as soon as the first mortar comes in, if the 00:16:17.590 --> 00:16:19.470 enemy chooses to take us, and they could have 00:16:19.470 --> 00:16:22.309 at any time, but we want to make it too costly 00:16:22.309 --> 00:16:25.669 for them, within two minutes I expected every 00:16:25.669 --> 00:16:28.250 aircraft to be airborne. Get out of there and 00:16:28.250 --> 00:16:31.330 come back and use our machine guns and rockets 00:16:31.330 --> 00:16:35.450 to fend off enemy force. But we knew that there 00:16:35.450 --> 00:16:38.210 were thousands, tens of thousands of people coming 00:16:38.210 --> 00:16:41.029 down through the jungle out south towards Saigon, 00:16:41.110 --> 00:16:46.379 the populated areas. And so I felt that we might 00:16:46.379 --> 00:16:49.559 have been attacked any time, and that we were 00:16:49.559 --> 00:16:50.840 doomed, but we were going to make them pay a 00:16:50.840 --> 00:16:55.820 price for it. But the night before, we got a 00:16:55.820 --> 00:16:57.600 call back, or the afternoon before, we got a 00:16:57.600 --> 00:16:59.840 call back to Saigon with our helicopters, meeting 00:16:59.840 --> 00:17:03.059 the Special Forces people there, which I didn't 00:17:03.059 --> 00:17:07.910 like too much, but that's the way it was. That 00:17:07.910 --> 00:17:10.990 night I was sleeping and after midnight somebody 00:17:10.990 --> 00:17:13.690 came and woke me up and told me that we had lost 00:17:13.690 --> 00:17:17.930 an aircraft. It was the first we had lost. We 00:17:17.930 --> 00:17:19.549 had been through some pretty good battles by 00:17:19.549 --> 00:17:24.130 that time but we hadn't had a loss of life or 00:17:24.130 --> 00:17:29.630 aircraft. So I asked an ordinary question and 00:17:29.630 --> 00:17:31.230 of course one of which is did we get all our 00:17:31.230 --> 00:17:33.829 crew back? They said, yeah, we got everybody 00:17:33.829 --> 00:17:36.849 but one who was trapped underneath the aircraft 00:17:36.849 --> 00:17:40.609 and left for dead. I was incredulous. My God, 00:17:40.609 --> 00:17:43.009 you don't go off and leave your people alive 00:17:43.009 --> 00:17:45.930 or dead. That's the first order of battle among 00:17:45.930 --> 00:17:48.569 professional soldiers. Never go off and leave 00:17:48.569 --> 00:17:50.089 your dead in the battlefield. There's any way 00:17:50.089 --> 00:17:52.450 possible if you get out of there. Of course, 00:17:52.450 --> 00:17:55.730 I was furious with the pilot and co -pilot that 00:17:55.730 --> 00:17:58.430 they would go off and leave him there. What I 00:17:58.430 --> 00:18:02.420 didn't find out until... Wendell and I got back 00:18:02.420 --> 00:18:07.160 together again a year ago, was that the pilot 00:18:07.160 --> 00:18:08.940 and co -pilot and the other member of the ship 00:18:08.940 --> 00:18:12.700 would all be up as bad as he was and I could 00:18:12.700 --> 00:18:15.200 understand then that they, you know, they were 00:18:15.200 --> 00:18:17.460 passing out from time to time just like Wendell 00:18:17.460 --> 00:18:21.359 was. So it was a terrible scene there. So anyway, 00:18:21.680 --> 00:18:24.299 I got a good co -pilot and I'd hopped him and 00:18:24.299 --> 00:18:27.160 Chalford. We went out there and when I approached 00:18:27.160 --> 00:18:31.400 the scene and it was full moon and the... The 00:18:31.400 --> 00:18:33.819 trees had been burned out, but they still had 00:18:33.819 --> 00:18:37.039 the limbs projecting up toward the sky. The ground 00:18:37.039 --> 00:18:40.480 was covered with ashes. It was like something 00:18:40.480 --> 00:18:44.059 out of a Boris Borloff, whatever his name was, 00:18:45.059 --> 00:18:49.019 movie, a ghost scene. It was pretty obvious to 00:18:49.019 --> 00:18:50.940 me that as soon as we came in there, we were 00:18:50.940 --> 00:18:54.099 going to be flying blind. And so I told my co 00:18:54.099 --> 00:18:57.069 -pilot, you watch carefully what I do now. and 00:18:57.069 --> 00:19:00.329 get your mindset on where you are and what your 00:19:00.329 --> 00:19:02.509 rate of descent is so that you can get down to 00:19:02.509 --> 00:19:04.990 the ground and you're not going to have a lot 00:19:04.990 --> 00:19:07.569 of load on the aircraft so you won't have to 00:19:07.569 --> 00:19:10.849 worry about stalling out and crashing and you 00:19:10.849 --> 00:19:13.410 bring it on in because I'm going to get out and 00:19:13.410 --> 00:19:14.710 take the crew chief with me and I'm going to 00:19:14.710 --> 00:19:19.710 go out and bring back a window. And so we made 00:19:19.710 --> 00:19:22.230 that very good landing there and I was surprised 00:19:22.230 --> 00:19:24.109 by it myself because we were blind about the 00:19:24.109 --> 00:19:26.990 last 50 feet going in. Of course we would risk 00:19:26.990 --> 00:19:30.190 another aircraft or another crew, but we often 00:19:30.190 --> 00:19:32.410 take chances in combat and we do what you have 00:19:32.410 --> 00:19:36.910 to do. Absolutely. And this doesn't quite track 00:19:36.910 --> 00:19:39.329 with what Wendel just said, but I'm not quite 00:19:39.329 --> 00:19:42.089 sure. You know, that was what, 43 years ago? 00:19:42.349 --> 00:19:47.210 Well, you know. But as I recall, well, I'm sorry, 00:19:47.369 --> 00:19:50.599 what is this, 33 years ago? I don't know. Anyway, 00:19:50.859 --> 00:19:53.619 and I'm 81 now, so you'll forgive me if I have 00:19:53.619 --> 00:19:59.500 a few cobwebs up there. I was sure that I heard 00:19:59.500 --> 00:20:02.279 this squeam, this loud piercing squeam, which 00:20:02.279 --> 00:20:04.880 made my hair stand up on end. And immediately 00:20:04.880 --> 00:20:08.220 I recognized that he was out there and that he 00:20:08.220 --> 00:20:11.240 was still alive. And so we got the crew chief 00:20:11.240 --> 00:20:13.420 and we powered out of the aircraft with a toolbox 00:20:13.420 --> 00:20:16.839 and told the copilot to get up and take it up 