240th AHC

Specialist 4 Michael D. Craig. Michael Craig was the first from the 240th to die on May 2, 1968. He was wounded by heavy automatic weapons fire on the 240th's first attempt to extract Leroy Wright's team. Mortally injured, he survived until Roger Waggie landed back at the base camp in Loc Ninh. Roy Benavidez helped lift Craig from the helicopter and was comforting him when Michael looked into his face and exclaimed "Oh God, my mother, my father....." and then he died.

Warrant Officer 1 Larry S. McKibben Larry McKibben died during the second attempt to extract Wright's recon team. McKibben was the pilot who had allowed Roy to jump to from his low flying aircraft to join the beleaguered recon team and true to his promise, he returned to pick up Roy and the team. Benavidez had loaded all the wounded aboard the helicopter and was moving out to recover Leroy Wright's body when McKibben was struck by a burst of enemy fire that apparently killed him instantly.

Specialist 4 Nelson E. Fournier. Nelson Fournier was killed when Larry McKibben was hit by enemy fire, throwing the helicopter violently out of control. The rotor blades struck nearby trees and in the resulting crash Fournier was crushed by the transmission. (A picture of pilot Larry McKibben is shown at the left, seated in the copilots seat of an aircraft similar to the one that he and Fournier were killed in - we regret that no picture of Nelson Fournier is currently available).

The 240th's Time In Hell

The 240th AHC operated about thirty UH1 "Huey" helicopters from their main operating base at Bearcat, Vietnam. During the spring of 1968 about eight of their aircraft and crews were attached to Project Sigma's Detachment B-56 of the Fifth Special Forces Group to support that units top secret covert operations into Cambodia. It was this detachment of the 240th that fought the battle that Roy Benavidez came to call "Six Hours In Hell."

Mad Dog Gun Platoon nose art. Photo: 240th AHC.

The 240th operated UH1C gunships, armed with miniguns and rockets in the gun platoon, call sign "Mad Dog" and a transport or slick platoon flying UH1H slicks, call sign "Greyhound." The maintenance platoon was know as the Kennel Keepers. Over thirty-six members of the 240th AHC participated in the Benavidez Medal of Honor Incident. They started the emergency extraction with four gunships and four slicks, but were reduced to three operational aircraft by the time Roy Benavidez had joined the mission. The following brief sketches about various participants are intended as an introduction to the story of the 240th. We have focused on those in the slicks, but stories of each of the gunships and their crews will follow.

The Greyhounds - 240th AHC Slicks

Warrant Officer 1 William Fernan. After the crash of McKibben's slick Copilot William Fernan with his door gunner spent the rest of the action on the ground with Benavidez and the trapped team. He received a very painful head wound in the crash with a small tree limb stuck into his ear. He died in a crash August 1, 1968.

Chief Warrant Officer 2 Roger Waggie. Roger Waggie was the pilot who finally succeeded in lifting Benavidez and the survivors of the recon team to safety. His aircraft was hit by heavy fire on the first extraction attempt, seriously wounding his crew-chief and his gunner. When Roy Benavidez requested a final extraction attempt, Roger Waggie and David Hoffman with a crew of volunteers, flew out in his battered helicopter to try once more. Over two hundred bullet holes were counted his aircraft and it was scrapped for parts after that mission.

Posthumous Silver Star. Until after his death from cancer in 1997, Roger Waggie had received no official recognition for his part in the mission. Roy Benavidez believed that Roger Waggie deserved the Medal of Honor and was working towards getting the army to appropriately honor him. Unfortunately Roger Waggie died before the Army awarded him the Silver Star for his part in the Benavidez MOH mission.

Warrant Officer 1 David R. Hoffman - Waggie's copilot. In the picture at the left Hoffman is standing to the right with Special Forces assistant team leader Lloyd "Frenchy" Mousseau, probably just a few days before their historic mission. Mousseau died of his wounds shortly after being rescued. Hoffman was killed in a tragic midair collision of three 240th Aircraft that killed a total of twelve 240th members.

Warrant Officer William Darling. Pilot, William Darling's helicopter was shot up and useless after the first extraction attempt so he volunteered to take the place of Roger Waggie's crew chief, Michael Craig who was killed during the first extraction attempt. He boldly and skillfully manned his door machine gun in the face of close assault by NVA soldiers who actually attempted to climb into the aircraft with him.

