#156 and The Tale of a Mad Dog
As the Curator of the Army Aviation Museum and a former Army Aviator I am charged with not only preserving and collecting artifacts relevant to our Army’s history but also ensuring that the collection has at least one example of each type design aircraft in the collection. It is amazing how quickly examples disappear from the face of the earth when the Army divests itself of a piece of equipment.
Fortunately those who have come before me have done a great job at grabbing examples and adding them to the collection if only to put them in storage. During the past year I have busied myself with assessing the condition of each component of Army Aviation. The Cargo, Utility, Scout and Fixed Wing collections were found to be in really great shape with at least one nice example dating back to WWII and up to current operations. The one area of concern was the Gunship collection representing the Attack community. The A model Apaches were all converted to Longbow Apaches D models without an example preserved in the historic collection and that fleet is currently undergoing modernization to E models, one can only hope the Apache Program Manager sees fit to save an example from the crusher. With that being said there is still a long line of gunship history with many variants that came long before the Apache made its debut. Even before the Vietnam War began small arms were being installed on the H-13 aircraft and others. The natural evolution of almost every transportation device the Army ever had was to weaponize it, the helicopter was no exception.
As the U.S. Army became deeper involved in the War in Vietnam it became apparent that larger and more capable weapons would have to be mounted on helicopter for not only defensive purposes but also offensive missions. The Army commissioned studies to determine what airframe would be the most capable platform. Even the CH-47 cargo helicopter would be heavily armed in the form of the famed Guns-A-Go-Go Detachment deployed in Vietnam. By the natural process of size, payload, and ability of modification the UH-1 Huey would see most of the Varity in weapon configurations.
After taking stock of what we had in the collection I came to the conclusion that we had a pretty good selection of aircraft. After the current restoration of the G model and the F model AH-1 Cobras are completed the only systems that we did not have examples of would be the Huey’s configured with the light rocket/twin mini-gun and the heavy rocket/40mm Grenade launcher. As luck would have it we had two M model Huey’s in storage that would fit the build. For the benefit of our readers I feel it is important to explain the evolution in Armed Huey’s. The first to see serious use as a gunship was the B model, most were fitted twin M60 7.62 mm machineguns on each side and a pair of seven shot rocket pods. There were various other weapons configurations but it was quickly determined the B model would need serious improvements therefore the C model was introduced. The C model was modified with systems designed specifically for the role of a gunship. Keep in mind that the jet turbine engine that powered the Huey aircraft was still evolving in the roll of “Helicopter power plant” so performance and power available were still issues. It was then determined to further modify the C model into the M model with a more powerful engine. This would be the last of the Huey gunships until the AH-1 Cobra would start to see service as the Army’s first dedicated “Attack Helicopter” towards the end of the 1960’s.
The next questions I had was how were these aircraft tail numbers originally configured? As a true conservator and student of history configuring something for exhibit in a museum is some pretty serious business. You don’t just take something and strap a bunch of weapons on it and put it on exhibit, this is referred to in the community as “selling snake oil”. You do your research, find out where it was, how it was equipped and what missions it preformed and then you can start to accurately restore it back to its original condition. Fortunately my friend and Professor at Auburn University, Dr. Ray Wilhite has probably the largest personal data base in the world of Army aircraft and units from the Vietnam War. His father was a door gunner during the Vietnam Conflict so he was interested from a young age. I asked Ray if he could run down some tail numbers and see if he could find out any history on them. As we chatted on the phone I could hear him clicking away at his keyboard and lo and behold in seconds I had a detailed history of aircraft serial number 66-15156, you gotta love Ray! He proceeded to tell me that it was assigned to three units in Vietnam, 191st, the 240th, and the 116th Aviation Companies. He recommended that I restore it to the 116th unit makings which had a big hornet painted on the nose. I wanted to configure it at the time with the 40mm grenade launcher (XM-5 Subsystem) on the nose and that would mask any nose art. I thanked him for the data search and hung up. After mulling things over for a few minutes I looked back at the information he had given and realized the my good friend, retired Army Major Terry Morris was assigned to the 240th on his first tour in Vietnam, and I wondered if he had flown 156 (helicopters are often referred to by the “last three” of their tail numbers). I promptly shot off an e-mail to him.
A few words about Terry, he served two tours of duty in Vietnam flying combat missions, he was awarded the Silver Star, the Bronze Star w/V device, four Distinguished Flying Crosses, 57 Air Medals three w/V devices, one Army Commendation Medal w/V device, and four Purple Hearts, and he was shot down seven times… in short, if you were going to fly into combat you would want Terry on your wing. He was the kind of pilot that would not shy away from the really risky missions and I’m sure when he volunteered for one all the co-pilots in the briefing room
became a little nervous, he was the attack pilot’s attack pilot. Terry retired in the 1980,s and went on to another career in Law Enforcement. In addition, Terry Morris is one of the world’s top authorities on WWI Aviation,
from wings, patches and period uniforms. He has written books, articles and provided priceless expertise on the subject to many collectors and museums. He has generously donated several extremely rare artifacts to the U.S. Army Aviation Museum and assisted in helping us craft our “Early Aviation Gallery” into a first rate exhibit.
It wasn’t long and I got a response back from Terry with images forwarded of his logbook entries from August and September 1968 where it clearly showed 30 plus hours in 15156. It was then he told me about operations on the 18th of August 1968. He was assigned to the 240th Assault Helicopter Company. Aviation companies at that time were normally task organized in two platoons of lift Huey’s referred to as “Slicks” since their primary role was transporting troops and did not have heavy weapons, and one platoon of gunships. The gun platoon aircraft were configured with a mix of mini-guns and light rockets, or a 40mm grenade launcher with heavy rockets. The call sign for the slick platoon in the 240th was “Greyhounds” and the call sign for the gun platoon was “Mad Dogs”. The aircraft carried respective nose art and there were tactical markings on the tail boom for Command and Control identification. The 240th had the dubious nick name of the Suicide Company, it seemed like they always managed to look for trouble and find the worst of it.