00:20:16.839 --> 00:20:20.480 and wait for a call. I guess I recall when we 00:20:20.480 --> 00:20:24.119 were ready for you. Can I just interrupt here 00:20:24.119 --> 00:20:25.960 for a second? I want people to realize that you 00:20:25.960 --> 00:20:29.859 were on the ground and you told your perfectly 00:20:29.859 --> 00:20:33.259 good helicopter to leave you on the ground and 00:20:33.259 --> 00:20:35.700 he took off and circled the area while you were 00:20:35.700 --> 00:20:40.210 on the ground trying to get Wendell out. Well, 00:20:40.210 --> 00:20:42.569 also we recognized there could have been anywhere 00:20:42.569 --> 00:20:46.670 between 10 ,000 and 15 ,000, 20 ,000 NVA North 00:20:46.670 --> 00:20:51.390 Vietnamese armies out there in V .C., and it's 00:20:51.390 --> 00:20:55.049 pretty tenuous situation. But, you know, we weren't 00:20:55.049 --> 00:20:57.309 getting any fire at that time, so we got a hold 00:20:57.309 --> 00:20:59.250 of the tail section of the aircraft and lifted 00:20:59.250 --> 00:21:01.690 up, the crew chief and I, far enough for a window 00:21:01.690 --> 00:21:04.869 to slide out from underneath the aircraft. And 00:21:04.869 --> 00:21:06.829 then we took what all we could in a hurry, and 00:21:06.829 --> 00:21:10.640 I called my to bring it in, and we got what arm 00:21:10.640 --> 00:21:14.880 we could off the aircraft and took Wendell back. 00:21:15.880 --> 00:21:18.660 Wendell, you may not know this, but they came 00:21:18.660 --> 00:21:22.759 out the next morning with the helicopter wrecker 00:21:22.759 --> 00:21:24.799 crew and lifted that thing out of there and took 00:21:24.799 --> 00:21:27.099 it back for salvage. We do have that, by the 00:21:27.099 --> 00:21:29.880 way. Those of you that are watching our webcast, 00:21:30.039 --> 00:21:33.619 we do have that picture at some point. I know 00:21:33.619 --> 00:21:37.119 Gary's looking for it feverishly. right now of 00:21:37.119 --> 00:21:39.859 the wrecked aircraft and of the Chinook sling 00:21:39.859 --> 00:21:41.740 loading years out. Jeff, can I say something 00:21:41.740 --> 00:21:46.900 about those photos? Terry Whelan, one of the 00:21:46.900 --> 00:21:51.039 pilots, he took all these photos the next day. 00:21:52.299 --> 00:21:54.940 So I want to give him credit in there, you know, 00:21:55.000 --> 00:21:57.579 that he actually took these photos of the chopper 00:21:57.579 --> 00:22:00.819 airplane the next day. I have to tell both of 00:22:00.819 --> 00:22:04.200 you that I was able, when I went to the 195 website, 00:22:04.490 --> 00:22:07.549 I was able to find a lot of photos that we're 00:22:07.549 --> 00:22:11.789 using with today's webcast. You're not watching 00:22:11.789 --> 00:22:14.230 it, but I can see right now we're looking at 00:22:14.230 --> 00:22:17.309 the Chinook lifting your hair out of there. I'd 00:22:17.309 --> 00:22:20.130 like to thank Mr. Whelan also for the photographs. 00:22:20.609 --> 00:22:23.289 They're amazing photographs. I have to look at 00:22:23.289 --> 00:22:26.049 these to remember what we did 43 years ago. Isn't 00:22:26.049 --> 00:22:34.259 it amazing? Anyway, you got Wendell out. Yes, 00:22:34.359 --> 00:22:36.299 and I took him over to the Medevac hospital, 00:22:36.319 --> 00:22:40.180 which was not very far from our base, and I left 00:22:40.180 --> 00:22:42.619 him there and tried to get back and get a rest 00:22:42.619 --> 00:22:46.220 because I had to get the base prepared. We had 00:22:46.220 --> 00:22:49.579 two helicopters come out, 68 aircraft, and I 00:22:49.579 --> 00:22:51.400 was the base commander as well as the commander 00:22:51.400 --> 00:22:54.220 of the 195th, and we had to get our positions, 00:22:54.220 --> 00:22:58.400 you know, positioned and ready for a potential 00:22:58.400 --> 00:23:01.500 attack. We hadn't been formally notified, but... 00:23:01.480 --> 00:23:03.500 I knew from the movement that we were going to 00:23:03.500 --> 00:23:05.420 be attacked. The whole area was. I mean, that 00:23:05.420 --> 00:23:10.500 was my own instinct. And so I had to put Wendell 00:23:10.500 --> 00:23:15.000 and the other guys on the back of my mind. When 00:23:15.000 --> 00:23:17.579 I tried to find a pilot and copilot, they told 00:23:17.579 --> 00:23:21.240 me that they'd been taken to the hospital. So 00:23:21.240 --> 00:23:24.099 I just had to let them go. And of course, 3 o 00:23:24.099 --> 00:23:26.779 'clock in the morning, we got the attack and 00:23:26.779 --> 00:23:30.880 all hell broke loose. There are a lot of stories, 00:23:31.039 --> 00:23:36.720 but let's not go to that. We'll get to that at 00:23:36.720 --> 00:23:38.400 the bottom of the hour after we come out of a 00:23:38.400 --> 00:23:40.359 break. I do want to talk about the Tet Offensive, 00:23:41.000 --> 00:23:43.660 but we got about a minute before that break. 00:23:44.200 --> 00:23:47.579 How did you guys hook up again? Real briefly, 00:23:47.660 --> 00:23:52.460 Wendell? I was on the website and I saw the major's 00:23:52.460 --> 00:24:00.200 name and he was posting about me. And he didn't 00:24:00.200 --> 00:24:02.700 know who he was. He called me the kid. Called 00:24:02.700 --> 00:24:04.940 me the kid. I was trying to find out what happened 00:24:04.940 --> 00:24:07.759 to the guy with his leg cut off. They were just 00:24:07.759 --> 00:24:09.400 looking for the guy with the leg cut off. I'm 00:24:09.400 --> 00:24:11.000 going to cut you guys off right now. We're going 00:24:11.000 --> 00:24:13.740 to take a break. But we'll be back on Veterans 00:24:13.740 --> 00:24:16.839 Radio and we're talking today with Wendell Skinner 00:24:16.839 --> 00:24:20.140 who was injured in a severe crash in Vietnam 00:24:20.140 --> 00:24:22.579 and his commanding officer who came out in the 00:24:22.579 --> 00:24:25.079 middle of the night and got him the night before 00:24:25.079 --> 00:24:28.339 Tet. So stick around if you want to get in on 00:24:28.339 --> 00:24:31.759 the conversation you can give us a call 877 -573 00:24:31.759 --> 00:24:34.779 -7825 we'll be right back. The Medal of Honor 00:24:34.779 --> 00:24:36.880 is the highest award for valor in combat given 00:24:36.880 --> 00:24:39.000 a member of the Armed Forces of the United States. 