CW-2 Thomas Smith volunteered door gunner on Roger Waggie's slick when his own aircraft was disabled. He was with Waggie on the flight that recovered Benavidez and the team. Smith was killed in a tragic midair involving three 240th AC. Photo: 240th AHC.

Chief Warrant Officer 2 Thomas J. Smith. Smith, a pilot whose aircraft was no longer fit for action, volunteered to act as a door gunner for Warrant Officer Roger Waggie. He survived the mission, successfully defending the aircraft from repeated ground assaults, but was killed in a tragic midair collision of three 240th Aircraft that killed a total of twelve 240th members on July 25, 1968.

Warrant Officer Gerald Ewing. While Roger Waggie's aircraft was on the deck waiting for the survivors to be loaded, Ewing made repeated low level passes over Waggie in his slick to draw enemy attention and fire away from Waggie's aircraft. After Waggie successfully picked up Benavidez and the survivors from the zone, Gerald Ewing landed to check the two bodies in the crashed helicopter in the hope that one of them might still be alive. He landed knowing that the enemy still swarmed around the now abandoned landing zone. He landed knowing that the gunships could not provide covering fire because they were out of ammunition.

Spec 5 Al Tagliaferri. Al Tagliaferri, Gerald Ewing's crew chief. When Ewing landed his aircraft to check McKibben's and Fournier's bodies for signs of life, Tagliaferri told Ewing that if he found either of them alive, he was going to stay on the ground alone to protect them until the reaction force arrived to take control of the landing zone. Unfortunately he found no signs of life and returned to the aircraft without incident. The bravery of Ewing and Tagliaferri, like that of so many others on that day, went officially unnoticed and unrecognized.

Paul LaChance - Mad Dog/Greyhound Crewchief. Frenchy LaChance was the line chief for the gunship platoon, - the Mad Dogs. As line chief he was responsible for all of the crewchiefs, plus he flew as the crewchief on one of the gunships as well. On this day he was flying with pilot Lou Wilson in the lead gunship. On their first trip to the zone their aircraft was hit by enemy fire over fifty-one times. The enemy was firing from numerous well prepared positions including platforms in the tops of trees and concrete bunkers.

240^th AHC's
Covert Operations in Cambodia.

BORN IN TEXAS. The 240^th Assault Helicopter Company was formed in Texas in October, 1966 at Kileen Base opposite Ft Hood. The first commander of the unit was Major William Williams with executive officer Major Glenn Hoffman. The unit was one of the first in the Army to receive the new 540 rotorheads on their C model Huey gunships. In 1967 the unit was transferred by ship to Vietnam and assigned to a base known as “Bearcat.” located near Saigon on Highway One.

The company had three platoons, the Gunship platoon equipped with UH1C Huey gunships, the slick platoon equipped with UH1H Huey transports, and the maintenance platoon. The gunship platoon was assigned the call sign “Mad Dogs”, the slick platoon had the call sign “Greyhounds, “ and the maintenance platoon had the call sign “Kennel Keepers.” Distinctive designs were developed for shoulder patches, signs and aircraft markings for all three platoons, some of these are seen below.

In action the 240th soon developed a reputation for never leaving anyone behind, no matter how hot the situation. The style of close cooperation between the air and supported ground units practiced by the 240^th seemed to set them apart from many other gunship units.

COVERT OPERATIONS. Early in the spring of 1968 a substantial portion of the company was detached from the company for extended service with the Special Forces Detachment B-56 which operated under a secret project known as Project Sigma. On the day of the first detachment to B-56, there was little warning to the members of the 240^th who were assigned to the detachment. They were simply ordered to fly to B-56's base and report to the commanding officer. Upon arrival they were ushered into the mess hall where Colonel Drake, the commander of B-56 explained to them that for the coming weeks they belonged to him. They were stunned to learn that they must remove all identifying markings and writings from everything that they would be using when they flew for the Special Forces. They learned that the enemy could be expected to treat them as spies if they were shot down and if captured they might be tortured and executed. A bag was passed around the room and the men were instructed to put in their dog tags and ID cards.

