arine Sgt. Larry Groah, a door gunner on big transport helicopters,

had just returned from a secret mission in September 1970 when

PM_I[[]UUWVML\W\PMQV\MTTQOMVKMWЅKMZ¼[LM[SIVLPIVLMLI

piece of paper to read and sign. The 23-year-old sergeant was told that if he ever discussed

\PMUQ[[QWVPM_W]TLOW\WXZQ[WVNWZaMIZ[IVLXIaIPMI^aÅVM

The covert mission, called Operation Tailwind, was conducted in Laos by Marine heli-

copter squadrons, Air Force planes, U.S. Army Special Forces troops and militiamen from

VMIZJa5WV\IOVIZL\ZQJM[IVM\PVQKUQVWZQ\aQV;W]\P>QM\VIU4IZOMTa]VSVW_VNWZ

decades, the operation gained notoriety in a June 1998 CNN/Time magazine report that

incorrectly asserted the use of an outlawed nerve gas by U.S. troops during Tailwind (see

8IOM)N\MZ\PM+66ZMXWZ\IQZML\PMUQ[[QWV_I[LMKTI[[QÅML/ZWIPIVLW\PMZ[KW]TL

tell their stories.

Groah was a structural mechanic, or as he called it, a “metal bender,” in Marine Heavy

Helicopter Squadron 463, stationed at the Marble Mountain Air Facility near Da Nang.

050̆ÆM_UIVa\aXM[WNUQ[[QWV[QVKT]LQVOZM[]XXTa\ZWWXQV[MZ\QWVM`\ZIK\QWVIVL

NMZZaQVO=;7[PW_[\W]VQ\[QV\PMÅMTL/ZWIP_I[ILWWZO]VVMZWVI+0̆;MI;\ITTQWV

\PMTIZOM[\PMTQKWX\MZQV\PM5IZQVM[¼QV^MV\WZa

M

U.S. MARINE CORPS/NATIONAL ARCHIVES

a Firestorm

A helicopter gunner got a bird’s-eye view of the

top-secret Operation Tailwind in Laos, but it almost

cost him his life—three times in four days

By Leroy B. Vaughn

OCTOBER 2019 29