00:24:39.420 --> 00:24:41.900 There have been over 3 ,400 recipients of the 00:24:41.900 --> 00:24:44.980 nation's highest award. This is one of them. 00:24:45.259 --> 00:24:47.960 Army Captain Ed Freeman flew 14 rescue missions 00:24:47.960 --> 00:24:51.099 under intense enemy fire saving 30 seriously 00:24:51.099 --> 00:24:56.140 wounded soldiers. Details after this. As a flight 00:24:56.140 --> 00:24:59.019 leader, Freeman supported a heavily engaged American 00:24:59.019 --> 00:25:01.480 infantry battalion in the Ai Trang Valley in 00:25:01.480 --> 00:25:04.400 the Republic of Vietnam. The unit was almost 00:25:04.400 --> 00:25:06.619 out of ammunition after taking some of the heaviest 00:25:06.619 --> 00:25:09.299 casualties of the war, fighting off a relentless 00:25:09.299 --> 00:25:11.839 attack from a highly motivated, heavily armed 00:25:11.839 --> 00:25:15.099 enemy force. When the infantry commander closed 00:25:15.099 --> 00:25:17.720 the helicopter landing zone due to intense direct 00:25:17.720 --> 00:25:21.099 enemy fire, Freeman risked his own life by flying 00:25:21.099 --> 00:25:23.910 his unarmed helicopter through a gauntlet of 00:25:23.910 --> 00:25:27.289 enemy fire time after time, delivering critically 00:25:27.289 --> 00:25:29.930 needed ammunition, water, and medical supplies 00:25:29.930 --> 00:25:33.109 to the besieged battalion. His flights had a 00:25:33.109 --> 00:25:36.069 direct impact on the battle's outcome by providing 00:25:36.069 --> 00:25:38.829 the engaged units with timely supplies of ammunition 00:25:38.829 --> 00:25:42.410 critical to their survival. After medical evacuation 00:25:42.410 --> 00:25:45.210 helicopters refused to fly into the area due 00:25:45.210 --> 00:25:49.049 to intense enemy fire, Captain Freeman flew 14 00:25:49.049 --> 00:25:51.759 separate rescue missions. providing life -saving 00:25:51.759 --> 00:25:54.160 evacuation of an estimated 30 seriously wounded 00:25:54.160 --> 00:25:57.000 soldiers, some of whom would not have survived 00:25:57.000 --> 00:26:00.079 had he not acted. All flights were made into 00:26:00.079 --> 00:26:03.059 a small emergency landing zone within 100 to 00:26:03.059 --> 00:26:05.920 200 yards of the defensive perimeter, where heavily 00:26:05.920 --> 00:26:08.700 committed units were perilously holding off the 00:26:08.700 --> 00:26:11.019 attacking elements. The Medal of Honor series 00:26:11.019 --> 00:26:14.599 is a production of Veterans Radio. There's a 00:26:14.599 --> 00:26:16.539 familiar tune for some of you out there, just 00:26:16.539 --> 00:26:18.519 as distorted as it was when we listened to it 00:26:18.519 --> 00:26:23.720 40 years ago. Anyway, we are here on Veterans 00:26:23.720 --> 00:26:25.799 Radio and we're talking with Wendell Skinner 00:26:25.799 --> 00:26:29.079 and a major, Earl Carlson, and we're talking 00:26:29.079 --> 00:26:32.440 to them today about Left 4 Dead is kind of what 00:26:32.440 --> 00:26:35.400 we titled the program because Wendell aircraft 00:26:35.400 --> 00:26:38.000 had been shot down, crashed, rolled over on top 00:26:38.000 --> 00:26:40.740 of him, and they were able to get most of the 00:26:40.740 --> 00:26:45.099 crew out except for him. When the major heard 00:26:45.099 --> 00:26:47.119 that one of his crewmen was left out in the field, 00:26:47.259 --> 00:26:50.230 he and another grabbed a ship and went out and 00:26:50.230 --> 00:26:52.950 got them. And now we're just talking about how 00:26:52.950 --> 00:26:55.130 they were able to connect with each other. So 00:26:55.130 --> 00:26:57.210 if you're out there or if you're a part of 195th 00:26:57.210 --> 00:27:00.230 and you'd like to give us your version of the 00:27:00.230 --> 00:27:02.069 story, give us a call here on Veterans Radio 00:27:02.069 --> 00:27:06.170 at 877 -573 -7825. We look forward to hearing 00:27:06.170 --> 00:27:11.690 from you. Before you go back to a window, let 00:27:11.690 --> 00:27:14.890 me make a couple comments. First of all, we organize 00:27:14.890 --> 00:27:17.740 from nothing at Port Carson, Colorado. and the 00:27:17.740 --> 00:27:19.519 people and the material and the aircraft and 00:27:19.519 --> 00:27:21.279 everything was going in, coming in fast, and 00:27:21.279 --> 00:27:23.220 I didn't have time to get to know the people 00:27:23.220 --> 00:27:26.539 like I normally would have because I was supervising 00:27:26.539 --> 00:27:28.319 all these activities going on, getting ready 00:27:28.319 --> 00:27:31.539 to go overseas. And so I didn't know the names 00:27:31.539 --> 00:27:33.839 of a lot of the people I should have known. Well, 00:27:34.660 --> 00:27:36.259 you had a lot of people in your company, though, 00:27:36.279 --> 00:27:40.359 too, sir. Yes, yes. I only had about 300 and 00:27:40.359 --> 00:27:42.440 some of my own, but then another 300 and something 00:27:42.440 --> 00:27:44.960 in the other unit that was assigned to our base. 00:27:45.670 --> 00:27:49.769 I didn't know who it was that I had picked up 00:27:49.769 --> 00:27:52.150 out there. I didn't know who the pilots were. 00:27:52.849 --> 00:27:55.829 There were a lot of mains missing. When I put 00:27:55.829 --> 00:28:01.710 my first notice on the 195th website, I said, 00:28:01.750 --> 00:28:06.230 I'm looking for the man who had his leg cut off. 00:28:06.809 --> 00:28:09.109 That's as much as I had because I'd been thinking 00:28:09.109 --> 00:28:14.069 about him all those years. This guy answered 00:28:14.069 --> 00:28:16.640 one of the things. He was trying to help me find 00:28:16.640 --> 00:28:18.539 out who it was. So go ahead and win or pick up 00:28:18.539 --> 00:28:23.799 from there. Well, I couldn't figure out why about 00:28:23.799 --> 00:28:25.640 the guy with the leg cut off. And I thought, 00:28:25.700 --> 00:28:29.079 well, you know, I was a guy that was picked up 00:28:29.079 --> 00:28:33.019 and saved out there. And so I don't know. We 00:28:33.019 --> 00:28:35.559 must have went back and forth on the website. 