The briefing officer explained to them that the missions that they were going to be flying were top secret. If they ever spoke of these missions to anyone, even other men from their parent unit who were not assigned to the mission, they could be fined $10,000 and would serve ten years in jail. After signing a card indicating they understood their secret responsibilities they were ushered outside where the Special Forces chaplain said a mass for them. Pete Gailis, a Mad Dog crewchief, recalled that it seemed to him that they were now receiving their last rites.

Their aircraft and weapons received similar treatment. The “US Army” signs were painted over in black paint as were the aircraft side numbers and even the distinctive Mad Dog and Greyhound logos were blacked out. Pete Gailis was particularly disturbed at the thought of painting over the Mad Dog on the nose of his aircraft, but he happened to have an extra nose panel and simply swapped it for the one bearing his Mad Dog emblem which he hid for safe keeping – anticipating that he and his aircraft would survive their “secret missions.”

The Special Forces issued “tiger stripe” jungle camouflage uniforms that were to be worn instead of their new fire proof nomex flight suits. The intention was to help them blend in with the troops if they were shot down, but that didn’t make much sense. These light weight cotton uniforms were tailored for the smaller, slender Orientals and few were available in sizes which fit the Americans properly. Worse, the tiger stripes offered no protection from fire.

One Marine's Opinion 240th AHC in the Rung Sat
Click to Enlarge Picture	“No military unit I ever worked with, saw, or read about could compare with the 240^th – and that includes my experiences with Marines!" .....William Cowan, Lt. Col. USMC (retired) and FOX news Iraq War analyst.

William "Bill" Cowan, a retired Marine Lieutenant Colonel, is now a well-known military commentator on National TV news networks. Many Americans have come to know him through his commentary on Operation Iraqi Freedom for FOX News. In 1969, Bill Cowan was not nearly so well known. He was a US Marine First Lieutenant with very unusual dedication to his rather unorthodox job. He had already served a thirteen month tour of duty fighting in Northern I Corps, up near the DMZ. Now, in 1969 he was back in Vietnam, assigned as an advisor to the Vietnamese military, operating in an area know as Rung Sat. He elected to extend his stay in Rung Sat several times, and he voluntarily spent the next two and one half years of his life there before the war ended.

The Rung Sat was a military operational area of about 500 square miles, along the international shipping lane up the Mekong River from the coast to Saigon. The defense of this area was crucial to allied operations in Vietnam – for the Mekong River was the key supply line to Saigon for ocean going shipping traffic. Bill Cowan was frequently supported in his operations by the 240^th AHC. They provided his transportation and gunship support for the Vietnamese forces that he advised.

Bill Cowan was so impressed with the outstanding support of the 240^th that years later he wrote a testimonial to them, which the 240^th veterans have place on their website. He wrote of the 240^th AHC,

“No military unit I ever worked with, saw, or read about could compare with the 240^th – and that includes my experiences with Marines! There was some sort of spirit, boldness, courage, and devil-may-care attitude about them that made them the fiercest group of men imaginable. Ant yet, they were all just guys over there doing what lots of Americans were being called upon to do – the difference was that they were doing it like no others!"

Bill Cowen doesn’t just praise the 240^thAHC, he gives the reader several examples of the special kind of support that he came to expect from the 240^th. On one particular mission a group of VC were discovered by his intelligence unit, hiding in a stand of nippa palms, and “that resulted in a horrific shoot-out between the VC and the gunships. The "Dogs" were the ONLY gunships I ever saw who would confront the VC at tree top level and shoot it out. They'd circle in a tight pattern around the target, with the door gunners just blasting away while the VC blasted back. When I wasn't on the ground with the troops, I'd be up in the air with the C&C ship, circling over the battle. It was always UNBELIEVABLE to watch what was going on.” He closed his testimonial with this comment “They are the kind of men that make a difference in the world, and they surely did in Viet Nam.”

"Plastic Handle Six."

