The Freedom Shield: The 191st Assault Helicopter Company in Vietnam
The Freedom Shield: The 191st Assault Helicopter Company in Vietnam
Maj. John D Falcon (Ret)
Subjects: Biographies & Memoirs,Leaders & Notable People,Military,Professionals & Academics,Aviation & Nautical,History,Aviation,Vietnam War,World,Engineering & Transportation,Transportation
Description
Description
Arresting accounts of flying troops into hot LZs and medevacking the wounded under fire in Vietnam from a pilot who was there.
The Freedom Shield brings together stories of veterans of the 191st Assault Helicopter Company, tasked with carrying troops into battle, attacking enemy positions and evacuating the wounded in their UH-1 Iroquois "Huey" helicopters. The unit was assembled from a hodgepodge selection of hand-me-down aircraft, used equipment and overlooked personnel—its appearance belied the invaluable work the crews of the 191st would undertake during the Vietnam War. This narrative of the Company, told through collected stories of veterans, defines a breed of soldier newly minted in Vietnam: the combat assault-helicopter crewman.
The 191st pilots, crews, and support personnel vividly share the details of what it was like to be at war, forced to rely on your fellow crewmembers for your own survival. Their accounts of helicopter combat at the height of the Vietnam conflict accurately recreate the sights and sounds of the battlefields, the fear and horror of watching close friends torn to pieces, their feelings on returning to base. Their message is infinitely clear: 'The price of freedom is painful.'
Table of Contents
Foreword
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1: Ben Tre—A Bloody Fight
Chapter 2: Birth of the Assault Helicopter Company
Chapter 3: Patnode Commanding
Chapter 4: Combat Ready
Chapter 5: Airmobile Schemes
Chapter 6: The Load Bearers
Chapter 7: A Combat Assault from Lead’s Cockpit
Chapter 8: Lethal Climate
Chapter 9: Night Sampan Ambush
Chapter 10: Human Wave VC Attack
Chapter 11: Tet Offensive: The Communist Buildup
Chapter 12: The Tet Offensive Begins
Chapter 13: New Bounty Hunter Six Enters the Fight
Chapter 14: Griggs Commanding
Chapter 15: Crew Trust
Chapter 16: Maintenance Crew Crash
Chapter 17: Petric Commanding
Chapter 18: Quiet but Deadly
Chapter 19: The Hardest Blow
Chapter 20: Schmidt Commanding
Chapter 21: Battle at Ap My Thuan
Chapter 22: The Natural
Chapter 23: Mental Impacts of War
Chapter 24: Conner Commanding with Bearden as Top
Chapter 25: Nighthawk Down
Chapter 26: The Final Call
Killed in Action
Glossary
Index of Names
The Freedom Shield brings together stories of veterans of the 191st Assault Helicopter Company, tasked with carrying troops into battle, attacking enemy positions and evacuating the wounded in their UH-1 Iroquois "Huey" helicopters. The unit was assembled from a hodgepodge selection of hand-me-down aircraft, used equipment and overlooked personnel—its appearance belied the invaluable work the crews of the 191st would undertake during the Vietnam War. This narrative of the Company, told through collected stories of veterans, defines a breed of soldier newly minted in Vietnam: the combat assault-helicopter crewman.
The 191st pilots, crews, and support personnel vividly share the details of what it was like to be at war, forced to rely on your fellow crewmembers for your own survival. Their accounts of helicopter combat at the height of the Vietnam conflict accurately recreate the sights and sounds of the battlefields, the fear and horror of watching close friends torn to pieces, their feelings on returning to base. Their message is infinitely clear: 'The price of freedom is painful.'
Table of Contents
Foreword
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1: Ben Tre—A Bloody Fight
Chapter 2: Birth of the Assault Helicopter Company
Chapter 3: Patnode Commanding
Chapter 4: Combat Ready
Chapter 5: Airmobile Schemes
Chapter 6: The Load Bearers
Chapter 7: A Combat Assault from Lead’s Cockpit
Chapter 8: Lethal Climate
Chapter 9: Night Sampan Ambush
Chapter 10: Human Wave VC Attack
Chapter 11: Tet Offensive: The Communist Buildup
Chapter 12: The Tet Offensive Begins
Chapter 13: New Bounty Hunter Six Enters the Fight
Chapter 14: Griggs Commanding
Chapter 15: Crew Trust
Chapter 16: Maintenance Crew Crash
Chapter 17: Petric Commanding
Chapter 18: Quiet but Deadly
Chapter 19: The Hardest Blow
Chapter 20: Schmidt Commanding
Chapter 21: Battle at Ap My Thuan
Chapter 22: The Natural
Chapter 23: Mental Impacts of War
Chapter 24: Conner Commanding with Bearden as Top
Chapter 25: Nighthawk Down
Chapter 26: The Final Call
Killed in Action
Glossary
Index of Names
Details
Details
Publisher/Supplier: Casemate
Date Published: 2020-04-19
Binding: Hardcover
ISBN: 1612008607
Language: en
Pages: 384
Length: 6.25 inches,Width: 1.25 inches,Height: 9.25 inches
25 in stock