00:28:35.559 --> 00:28:38.420 I don't know, two or four times. And I think 00:28:38.420 --> 00:28:41.880 at the same time, we figured out that he was 00:28:41.880 --> 00:28:46.960 looking for me and I was looking for him. I'm 00:28:46.960 --> 00:28:49.859 telling you, it was one of the most emotional 00:28:49.859 --> 00:28:53.259 things to know that. I mean, oh my, all this 00:28:53.259 --> 00:28:56.480 stuff just kept flooding through my mind and 00:28:56.480 --> 00:29:01.000 I've got chronic post -traumatic stress and it's 00:29:01.000 --> 00:29:03.380 a big surprise. This is a little bit of closure 00:29:03.380 --> 00:29:08.819 for me and I'm sure it is for the major. I mean, 00:29:09.220 --> 00:29:13.339 the guys that started the website, the 195th 00:29:13.339 --> 00:29:17.829 website, You know, Ty Furby said, oh, I think 00:29:17.829 --> 00:29:19.990 Jay Hammond or I can't think of the other guy. 00:29:20.150 --> 00:29:21.809 All of you guys were my heroes. I didn't even 00:29:21.809 --> 00:29:24.509 know who they all were. When I got there, I only 00:29:24.509 --> 00:29:26.930 heard stories about all of you. Well, you know, 00:29:26.930 --> 00:29:32.069 I was the last person. I replaced a crew chief. 00:29:32.670 --> 00:29:35.569 I came right out of Fort Rucker, out of crew 00:29:35.569 --> 00:29:39.230 chief school, and my orders said, you're going 00:29:39.230 --> 00:29:43.839 to Santa Deploying Unit. And it was a 195th aviation 00:29:43.839 --> 00:29:47.740 continent for Carson, Colorado. And, you know, 00:29:47.740 --> 00:29:51.220 when I got there, I think the first guy I ran 00:29:51.220 --> 00:29:53.799 into was a guy named Steve Hascock. And he got 00:29:53.799 --> 00:29:58.119 me in there and got me to the commanding officer's 00:29:58.119 --> 00:30:01.019 office and got me set up. And I really never 00:30:01.019 --> 00:30:05.140 got to know a lot of the guys because I was only 00:30:05.140 --> 00:30:08.140 there, I don't know, two months before we left. 00:30:08.519 --> 00:30:11.200 And a lot of that time was packing con exes. 00:30:11.660 --> 00:30:13.700 You know, stuff like that, getting ready to go 00:30:13.700 --> 00:30:16.059 overseas. I had never seen my chopper until I 00:30:16.059 --> 00:30:22.579 got to Vietnam. I mean, there's just so many 00:30:22.579 --> 00:30:25.440 things that come into your mind that you forget 00:30:25.440 --> 00:30:29.920 after 40 years. Well, that is true. Fortunately 00:30:29.920 --> 00:30:32.339 or unfortunately, Wendell, you were sent off 00:30:32.339 --> 00:30:35.579 to Medevac Hospital and then off to Japan. Since 00:30:35.579 --> 00:30:39.319 all that was occurring, Major Carlson had to 00:30:39.319 --> 00:30:41.799 deal with another. project the next day around 00:30:41.799 --> 00:30:43.319 three o 'clock in the morning. Can you tell me 00:30:43.319 --> 00:30:46.299 a little bit about that? You mean me? Yes. You 00:30:46.299 --> 00:30:49.160 were the one that was there. Yeah, you know. 00:30:49.220 --> 00:30:53.359 We had a little disruption. Let me limit my comments. 00:30:53.500 --> 00:30:58.079 How much time do we have? We've got about 20 00:30:58.079 --> 00:31:00.079 minutes total. Oh, well I'm not going to take 00:31:00.079 --> 00:31:02.740 anywhere near that much, but I want a couple 00:31:02.740 --> 00:31:05.400 comments. The count of the unit, the 195th was. 00:31:07.520 --> 00:31:10.460 Actually, I was sent by the D .A. and I reported 00:31:10.460 --> 00:31:13.680 to the new commander from my base. I'd flown 00:31:13.680 --> 00:31:18.859 up from Texas to support Walters. He said, you're 00:31:18.859 --> 00:31:20.740 not going to command the unit under me. You're 00:31:20.740 --> 00:31:22.460 a tech service officer and I'm not going to have 00:31:22.460 --> 00:31:25.220 you. I'll get a combat officer. I went back to 00:31:25.220 --> 00:31:27.460 Texas and called a Pentagon and they said, well, 00:31:27.460 --> 00:31:28.740 he didn't have anything to say about it. You're 00:31:28.740 --> 00:31:29.920 going to be the commander whether he likes it 00:31:29.920 --> 00:31:35.920 or not. Yes, sir. I walk in and I say, Colonel, 00:31:36.099 --> 00:31:38.019 here are my orders from the Department of Army. 00:31:38.160 --> 00:31:40.180 I'm going to command this unit, whether you or 00:31:40.180 --> 00:31:43.359 I like it or not. He stays off my back for 60 00:31:43.359 --> 00:31:45.240 days, and if you don't like the way we're doing, 00:31:45.740 --> 00:31:47.599 I'll call a Pentagon and ask to be relieved. 00:31:47.920 --> 00:31:51.140 And we made a pact right there. And that's a 00:31:51.140 --> 00:31:53.299 hell of a position to get into when you're going 00:31:53.299 --> 00:31:56.500 to take a unit into combat. When they sent me, 00:31:57.119 --> 00:32:00.380 almost all of the pilots were right out of flight 00:32:00.380 --> 00:32:04.970 school. had never had one minute of flying time 00:32:04.970 --> 00:32:06.950 from the time they graduated, the time they started 00:32:06.950 --> 00:32:09.950 flying with us, which was a great liability, 00:32:10.069 --> 00:32:11.710 but it was also a great asset because you hadn't 00:32:11.710 --> 00:32:15.029 picked up any bad habits. And had a number of 00:32:15.029 --> 00:32:18.170 officers who had just come back from Vietnam. 00:32:18.309 --> 00:32:20.650 They weren't very happy about it. So, you know, 00:32:20.869 --> 00:32:22.990 you got a bunch of lemons there, you got to do 00:32:22.990 --> 00:32:25.009 something with it. So we turned out making lemonade 00:32:25.009 --> 00:32:29.660 of them and we had a tremendous training tour 00:32:29.660 --> 00:32:33.480 up in Colorado. We got to Vietnam and the second 00:32:33.480 --> 00:32:37.359 night after we got there, they had a huge mission. 