Bob,
You are right about the medivac work, one day about two years ago I was in a therapy group here in Houston, listening to the new guy in the group. He was telling the story about "Firebase Milehigh" west of Polei Klang, he was the medic and he was telling of begging the Medivac Aircraft to come in to pick up numerous wounded and dead that he had on the hill. He said that the Helipad on the ridgeline was under fire, covered with clouds and that they were covering it with canister rounds from their arty and a .50 Cal. The medivacs continued to tell them that there was no way that they could get in there when miraculously a helicopter appeared out of the clouds from the south. His detail was astounding in that he spoke of a round yellow and red patch with an Aligator on the nose. He stated that that aircraft made it back there five times before the clouds cleared. He was crying and praising the lord that someone was coming in to evacuate his men, he had been wounded two times in the legs, but he was continuing to work. His story was tough to listen to, but the whole room, about 15 vets, were there in silence listening to his story. His last statement was that he had no one to back up his story.

I chimed in at that time and told him that the aircraft had landed to a bunker on the west side of the south ridge line a point that was out of the line of fire from the North. He got a startled look on his face and said that the aircraft was under light fire from the southwest, and how did I know where the aircraft landed? When I said that I was the Aircraft Commander of that aircraft, the man almost slid out of his seat, he was crying loudly and he lost control of himself, shock I think. The psychologist separated him from the group immediately so I didn't get a chance to talk to him.

When he came out of the Psychologists office, he walked directly up to me and gave me a hug that lasted for a really long time, he broke down while he was hugging me and I stayed there and talked to him for over an hour. The man's name is Don Mixon, he was a SP-4 Medic at the time. Since then though we have confirmed our parts in the action, drawing scketches of the LZ, the fire base and where I landed. I also showed where he was and the route that he took to the aircraft with the wounded, and infirm. He wanted to know how I got in there with the clouds over the hill, and I just told him that I had been there before, and I just hovered up the south ridge till I got to the base. Four of the men in the last load that I took to Polei Klang were in a state of shock, completely out of control and had to be carried to the aircraft. Medivacs took the men from Polei Klang to Pleiku.

I later wrote up the action that I saw for him and gave it to the VA for his records. The man got 50% disability within a few days and within a year, he has received his 100% Permanent and Total.

We did stupid things in our youth, that was one of mine, and we got away with it. I could have never done it without my crew, they kept me out of the trees while we were enroute the firebase and they guided me down with the tail boom hanging over the base perimeter wires. I estimate about eight hundred yards of hovering to get to the base.

Dave