In our next set of missions...due out today, I think...we include 720714 Ironmike. This is a story told to us by none other than the Iron Mike who posts occasionally on SimHQ. (He is also our helicopter beta tester.)

Here's the briefing:



We are constrained by the size of that page. We cannot tell more story than it will hold. And, frankly, we do not do it justice in our brevity.

YAP is not always about BIG stories or BIG raids. More often than not, it is about a mission remembered by a man from a day a long time ago. They are one mission that stands out in hundreds the guy may have flown or witnessed. As a FAC once told me, "If you want to make a pilot happy, get him shot at." This mission made these guys really happy.



I will stumble through it and if he shows up, Iron Mike can correct me.

In 1972, the American public thought the war was over and in the history books but there were a lot of American fighting men still in the field. They were facing an aggressive advancing army, more modern defenses and the knowledge that someone was going to be the last American to die in a lost war.

The much-maligned South Vietnamese Army, the ARVN, had fought the North Vietnamese invasion to a stop with American air power and South Vietnamese blood somewhere north of the Mi Chang River (http://www.avsnonline.net/maps/level3/htm/ne48_16b.html) There were wounded ARVN Rangers to evacuate. South Vietnamese helicopters had been driven off FIVE times and still the wounded were in the field...along with the wreckage of the helicopters who had tried.

So, they asked Blue Star (the 48th Assault Helicopter Company) to get them out. The story (and our mission) begins at a huge, fenced-in hole named LZ Sally. There were many more people involved that YAP can portray but our version mainly concentrates upon Huey crew and one Cobra crew.



"As I started the approach all was just fine until I got close to short final and then the whole world started exploding. My Peter Pilot, Ron Rivera was pretty excited and expressing himself as such over the radio. I guess he was seeing all that was going on around us. I called, “taking fire, taking fire, taking heavy fire" and then my excellent tunnel vision took over, and I concentrated on the landing and the slow motion of the wounded in their stretchers being hoisted on the aircraft. I think we took aboard twelve wounded, (we had an Army Advisor whom I think was a Major Nelson who came with us too) when we pulled pitch. As we slowly got the flock out of there I think an empty stretcher blew out of the aircraft and the Hand of God was letting the Cobras protect us. I believe I remember hearing that you guys expended all your ordnance covering us.

When we returned to the firebase the wounded were unloaded, I shook
hands with somebody, and we, (the Bluestars) went back to Marble Mountain. I wrote up that the mission involved the most intense hostile fire ever witnessed by those who participated, or some words like that."

Worse than this:


The whole clash could not have taken more than a couple of minutes, yet is certainly made an impression on some young men that still recall it vividly after 35+ years. For the player, we put you in the Lead Cobra escorting the slicks into the LZ. Reading this, you know what is going to erupt when the slick pulls pitch to land. You need to suppress whatever you can so he can get out. You will be busy.

By the way, the picture from the cockpit in the briefing is from Ironmike and is entitled "shooting rockets in the Que Son Valley". Be certain to download the briefings and also the Google Earth image of the location of the rescue. We got that part right, I think.

The Cobra we gave you for Blue Max was the ARA version. This is the more-often-used attack version. All have our new FM that makes them better fighting platforms. We held this up to get a real slick for Blue Star to fly.

Sorry for the late reply ZeroCinco. Been fully occupied with my return from Afghanistan, the death of my mother, and visits to other relatives who are not fairing too well either. Break, break, you pretty much captured it. I will add the following:

We were on the deck, as low and fast as we could (without outrunning the huey) due to the SA-7 threat. At that altitude, you can see a lot. I'll never forget looking into the eyes of the NVA who stood up shooting at me....after we exceeded the 110 degree flex limit of the turret. Luckily he aimed AT me (amazing how big the barrel of an AK can look) so he missed.

Flying through body parts created by our rockets.

Watching the singularly bravest thing I'd ever seen as Roger flew his Huey INTO the LZ with artillery and rocket impacts that made it look like a jungle. How he ever got out of that, I'll never know.

Being in an Air Cavalry Troop, we had Cobras, OH-6s and Hueys. We'd tease the Huey guys with a take-off on a contemporary commercial, "Trix are meant for kids," by saying "Slicks are meant for kids....with balls THIS BIG!!" Roger had to carry his around in a wheel barrow.

Good job ZC, and thanks@@