00:32:37.480 --> 00:32:39.039 I don't know how many hundred helicopters were 00:32:39.039 --> 00:32:40.480 out there. There must have been a bunch, but 00:32:40.480 --> 00:32:44.579 we were 34 of them. We picked up our people and 00:32:44.579 --> 00:32:47.839 took them out there. I had no idea how young 00:32:47.839 --> 00:32:50.960 people were going to do first time in combat. 00:32:51.400 --> 00:32:53.519 A lot of the young men had been drafted in. They 00:32:53.519 --> 00:32:56.339 didn't particularly want to be there. but we 00:32:56.339 --> 00:32:59.819 built a spare amount of a speedy car. We approached 00:32:59.819 --> 00:33:02.779 this area and the rockets and machine guns were 00:33:02.779 --> 00:33:05.559 going off and the flares were all over and it 00:33:05.559 --> 00:33:09.880 was one hell of a battlefield out there. Here 00:33:09.880 --> 00:33:12.000 we've got all these people we don't know. We 00:33:12.000 --> 00:33:13.720 had picked up along the way and we're dropping 00:33:13.720 --> 00:33:18.119 them in there. I've looked back a number of times 00:33:18.119 --> 00:33:22.779 at the... the way in which those men conducted 00:33:22.779 --> 00:33:26.500 themselves, my pilots and crew chiefs, and no 00:33:26.500 --> 00:33:28.920 one got on the line, no one got scared, no one 00:33:28.920 --> 00:33:31.920 screwed up, and for hours we were shutting those 00:33:31.920 --> 00:33:33.880 people in and out of there with great discipline, 00:33:33.980 --> 00:33:39.140 and I was so proud of those guys. And I just 00:33:39.140 --> 00:33:42.140 had to take a few minutes to tell you how great 00:33:42.140 --> 00:33:44.920 they were. Well, I can tell you that the tradition 00:33:44.920 --> 00:33:47.380 that you started when you first got to Vietnam 00:33:47.380 --> 00:33:49.339 continued on the whole time I was there. I've 00:33:49.339 --> 00:33:52.420 never met a finer group of men in my whole life 00:33:52.420 --> 00:33:56.319 because I was willing to lay their lives on the 00:33:56.319 --> 00:33:59.519 line for anybody else. I was a hard nose because 00:33:59.519 --> 00:34:01.319 I was over there once before. This was my second 00:34:01.319 --> 00:34:04.740 tour and I made them run every morning. I made 00:34:04.740 --> 00:34:06.960 the officers run with the enlisted men and all 00:34:06.960 --> 00:34:09.199 of us and I remember falling down myself and 00:34:09.199 --> 00:34:12.650 they all laughing at me. But I wanted them to 00:34:12.650 --> 00:34:14.570 have self -confidence and the fear that they 00:34:14.570 --> 00:34:16.510 could get back to our home unit if they got shot 00:34:16.510 --> 00:34:18.989 down, those kind of things. Well, you had to 00:34:18.989 --> 00:34:21.550 have a certain arrogance to be a pilot anyway. 00:34:21.750 --> 00:34:23.610 You had to be confident. You were flying around 00:34:23.610 --> 00:34:27.050 in a box that was a pretty good -sized target. 00:34:27.250 --> 00:34:29.590 So you had to have a lot of courage, I think, 00:34:30.110 --> 00:34:32.309 that most people didn't think about. And we didn't 00:34:32.309 --> 00:34:35.670 think about it. We had a nice fan. We had a nice 00:34:35.670 --> 00:34:38.389 overhead fan here to keep us cool. That's right. 00:34:42.410 --> 00:34:50.989 I was actually in the hospital the next day when 00:34:50.989 --> 00:34:57.829 the Tet hit and I think it was they overran the 00:34:57.829 --> 00:35:04.610 Benoit Air Base at one time. There was an air 00:35:04.610 --> 00:35:07.289 base there at the hospital if I remember correctly. 00:35:09.159 --> 00:35:12.719 and they overran that and they came and got all 00:35:12.719 --> 00:35:16.280 of the patients and they just put us in a bunker. 00:35:17.079 --> 00:35:20.519 No weapons, nobody was with us and I thought, 00:35:20.699 --> 00:35:23.199 man, you know, if they get in here, it's going 00:35:23.199 --> 00:35:28.519 to be a mass slaughter. But anyway, they finally 00:35:28.519 --> 00:35:31.619 got everything straightened out. But, you know, 00:35:31.800 --> 00:35:33.920 that's just stuff that comes to your mind when 00:35:33.920 --> 00:35:37.190 all this stuff you talk about. Well, we had some 00:35:37.190 --> 00:35:39.369 pictures that were on our website, but I decided 00:35:39.369 --> 00:35:42.349 that we probably didn't want to show them here 00:35:42.349 --> 00:35:45.329 on our program because they were pretty graphic, 00:35:45.349 --> 00:35:48.010 although probably people should see them, of 00:35:48.010 --> 00:35:51.750 the result of the VC and the MBA probably in 00:35:51.750 --> 00:35:54.929 the wire at Longbin, which was that plantation 00:35:54.929 --> 00:35:57.489 where we lived at the time. They were everywhere, 00:35:57.510 --> 00:36:01.250 it seemed. I never was a plantation that much. 00:36:02.150 --> 00:36:05.130 I was always out. We were a bammie to it with 00:36:05.130 --> 00:36:07.690 the special forces and we flew into Cambodia 00:36:07.690 --> 00:36:11.670 every day for like three weeks. And then we came 00:36:11.670 --> 00:36:13.889 back to company area for like a week and then 00:36:13.889 --> 00:36:17.469 we went over to the work outfit. I think the 00:36:17.469 --> 00:36:20.469 major thought I was out of song bay if possibly. 00:36:20.650 --> 00:36:23.789 I don't know. Was that one of the things that 00:36:23.789 --> 00:36:26.150 you was thinking about? Well, no, not really 00:36:26.150 --> 00:36:28.849 because I had been told that you were attached 00:36:28.849 --> 00:36:31.349 for that mission you were on to another unit 00:36:31.349 --> 00:36:33.760 of the battalion unit. and that you were just 00:36:33.760 --> 00:36:38.139 a tag along with him. I didn't really clear my 00:36:38.139 --> 00:36:39.900 mind. I had a lot of things in my mind right 00:36:39.900 --> 00:36:44.699 then. I can't imagine. We've got a picture of 00:36:44.699 --> 00:36:48.619 Major Carlson up on our webcast right now, as 00:36:48.619 --> 00:36:52.320 he looks probably today. If you get the opportunity 00:36:52.320 --> 00:36:54.659 to go there, you can go back and check our webcast 00:36:54.659 --> 00:36:56.480 after the program is over and you can see some 00:36:56.480 --> 00:36:57.920 of the pictures that we've been showing there. 