WITHOUT PREJUDICE
by
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Blue Sky
In one town a father was carrying a baby, and asked to see one of my doctors. The mother was crying. Both were black with soot, and smelled of smoke. At first I thought that they had been in a fire, but that wasn't the case, they were Charcoal Makers. They would walk through the areas that the B-52's bombs had hit looking for wood to make charcoal to sell in Saigon for food. They were poor people who were hungry, and trying to make a living from the war. When the B-52's bombs were dropped the forest became like kindling. Walking was hard as you had to climb in and out of the bomb craters, but you didn't have to cut any wood. Last night when the bombs were dropped I could feel the ground tremble under me, and I was parked in a town ten miles away.
To get an early start the Charcoal Maker and his family had walked to where they thought the planes would be dropping their bombs. Even though the American Air Force kept the target area secret every Vietnamese and Vietcong seemed to know when and where the bombs would fall. This night one of the planes missed the drop area by almost a mile. It was just jungle so no one really worried about it.
When the bombs started to hit near by, the Charcoal Maker's wife put their baby in a ditch, and then lay down on top of him to protect the baby with her body. As the bombs hit closer the father laid on top of his wife to protect both his wife and son. When the bombing stopped they hadn't been hit, but the baby had been smothered and was dead.
When they left me all my doctors and nurses had tears in their eyes. They left with the father carrying the baby walking back towards the bomb craters. I learned that sometimes in a War the love of a father for his wife and son, or the mother for her child just isn't enough.
Flying is hard work, and with hundreds of people visiting me every day I soon needed a new floor.
Balls of Fire
After I lifted off we were joined by two Cobra gun ships and their scout helicopters. They escorted us to the mountain where we were to make the pick up. Then they started working (shooting) at every tree and brush in the area. This kept the enemy's head down so we could make the pick up. Gentle Ben went down the ladder that was placed over my ramp while I stayed in a hover just over the treetops. The Flight Engineer watched Ben through the hole, and when my Ben ran out of ladder he waved for me to lower myself a little until it touched the ground. He stepped off, and told the troopers how they had to climb the ladder to get into my loading area. He had the officers stay on the ground until all the troopers were aboard or climbing up the ladder.
As they started up I had to increase my power just to stay in position. It was hard work but I am not named the "City of Elkhart" for laughs. I am one big strong helicopter. Now I started to worry about my Ben. All the troopers who boarded were really beat. They just set on my benches sweating and gasping for breath from the climb. The two officers looked even worse, and my Ben was twenty years older than their oldest man. Suddenly the Flight Engineer called lift, and the SIP helped me go straight up for a hundred feet before I was allowed to start forward. I wasn't sure what had happened, as my gunners were not firing. Then I noticed that my Ben wasn't aboard. I really started checking everywhere, and there he was at the end of the aft ladder. He had one leg through the last rung, and was flying sixty feet below me. He was waving so I climbed above small arms fire and flew until I found a road. I let down slowly until he could step off the ladder. Then My Flight Engineer lowered my ramp, and Gentle Ben walked in grinning from ear to ear. He went over to the Company Commander of the Troopers, and I heard him say; I'll bet you thought I could climb that ladder.
It had finely stopped raining. Now the weather was just hot and dry. It was so dusty that my crew would take a water hose and spray water into my engines until they cooled down at the end of the day. After ten hours eating dust it sure felt good. When the engines had cooled enough the pilots would shut them down. My crew looked strange with the only white showing was around their eyes except when one of the black pilots was flying with us. They didn't look so funny as they didn't have those white rings.
I think all the black pilots came to fly with us because they knew that I was the best-named Chinook in the 1st Cavalry Division.
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About the Book
"WITH OUT PREJUDICE" is a flying adventure story about a pilot who flew during the Vietnam War period. They are true stories and are sometimes way out or hard to believe. It is not the way most pilots lived or few, and he kept his Guardian Angel busy. He is married to a beautiful lady who is also a pilot. During the past sixty years he has tried to impress her with his flying skills but many times she has told him that she could do it better, and sometimes she could have. In Vietnam they lived on a Thai Fire Base called Bear Cat. One time they traveled with a convoy through a free fire zone taking supplies to a First Calvary Base, and other times she flew with him in his Chinook Helicopter named the "City of Elkhart". This story starts out with the Pilot flying across the Artic Circle by himself in a single engine airplane, then flying with the Thai Marine Police as a Major in the US Air Force, then flying Sail Planes in Australia, helicopters during the Detroit Riots for the Michigan National Guard, and helicopters in Vietnam.
About the Author
Ben R. Games, PhD, Major, CW4, TCNA-6 born 5 May 1924, Elkhart, Indiana, Army Aviation Class 43K. Commissioned US Army and US Air Force. Flew B24s, B29s, P40s, P51s, and P61s during WWII. Flew the F82G, F80, F94, and F86 during the Korean War. Flew helicopters, OH58, Ch34, UH1, and CH47 during the Vietnam War. Flew 737 combat hours, awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, Bronze Star, 13 Air Medals, Army Commendation Medal, and MI Medal for Valor. Flew with the 5th AF, 8th AF, 13 AF, 20 AF, 1st Calvary Division, Indiana Air National Guard, and Michigan Army National Guard. Today Ben owns and flies a single place Buckeye 503 Powered Parachute just for fun.