If I remember right, the 119th pulled FOBII duty in the spring of 67 and again in the Early fall. it was usually one platoon. I remeber going to Kham Duc a couple of times to do maint. and once flew up there to take a replacement ship. That solo flight with a Tech Inspector for a co-pilot and 2 of my mechanics as gunners was a piece of work. A cargo of parts and tools. I did not have a map from Dak Pec to Kham Duc. I just followed the broken up trail that was labeled Hiway 14 on the map. Talk about stupid. But it never occured to me to ask for another ship or pilot to fly with me. No map and solo over some of the worst country in 2 Corps. Talk about endangering my troops. I think the TI was Ota but I'm not sure about the gunners. Do any of you 545th types remember that flight? Maybe it was the regular crew chief and gunner. I am not sure.
We were young and dumb but the survivors made pretty good pilots. We stayed a couple of days working on the broken bird then came back home.
^5
BT