00:36:58.230 --> 00:37:00.789 I did see a rather embarrassing one of a pilot. 00:37:01.050 --> 00:37:02.849 I think his name was Woody. You had mentioned 00:37:02.849 --> 00:37:05.349 before the one where he was sleeping. He was 00:37:05.349 --> 00:37:08.369 probably exhausted after flying 20 hours of the 00:37:08.369 --> 00:37:10.250 day. I saw him come up there and I went, uh -oh, 00:37:10.469 --> 00:37:13.289 he's not going to be happy to see that one. You 00:37:13.289 --> 00:37:16.809 know, I'll say something about Woody here. He 00:37:16.809 --> 00:37:23.030 really talks about this every time we talk. He's 00:37:23.030 --> 00:37:26.960 got a lot of guilt about... the way things went 00:37:26.960 --> 00:37:29.679 and, you know, he lost sight of the ground and 00:37:29.679 --> 00:37:33.659 he's really, I'm sure he's got a lot of problems 00:37:33.659 --> 00:37:36.440 thinking that it's his fault that everybody got 00:37:36.440 --> 00:37:40.059 screwed up. But, you know, I never once, never 00:37:40.059 --> 00:37:45.380 once had any problem with what went on or what 00:37:45.380 --> 00:37:48.659 he did. I mean, you know, like the Major said, 00:37:49.119 --> 00:37:51.900 when you're in combat, there's a certain amount 00:37:51.900 --> 00:37:55.550 of chaos and What he did what he thought he had 00:37:55.550 --> 00:37:57.269 to do. He thought he was doing the right thing 00:37:57.269 --> 00:38:00.809 and you know, he just it was just a decision 00:38:00.809 --> 00:38:03.969 that he had to make and We all made those mistakes 00:38:03.969 --> 00:38:05.949 we're coming up on another break So I'm gonna 00:38:05.949 --> 00:38:07.690 have to cut you guys off here for just a second 00:38:07.690 --> 00:38:10.110 once you make sure they just Stick around you 00:38:10.110 --> 00:38:12.090 two and also to our audience. You're listening 00:38:12.090 --> 00:38:14.449 to veterans radio. We'll be right back after 00:38:14.449 --> 00:38:17.090 these messages There's another familiar song 00:38:17.090 --> 00:38:19.570 for the some of you from the 195th out there 00:38:19.760 --> 00:38:22.119 Probably other units listen to that song as well 00:38:22.119 --> 00:38:24.980 on your nice TIAC reel -to -reel recorder with 00:38:24.980 --> 00:38:29.400 your headphones on all along the way. We're talking 00:38:29.400 --> 00:38:32.199 with Wendell Skinner and Major Earl Carlson of 00:38:32.199 --> 00:38:35.139 the 195th Assault Helicopter Company, later changed 00:38:35.139 --> 00:38:37.380 to the Aviation Company, a helicopter company, 00:38:37.440 --> 00:38:38.920 whatever they wanted to call us. I think they 00:38:38.920 --> 00:38:41.239 were trying to clean up our image a little bit. 00:38:42.900 --> 00:38:45.539 But Wendell had been shot down and the aircraft 00:38:45.539 --> 00:38:48.460 had rolled over on him and Major Carlson. had 00:38:48.460 --> 00:38:50.039 gone out in the middle of the night and gotten 00:38:50.039 --> 00:38:52.699 them out of there and they just met up with each 00:38:52.699 --> 00:38:57.500 other again about last year after 42 years, one 00:38:57.500 --> 00:38:59.360 year, something along those lines. Those numbers 00:38:59.360 --> 00:39:01.380 are getting so high now I can't even count them 00:39:01.380 --> 00:39:08.360 anymore. I don't want to. Dale, I'd like to do 00:39:08.360 --> 00:39:13.400 two quick things if I could please with, excuse 00:39:13.400 --> 00:39:18.449 me, Wendell. Wendell, first of all, was the swimming 00:39:18.449 --> 00:39:23.730 pool still there at, what was the place you were, 00:39:23.769 --> 00:39:27.889 did they ban me to it? No, I was never around 00:39:27.889 --> 00:39:31.750 the swimming pool. Oh, this is a great story. 00:39:31.869 --> 00:39:33.750 They stole that swimming pool from the Air Force, 00:39:33.909 --> 00:39:35.730 sent a couple of trucks over there over the mountains 00:39:35.730 --> 00:39:38.789 and offloaded onto their own trucks instead of 00:39:38.789 --> 00:39:40.860 the Air Force getting them. Therefore, I never 00:39:40.860 --> 00:39:42.539 figured I would have that great big swimming 00:39:42.539 --> 00:39:45.219 pool. That sounds a lot like in 1969 when we 00:39:45.219 --> 00:39:47.579 swiped a pallet of plywood from the Koreans and 00:39:47.579 --> 00:39:51.920 built an officer's club. Oh my goodness. I actually 00:39:51.920 --> 00:39:56.079 went into Bambi twice, one time going from Pleiku, 00:39:56.119 --> 00:39:59.920 my first tour, up to Saigon. All aircraft were 00:39:59.920 --> 00:40:03.159 forced to have a quick landing as soon as possible 00:40:03.159 --> 00:40:06.840 because the Prime Minister had been assassinated. 