"Bill Cowan, USMC Advisor out of Nha Be that worked with the 240th AHC for 2 1/2 years, was recently featured on the Discovery Channel in a program entitled SILENT WARRIORS. Bill, working as a civilian, but with the knowledge and cooperation at the highest levels of the United States Government, was instrumental in getting Americans out of Kuwait when they were trapped after Iraq invaded in 1991 and which eventually led to the Persian Gulf War and a complete victory for America and her allies. The documentary has a lot of historical footage, dramatizations and self-narration and appearances by Bill Cowan himself. If any one gets the chance, check out the Discovery Channel for the next time this program will air. Well done, Bill aka. Plastic Handle 6!" .

....Joe "Ragman" Tarnovsky, owner, LZ of the 240th AHC and former member of the 214th AHC.

Not Alone

MACVSOG - Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, Studies and Observations Group

The 240th AHC was not alone in its assignment to provide support to covert operations. Throughout the Vietnam War similar secret assignments were given to various Army, Air Force, Navy and Marine aviation units in support of cross border operations into Laos, Cambodia, and North Vietnam.

For much of the war most of these missions were controlled by Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, Studies and Observations Group, known as MACVSOG, and usually referred to in conversations simply as "SOG". There were other operations that operated in similar secrecy that are beyond the scope of this article.

SOG missions were secret only to the people at home in the United States. The enemy certainly was aware of the operations as well as the national identity of the forces. Security precautions were high, and participants in the missions were forbidden to discuss the missions with anyone, even other members of their own units who were not assigned to the operation and cleared for the information. This often resulted in acts of valor going unrecognized because the parent organizations could not, or would not, write up awards recommendations without specific knowledge of the situation. Some units found ways around these difficulties and succeeded in getting recognition for their members, others didn't. It appears that in the case of the 240th AHC, this problem was not overcome at the time of the Benavidez mission. This is tragic, for there were many true heroes with the 240th on that day, but few awards were awarded to the participants in the mission.

The SOG missions were declassified decades later and historians began to write of the missions. Many veterans however remained reluctant to speak of them even into the 1990’s for fear that the secrecy oaths could still be used against them as individuals.

With the proliferation of information about the “Secret War” in the popular press, media, and now on the Internet, it is time that stories such as that of the 240^th AHC’s Hell in Cambodia should be told, lest our nation forget their sacrifice and honor. The men who flew on these missions were often improvising and inventing tactics that have contributed to the great military successes of the American military services in the post cold war conflicts. Their contributions should be remembered and honored. An excellent introduction to this subject is John Plaster's SOG, A Photo History of the Secret Wars and his earlier book SOG, The Secret Wars of America's Commandos in Vietnam.

ONE LAST MISSION
AHC 240TH brings Lloyd Mousseau home - May 2, 2001, Texas State Legislature, Austin, Texas.

On May 2, 2001 the state of Texas awarded posthumously the Texas Legislative Medal of Honor to Roy Benavidez. Three members of the 240th were invited to Austin, Texas to take part as honored guests in the official legislative ceremony. Representing the 240th B-56 detachment were:

Gerald Ewing, former Greyhound pilot
Paul LaChance, former 240th Line Chief
Pete Gailis, former Mad Dog crewchief

Also present were Michael Tanja Burkenshaw, daughter of Michael Grant, Mad Dog gunships pilot, and Ellen McClanahan, sister of the late Greyhound slick pilot Roger Waggie. See the photo album concerning this event Texas MOH Photos and Honors and Awards for a description of the Texas Medal of Honor.

A very special guest at the ceremony was Kathy Mousseau Meuller from Orange County, California. She was just three years old when her father, Staff Sergeant Lloyd "Frenchy" Mousseau, was killed in the action. She grew up knowing only that he was killed in Vietnam, and that he won some kind of medal. She knew none of the details. Ewing, LaChance and Gailis all remembered Kathy's father well, having lived together in the small base camp for a couple of weeks before the mission. They shared with Kathy many memories of her father and answered her every question about what happened on that day.

On the last day in Austin Kathy thanked the 240th members for bringing her father home to her. After an evening discussing the mission and events she told the group, "now I know that my father did not die in vein."

Articles and personal accounts of the 240th's role in the Benavidez MOH incident as well as the overall history of the unit will be published on Valor Remembered's website as the project progresses. Watch these pages for additional publications.

by Mark Austin Byrd

Sources:
240th AHC, A Unit History by Major Jimmy Moore, published on LZ of the 240th AHC, and conversations and correspondence with former 240th members.