Cu Chi Vietnam 25th Division base camp area was home of 116th AHC
Nov66, stayed one night at Phu Loi. Second day, I was taken to Cu Chi where I (Gary P, Brown) spent 2 years as a chopper mechanic (SP5) and then became the Supply Sergeant (SSG). 1630 every day was the famous downpour. Anything not nailed down floated askew. CW2 Carl was my mentor in supply, SSG Knake was the line boss in maintenance. SP6 Spiedel was the tech inspector.
1967, My Dad Terry Thomas, SP4, Aircraft Armament Repair, was in Cu Chi. He passed away in July, 2020. I have lots of pictures of his from his tour and am trying to connect them with the families. Names include: Sgt. Ardnt, Tony Mele, Al Leavitt, Mulso, 'Gammy' Gelendez, John Flores, Sandoval, and Douglas Brown. Any help is appreciated! jwilliamson1605 @ gmail.com -
1967-1968, Roy Butler prop and roter
May68-Jan69, my Uncle Dean Bolhouse was a copter pilot with the 116th AHC in Cu Chi
1970, I was in 1st platoon Yellow Jackets. We did in Cambodian Invasion. I read Ed Dennys book. Opened up pandoras box didn't bury deep enough.
I was in 1st platoon the Yellow Jackets. I remember the move to Chu Lai not even amess hall. I was a crewcheif on a slick. Just read book by Ed Denny. A lot of stuff I thought I forgot. John from Waterloo, IL
1969-1970, I was a gunner with the wasp platoon to start out at cu chi we were covering the 25 infrantry, after a couple months I was asked to fly with the stingers and finished my tour As a crew chief on stinger 161 I went thru 4 helicopters and was fortunate to make it home Half way thru my tour our company was sent north to chu lia right on the he South China Sea
1969-1970, Joe Pullen, I was a Maintenace Supervisor with the BeeKeepers
1970-1971, I was armament for the 116th Sp 5 and flew as a gunner Capt Georgia was my OIC and Chief warrant Pozy was supply Lam Son 719 was part of my tour
1970-1971 Crew Chief/Doorgunner-Stingers. Interesting platoon. Similar to special ops outfits. Members were usually selected based on acceptance by the group after being sized up and passing the hazing. High motivation to kill the enemy was required. Drugs and alcohol abuse were rampant at that time, but not in the Stingers. We were patriotic and focused on our mission. Virtually, every day we flew, we received enemy fire. We had just finished a rescue mission for a downed ship. No survivors. Our wing ship was a Cobra which had flown ahead of us. It was early evening with light rain as we flew back to base in Chu Lai. I was concerned about the 20 minute fuel light which had illuminated. I called our Aircraft Commander (AC) to look at the Torque meter. Ole' 523 was pulling 40 pounds which was unusual for the old war horse. That was her last breath. Bullets began to fill the cabin. The co-pilot fell over to the left. I though he was hit. The other gunner and I immediately returned fire with our M-60s. As I leaned out standing on the rocket pod to lay fire behind us, I saw the flames pouring out of the bottom of the fuel cell. Very bad situation. With low fuel, the cell is filled with JP4 vapor with the high probability of explosion mid-air. I screamed at the AC to land before we exploded. Flames pouring out of the fuel cell wrapped around the ship, engulfing the engine and whipped by the main rotor while both gunners were standing on the rocket pods returning enemy fire with the rockets being launched under our feet. It must have been quite a sight in the early evening sky. A helicopter engulfed in flames, but still flying, two M-60s pouring out a steady stream of tracers from both sides, with rockets rapidly launching from both pods and exploding in the jungle below. I thought it was over, we were dead. The flames began to enter the cabin area. I was unable to lean out to target the enemy. I felt a sense of resignation, as I sat back in my jump seat and calming kept spraying the area with M-60 fire, to suppress enemy fire. I waited for the explosion or the crash. Fortunately, the AC got us away from the enemy about a half mile before we crash landed in a rice paddy. The Cobra showed up and provided cover for us. The rescue slick that was on the same mission came down and picked us up. As we flew away, I watched 523 explode. I was the only crew member injured. She was a good ship that got us back alive many times. Just a few days later, I got a call at the Stinger hootch to take another crew chief’s position on an active mission. The crew chief had been hit by a 30 caliber that came through his jump seat into his leg and traveled up through his chest. He died about a week later. We went back to the area where he was hit and stumbled onto a company size formation of NVA. The Stars and Stripes reported the grunts and gunships killed over 20 NVA. It was just another day at the office for the Stingers.
Nov 70 - Nov 71, Door gunner/crew chief in the Stingers (when I wasn't drafted into the orderly room). Joe Broadaway - good to see you're still around. And apparently you went lifer. The story of your R&R in Taipei is safe with me. Other names: CPT C.E. Mulligan (Cookie Man), Tom Clausen, SGT Holly, Norwood (shipped back to the states with a butt full of shrapnel, but expected to recover). - SP5 Jim Martin -
Nov70-Jun71, I (Joe F Broadaway) was an Sergeant E5 crew chief with the Stingers. I was shot down on 26 April with Donald Chapman on aircraft 65-15156. Kenneth Caswell was the door gunner that day. Retired CW3 living in Clarksville, TN
To Joe Broadway: Hey Joe, I remember you. We served in the Stingers for a few months at the same time. I also flew with CW Chapman. Good to hear you are still kicking. SP5 Fred Allen CE - A/C 523 and 470. -
Dec 70 I was transferred to Chi Lai and the 116th in late December 1970. I was Supply Sergeant and had a Spec 4 fun Washington, D.C. as my Supply Clerk. He introduced me to should food that included cold fried chicken and hot sauce.
1971, 116th Aviation Company Helicopter Crew Chief Specialists Four Robert Norwood, is a good friend of ours, we’ve just recently found out what all he did in Vietnam, including his actions in which he received 2 Purple Hearts, As well as other medals and accommodations, including some heroic actions on April 26 1971, where he help save the lives of two others in a downed chopper under fire, while also being injured by a mortar. He is as fire mentioned on this page, and has a lot of photographs of people whom are on this page. We are gonna show him how he can reconnect with you guys, if you guys would like to get in touch with humor contact us, please feel free to email
1972-1973, the 116 the AHC was at Fort Lewis, all so I was a Huey crew chief there before I went to Korea in 1973
Stationed on Fort Lewis Washington as part of the 10th Aviation Battalion and the 9th Infantry Division
I am Joe Wilson, a former Army gunship pilot with the 189th AHC and am presently the membership chairman for the Special Operations Association (www.specialoperations.org). I am trying to verify an assertion by one of the former 116th door gunners that the 116th supported MACV-SOG missions into Cambodia or Laos while the unit was active. He has applied for membership in the SOA, but we have found nothing to show that the 116th is a qualifying unit. If there exists any documentation, I would appreciate being contacted Thank you.
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