00:40:07.130 --> 00:40:09.570 And a few months later, going from Saigon back 00:40:09.570 --> 00:40:12.590 up to Placu, because President Kennedy had been 00:40:12.590 --> 00:40:14.630 assassinated. So that was too little encryption 00:40:14.630 --> 00:40:16.710 to ban me to it, and they had a beautiful club 00:40:16.710 --> 00:40:19.010 and pool and everything. But that was the first 00:40:19.010 --> 00:40:20.510 time, and things tightened up a hell of a lot 00:40:20.510 --> 00:40:23.130 after that, so I wasn't sure. The other thing 00:40:23.130 --> 00:40:26.849 is, would you please ask Woody if he would call 00:40:26.849 --> 00:40:29.670 me or email me, if you would give him my telephone 00:40:29.670 --> 00:40:31.809 number and email address? I think you have both 00:40:31.809 --> 00:40:35.269 of those, right? I can do that. We will do that. 00:40:35.710 --> 00:40:39.929 Not a problem. So Major Carlson, I wanted to 00:40:39.929 --> 00:40:45.030 ask you about the TET when they attempted or 00:40:45.030 --> 00:40:50.050 did overrun Benoit and Long Bin. How long were 00:40:50.050 --> 00:40:52.710 they able to hold the land or were we able to 00:40:52.710 --> 00:40:56.329 fight them off at that time? Well, Long Bin was 00:40:56.329 --> 00:40:59.070 oriented north and south basically and we were 00:40:59.070 --> 00:41:03.789 on the west side of that airfield with the adjacent 00:41:03.789 --> 00:41:09.349 of them. evacuation hospital across about a half 00:41:09.349 --> 00:41:11.369 to three quarters of a mile. There was nothing 00:41:11.369 --> 00:41:15.090 but brush and underbrush and a little rolly hills 00:41:15.090 --> 00:41:18.769 there. And at three o 'clock in the morning, 00:41:19.210 --> 00:41:22.349 all hell broke loose and the rockets and mortars 00:41:22.349 --> 00:41:25.130 started going off and machine guns in starting. 00:41:25.369 --> 00:41:27.670 We were getting 50 calibers through the water 00:41:27.670 --> 00:41:32.460 tank and it was just one heck of a mess. And 00:41:32.460 --> 00:41:34.019 I was afraid we were going to run out of ammunition 00:41:34.019 --> 00:41:36.420 because we'd lost our contact. The wires had 00:41:36.420 --> 00:41:41.000 been cut. And so I went out to the front to tell 00:41:41.000 --> 00:41:42.940 the guys, you know, they were shooting like mad. 00:41:43.039 --> 00:41:44.920 I said, don't shoot until you see something out 00:41:44.920 --> 00:41:47.519 there. Don't just shoot ammunition. Well, they 00:41:47.519 --> 00:41:49.760 said, yeah, we saw these couple of guys jump 00:41:49.760 --> 00:41:52.860 up there and we opened fire. And then we got 00:41:52.860 --> 00:41:56.380 a lot of fire back. What I finally surmised was 00:41:56.380 --> 00:41:58.639 that a couple of V .C. had smuck in there and 00:41:58.639 --> 00:42:00.699 one of them had a pink shirt on and I think everyone 00:42:00.699 --> 00:42:03.119 had a blue one on if I'm not mistaken. And they 00:42:03.119 --> 00:42:05.739 were jumping up to draw fire and then the fire 00:42:05.739 --> 00:42:07.920 was going to the hospital and the hospital was 00:42:07.920 --> 00:42:10.000 firing back with us with 50 calibers and big 00:42:10.000 --> 00:42:12.260 ones. I thought well now a couple snipers like 00:42:12.260 --> 00:42:14.800 that wouldn't have had 50 calibers. So I called 00:42:14.800 --> 00:42:17.079 the hospital and the radio and said, I talked 00:42:17.079 --> 00:42:20.760 to the CO and said would you please stop firing 00:42:20.760 --> 00:42:23.360 for 15 minutes and I'll do the same as of right 00:42:23.360 --> 00:42:26.519 now. and we'll see what's causing this, and nothing 00:42:26.519 --> 00:42:30.300 but silence. So I realized then, I'm not sure 00:42:30.300 --> 00:42:31.920 if it was the same hospital I took Wendell to 00:42:31.920 --> 00:42:35.619 or not, but for whomever, we were flying back 00:42:35.619 --> 00:42:38.320 and forth across there and finally got death 00:42:38.320 --> 00:42:43.639 stopped. But the thing that really upset me, 00:42:43.699 --> 00:42:46.320 it was the worst day of my life, was all this 00:42:46.320 --> 00:42:48.619 firing going on and rockets and machine guns 00:42:48.619 --> 00:42:52.349 and I'd call the NCOs and officers in the mess 00:42:52.349 --> 00:42:55.050 hall to make sure our strategy wasn't who's going 00:42:55.050 --> 00:42:57.929 to be responsible, what, and so forth. And all 00:42:57.929 --> 00:43:01.829 of a sudden this tremendous explosion rattled 00:43:01.829 --> 00:43:04.070 the buildings and everything. Everybody hit the 00:43:04.070 --> 00:43:07.150 floor and I jumped up and ran across the body 00:43:07.150 --> 00:43:10.130 and got outside just in time to see a nuclear 00:43:10.130 --> 00:43:13.289 weapon. The crowd go up. And I had gone through 00:43:13.289 --> 00:43:16.219 tests out in Nevada with nuclear weapons. I thought, 00:43:16.440 --> 00:43:20.199 oh my God, Russia's into this. I've been reading 00:43:20.199 --> 00:43:23.659 about the spy ship that had been captured by 00:43:23.659 --> 00:43:27.179 North Koreans and we had done nothing, America 00:43:27.179 --> 00:43:29.559 had done nothing about it. Reading in Newsweek 00:43:29.559 --> 00:43:31.900 about the college campers and the riots and so 00:43:31.900 --> 00:43:34.699 forth. I thought, man, here we are surrounded. 00:43:34.940 --> 00:43:36.860 We have no chance of getting out of here. We're 00:43:36.860 --> 00:43:39.199 going to be outnumbered and they're giving up 00:43:39.199 --> 00:43:43.440 on us. Then I found out after about two hours 00:43:43.440 --> 00:43:48.219 that a million gallon tank of the JP -4 had been 00:43:48.219 --> 00:43:51.639 set off by sappers. That's what I saw. It sure 00:43:51.639 --> 00:43:55.400 created a nice mushroom cloud. Well, there was 00:43:55.400 --> 00:43:57.559 an ammo dump out, I forget what direction it 00:43:57.559 --> 00:44:02.400 was, off to the east, I think, of the plantation 00:44:02.400 --> 00:44:04.960 runway, somewhere out there. Yeah, yeah. Because 00:44:04.960 --> 00:44:07.420 I can remember it accidentally. I think it was 00:44:07.420 --> 00:44:10.699 one of the gunships. crewman had set off a rocket, 00:44:10.760 --> 00:44:12.659 went off between his legs through the revetment 00:44:12.659 --> 00:44:15.780 and out into the ammo dump and set off a nice 00:44:15.780 --> 00:44:17.980 Fourth of July fireworks, but unfortunately I 00:44:17.980 --> 00:44:24.460 think it was April. That was 1969. That was a 00:44:24.460 --> 00:44:28.519 year later. Because our TET offensive was not 00:44:28.519 --> 00:44:34.280 nearly as, obviously, as intense as the 1968 00:44:34.280 --> 00:44:36.420 one. They just lobbed rockets into the revetments 00:44:36.420 --> 00:44:38.989 and so forth. we were told to evacuate