George,

Here's a true FNG story. Third day of flying. I have Mr. Montgumary for an A/C and Mr. Taylor as peter pilot. These two do nothing but argue the entire day. Francis Hightower is my gunner. We're doing re-supply at Dak To.

Mid afternoon a LRRP team is in contact by the border out near Firebase 29. The Crocs are on station and here we go. I wouldn't have known a LRRP if he had bite me. I still can't listen to more than one radio at a time so I'm pretty much useless. I'm told that the team is on my side and I am not to fire.

We get into the landing zone and two of the LRRPs are carrying a wounded one. As they get close to the ship the last one comes running out of the bush. He falls down. I watch and he doesn't get up so I jump out of the ship and run over to him. He didn't fall he was shot. I pick him up and help him into the ship. I get plugged into the intercom and all I hear is Montgumary screaming for me to shoot.

We get out of the landing zone but we caught a few rounds in the exhaust section of the engine. The tempeture is running high so we put the ship down on the road between Dak To and Ben Het. By this time we have about every ship in the company following us.

Both LRRPs were okay but because of the age of my ship after they slung loaded it back to Holloway they retired her. That was Gator 374 and I then got Gator 316.

That LRRP was lucky because if I had known what was going on I would have never gotten out of the ship. Sometimes it was good being a new guy.