Tom,

I had the Sergeant Major of the Artillery Battalion at Dak To fall out of my helicopter. I was flying him and his idiot commander around to various bases and doing resupply while they looked over the bases.

The commander started the day off real bad by calling over my radios to have his people pop "purple smoke" so that I would know where to go. Well firebase 30 had been hit the night before by mortar fire, and they started taking fire on the base before I landed. I made a real slow approach, because I suspected a replay of the night before. After that, I convinced the commander to let me handle my own radios and for him to stay off of mine.

After a couple more incidents and a lot of profanity from the LTC, I was going to insert him on a firebase Northwest of firebase 30 and Northeast of Ben Het and South of Dak Seang. Well there was a CH-47 unit making a lift out of the helipad so I was asked to land somewhere else to drop of the commander. I landed to a bunker on the SE corner of the base and Larry, my CE had briefed the LTC and the staff, he told them to stay next to the aircraft till we could move the aircraft so that they could walk up the hill. The next thing I heard was a scream that the A$$h073 was running up hill, so I pulled pitch rapidly to avoid hitting him with the blades and the good Sergeant Major fell out, hit the bunker then rolled down the hill into the concertina wire and the assorted ordinance that had been placed down the hill.

It took 30 minutes to free the Sergeant Major from the wires. I landed, picked up the Sergeant Major and I immediately took off with him to get him back to the medics at Dak To. When I was almost at Dak To, the LTC demanded that I return to pick him up right then. I dropped the Sergeant Major off and a couple of his staff members carried him to the medics. I went back out to pick up the LTC and then I took him to Dak To.

He chewed me out on the way back for leaving him and not returning to pick him up immediately. I told him that I was unwilling to fly him any more for he had no respect for me, my crew, the aircraft, and his staff. He refused to get out of the aircraft, so I took it over to refuel. When I got out to take a piss, this LTC jumped out of the back and grabbed me by the flack vest and started chewing my ass. I pushed him back and told him not to touch me.

The arguement continued until I took off from Dak To and climbed to 7000 feet and made a call back to REDLEG 6 at artillery hill. I explained what happened to REDLEG 6 and then the LTC came on the air for about 30 minutes - non-stop - cussing profusely. When REDLEG 6 asked the LTC if he was through, there was another burst of profanity. REDLEG 6 then came on the radio and told him to get off of the aircraft, and then to be at the airstrip that afternoon at 1700 when I would pick him up and take him to Artillery Hill. I finished my day of resupply, picked up the LTC, checked on the Sergeant Major (about 20 stiches and a lot of bumps and bruises) and took the LTC to see REDLEG 6 (Col Balmer). (I had let Col Balmer try to hover a couple of times at his airstrip, so I knew him and he knew me.) LTC Strickland did not return to Dak To as far as I know of.

Dave

P.S. The BN XO asked me to shut down the aircraft and then he picked up the whole crew in his jeep and took us to lunch in the BN mess hall where we were treated like kings. The entire crew ate with the XO and several others. All of them said that we were the first people who had ever put LTC Strickland in his place. Later while resupplying the unit, several Officers and NCO's on the firebases came over and opened my door and thanked me personnaly for the actions that I had taken.