but we 00:44:38.989 --> 00:44:40.690 couldn't evacuate because there were too many 00:44:40.690 --> 00:44:43.409 rockets coming in. You know, our sister unit 00:44:43.409 --> 00:44:46.690 there in Long Ben hadn't been as well trained 00:44:46.690 --> 00:44:48.949 apparently as our guys had and they were a little 00:44:48.949 --> 00:44:50.530 clumsy and they set off one of those rockets 00:44:50.530 --> 00:44:52.469 and went right through the compound after getting 00:44:52.469 --> 00:44:56.329 in. I think that was the 117th, wasn't it? Was 00:44:56.329 --> 00:44:59.869 that the 117th? Oh, you mean the unit that fired 00:44:59.869 --> 00:45:02.469 the rocket? Yeah, the guy were across the street 00:45:02.469 --> 00:45:05.590 from where we were located. Well, we're coming 00:45:05.590 --> 00:45:08.980 up against the top of the hour. Both of you gentlemen, 00:45:09.079 --> 00:45:11.059 I want to thank you so very much for being on 00:45:11.059 --> 00:45:13.739 Veterans Radio. Are there any last things that 00:45:13.739 --> 00:45:16.079 either one of you want to say? I'm going to go 00:45:16.079 --> 00:45:20.159 to Wendell first. I'm just thrilled that I got 00:45:20.159 --> 00:45:26.219 this story out there. Soon, I'm going to try 00:45:26.219 --> 00:45:30.420 to go see Major Carlson and give him a big hug 00:45:30.420 --> 00:45:34.480 because without his efforts, I would not be here 00:45:34.480 --> 00:45:39.400 today. Well thanks, when we got a guest wing 00:45:39.400 --> 00:45:41.239 of a house, when you and your family are welcome 00:45:41.239 --> 00:45:43.340 to come and stay with us, you get down this way. 00:45:43.599 --> 00:45:46.639 Well, hopefully I can take care of that. I'm 00:45:46.639 --> 00:45:50.340 working toward that goal. I would like to say 00:45:50.340 --> 00:45:52.820 this too, that for all the guys and particularly 00:45:52.820 --> 00:45:56.260 young men who were drafted in our unit, on that 00:45:56.260 --> 00:46:00.269 first mission we had that scary night. A lot 00:46:00.269 --> 00:46:04.829 of young boys became men that night and it was 00:46:04.829 --> 00:46:07.489 one heck of a sight and from there on out we 00:46:07.489 --> 00:46:12.250 were solid. We all appreciate those comments 00:46:12.250 --> 00:46:15.429 because it's so important for people to realize 00:46:15.429 --> 00:46:18.849 that we were fought as one unit. There wasn't 00:46:18.849 --> 00:46:21.369 any dissension when we were out on a mission 00:46:21.369 --> 00:46:23.309 and there was no dissension anywhere. Bob wanted 00:46:23.309 --> 00:46:25.349 to ask a quick comment I believe. Hold on both 00:46:25.349 --> 00:46:28.030 of you. Yes, I do, and I want to thank our guests 00:46:28.030 --> 00:46:31.050 very much for being on the program today. I've 00:46:31.050 --> 00:46:34.150 been sitting on the edge of my seat. I really 00:46:34.150 --> 00:46:36.710 don't know how I'm going to come down from that. 00:46:36.730 --> 00:46:38.869 What an incredible story. Thank you very much 00:46:38.869 --> 00:46:41.750 for sharing that with us. God bless. I'm just 00:46:41.750 --> 00:46:44.769 glad to thank you guys. This is what we're trying 00:46:44.769 --> 00:46:47.289 to do, and this is a great example of getting 00:46:47.289 --> 00:46:51.349 the stories out about two ordinary men who did 00:46:51.349 --> 00:46:54.250 extraordinary things in an unusual situation. 00:46:54.489 --> 00:46:56.849 and we are grateful to have both of you on the 00:46:56.849 --> 00:46:58.889 program and we want to make sure that now that 00:46:58.889 --> 00:47:02.150 you are here, it is archived and it's for posterity. 00:47:02.329 --> 00:47:04.750 200 years from now, some distant relative can 00:47:04.750 --> 00:47:06.809 pull this up out of the Library of Congress and 00:47:06.809 --> 00:47:09.110 go, hey, that was my great -great -great -great 00:47:09.110 --> 00:47:14.409 -grandfather. That's cool stuff, that is. I'm 00:47:14.409 --> 00:47:17.010 far from the hero, the major's the hero. I mean, 00:47:17.170 --> 00:47:19.730 I was just doing a job. That's what everybody 00:47:19.730 --> 00:47:22.130 says. My other partner, Gary, says, you pilots, 00:47:22.389 --> 00:47:25.090 you never talk about what you really did. And 00:47:25.090 --> 00:47:27.429 we just said, we're just doing our job. Just 00:47:27.429 --> 00:47:29.570 like everybody else. All the other military people 00:47:29.570 --> 00:47:32.210 we've talked to, they were just doing their job. 00:47:32.889 --> 00:47:35.389 When were you drafted or did you volunteer? I 00:47:35.389 --> 00:47:39.289 volunteered. Well, I have a special feeling for 00:47:39.289 --> 00:47:42.150 all the men who drafted. Those of us who volunteered 00:47:42.150 --> 00:47:44.190 should have known what we were getting into, 00:47:44.230 --> 00:47:48.840 you know. But to draft these, I really feel for 00:47:48.840 --> 00:47:51.340 those guys, those both who are living and those 00:47:51.340 --> 00:47:54.659 who didn't make it. I think that's a great tribute, 00:47:55.219 --> 00:47:56.880 Major Carlson. I want to thank you so very much. 00:47:57.280 --> 00:47:59.059 Wendell Skinner, thank you also. We're going 00:47:59.059 --> 00:48:01.019 to get this book published for you and get that 00:48:01.019 --> 00:48:03.400 story out for you. Major Carlson, we're going 00:48:03.400 --> 00:48:04.820 to have you back on the program because you've 00:48:04.820 --> 00:48:06.440 got other stories. I want to thank you both for 00:48:06.440 --> 00:48:09.239 being on Veterans Radio. Thank you, thank you. 00:48:09.619 --> 00:48:11.539 Next week we're going to be coming to you live 00:48:11.539 --> 00:48:13.760 from the Military Writers Society Convention 00:48:13.760 --> 00:48:16.219 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Hopefully you come 00:48:16.219 --> 00:48:18.219 on down and we'll see you at the Wyndham Hotel. 00:48:18.619 --> 00:48:20.539 Until then, you are dismissed.