During those months in 1968 the 240th had been assigned to support the 51st Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol (LRRP) based out of Chu Chi, a base camp for the 25th Inf. Div. and were working the area around Duc Hoa, Bau Tri, and Tri Ciu. The Slicks would normally insert the teams late in the afternoon and the LRRPs would set-up ambushes, gather intelligence or grab a prisoner or two. The Gunships were on call to provided close air support if the teams got into heavy combat, which they often did.
August 1968 would see the Beatles launch Apple Records, Arthur Ashe would win the U.S. Men’s Singles, and Richard Nixon would be nominated for President at the Republican Convention. On this particular day Terry Morris was laying on a cot in a series of ratty huts trying to get some rest for the missions to come. As he lay there sweating in the stifling heat he could hear the LRRP’s giving their mission briefs. There were four scouts that were working with the teams, they were captured NVA who were given the choice to work with the U.S. and South Vietnamese or face some unknown fate. No one really trusted them but war does make strange bedfellows.
Shortly after the team was inserted the radio chatter started up with the sound of excited voice and the crackling of gunfire and explosions in the background, the LRRP’s had made contact. Terry and the other crews scrambled to their aircraft. They had already gone through pre-flight, had weapons loaded, and had been pumped with as much fuel as mission weight allowed in the tanks. The old saying “the only time you have too much fuel in when you are on fire” applied today. Managing fuel was always a dicey issue. Terry was flying 156 that day and it was armed with two trainable (moveable) mini-guns capable of delivering murderous fire and two seven shot rocket pods. The mini-guns were controlled by a reflex sight in the Co-pilots station that allowed for the guns to follow the sight in azimuth and elevation. When they arrived on the scene the slicks started their approach to the LZ while the guns who lead them in broke-off and started laying down fire along the tree line of Nipa palms on the perimeter of LZ.
As the Greyhound slicks landed in the PZ they came under intense automatic weapons and RPG fire inflecting heavy damage on all the aircraft, killing one pilot and one crew member and wounding five other crew members. The LRRP team scrambled aboard the aircraft and within seconds the slicks departed the PZ. As they were coming out a call came out that one of the LRRP members had fallen off and was laying in the PZ. The Maddog gunships continued to lay down suppressive fire in an attempt to protect what they believed was the fallen soldier. (It was later determined that it was not a member of the LRRP team but rather a VC soldier that had run up to the aircraft as it was lifting off and was killed by the gunner) It was at this time another Greyhound aircraft on a separate mission over heard the traffic and called stating he was only a few minutes away and would attempt to pick up the soldier still in the PZ. He was advised by Terry that the PZ was extremely hot and that the other slicks had received heavy fire in the PZ. His response was “Roger I’m Inbound”. As he touched down his aircraft came under intense fire. Terry had just completed his gun run down the left side of the PZ and was breaking across in front of the slick in the PZ when he observed a VC soldier run up to the front of the aircraft and fire point blank into the cockpit. The slick immediately lifted off and climbed to about 800 feet making a slight right turn and lining up with a dirt road that ran off the end of the PZ, made a near perfect approach to the road and came to a stop after skidding about 100 feet. Terry had picked up his tail as he came out of the PZ and followed him down, landing directly behind the aircraft. He ran up to check on the crew. The pilot had been killed instantly when the VC fired into the cockpit and two other crew members were wounded. Another Greyhound aircraft had landed and was picking up the crew members as Terry pulled the egress handles on the pilots seat, folded it back and after unstrapping the pilot, removed his body and carried it back to 156 placing him on the rear deck.
He then took off for the Hospital at Chu Chi. the 240th lost three brave men killed and seven wounded that day the 18th of August 1968.
WO1 Morris continued to fly Maddog 156 engaging enemy forces daily until the 29th of August at which time 156 went into maintenance for a much needed rest and he changed aircraft. During that 11 day period Maddog 156 expended 138 2.75″ rockets, 24,000 7.62 rounds of mini-gun ammunition in addition to several thousand 7.62 rounds fired by the door gunners.
WO1 Morris would receive the Air Medal w/V device. The 240th lost three men that day and another seven wounded, no doubt reinforcing their Company nick name throughout the aviation community. The day Terry was promoted to CW2 he also received a direct commission to 2nd Lieutenant later that afternoon. He would return to Vietnam in 1970 as a 1st Lieutenant flying the new AH-IG Cobra, but that’s another story.
Mad Dog 156 currently sits in collection storage at Fort Rucker, Alabama awaiting restoration. I have walked past her numerous times and never viewed it as more that another Huey in storage. After reading the information provided by Terry Morris I could not help myself and like an excited little boy I jumped in my trusty Honda Civic and sped over to look at the aircraft with a new appreciation for the old girl. As I peered into the cockpit where Terry sat that day and the cargo area where he had laid the pilots body for the flight to the medevac hospital I have to say I had a pretty big lump in my throat. As I ran my hand down the side of the aircraft I examined the many small sheet metal repairs that were now very explainable. Looking around the cavernous interior of Building 1020 at the many other aircraft I wondered what stories they had to tell. As for 66-15156, one of her many stories can now be told when she is configured and painted as on that day 47 years ago.
-Robert Mitchell, Curator, United States Army Aviation Museum