War Stories
Firebase Solid Anchor
John Hosford (Hos), Miguel “Mike” Melendez (Mex) and I served together on HA(L)-3 Detachment 1 at Nam Can, Republic of Vietnam – a U S Navy firebase known as “Solid Anchor” in 1971. During those days, we flew a years’ worth of missions together and worked closely on the aircraft and other detachment duties. I was a young officer and John and Mike were young enlisted, but I like to think that we all have a lot in common. John and I were probably the most junior and most definitely quietest two on the detachment. Mike and John both taught …
Larry Rogers
Both birds were flying down low following the river north back to Nha Be. We were doing a “flyby” on this ship in the Saigon Channel. That’s where the lead bird goes by the boat on one side and the trail bird goes by on the other side, both low level and fairly close to it. As we (the lead bird) were going by on the left side, Mr ‘Ski was telling co-pilot some details about the ship and as we reached the bow, Mr ‘Ski turned right to come around the front of the boat. As he did this …
Scramble Seawolves! Part 1
This is the story of a minor combat engagement at an outpost in South Vietnam called Hoa Binh. It is representative of Seawolf combat operations during the withdrawal of U.S. riverine forces and the turnover of naval operations to the South Vietnamese in 1971. HA(L)-3, the only Navy attack helicopter squadron in Vietnam, was a unique concept designed to support the Navy riverine forces operating in the Mekong Delta area of South Vietnam. The squadron was a child of the Vietnam war, being commissioned, operated, and finally decommissioned entirely within the Delta of South Vietnam. MACV Concept of Ops for …
Scramble Seawolves! Part 2
This is part 2 leading up to the story of a minor combat engagement at an outpost in South Vietnam called Hoa Binh. It is representative of Seawolf combat operations during the withdrawal of U.S. riverine forces and the turnover of naval operations to the South Vietnamese in 1971. HA(L)-3, the only Navy attack helicopter squadron in Vietnam, was a unique concept designed to support the Navy riverine forces operating in the Mekong Delta area of South Vietnam. The squadron was a child of the Vietnam war, being commissioned, operated, and finally decommissioned entirely within the Delta of South Vietnam. …
Scramble Seawolves! Part 3
This is part 3 leading up to the story of a minor combat engagement at an outpost in South Vietnam called Hoa Binh. It is representative of Seawolf combat operations during the withdrawal of U.S. riverine forces and the turnover of naval operations to the South Vietnamese in 1971. HA(L)-3, the only Navy attack helicopter squadron in Vietnam, was a unique concept designed to support the Navy riverine forces operating in the Mekong Delta area of South Vietnam. The squadron was a child of the Vietnam war, being commissioned, operated, and finally decommissioned entirely within the Delta of South Vietnam. …