Vietnam – October 2019

OCTOBER 2019 31

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was just about to fall asleep when an explo-

sion jolted him. He jumped up and saw a huge

white cloud of smoke, not far from the Ma-

rine helos. Groah was running with his M16

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had forgotten his bandolier of extra ammo.

He ran back inside the helo to get it. As Groah

came out, he saw one of his men trying to

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“Don’t get under there,” Groah shouted.

“The NVA is trying to hit our chopper!”

The Marines were in the open, with no

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bunched around a tree and yelled for them

to spread out. He jumped into an old crater

near the tree line, hunkered down and

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Groah recalled what his father had said

about his experience in World War II: “Son,

it’s the one you don’t hear that gets you.”

The Marines were lucky that no one was

wounded or killed, but an Army Cobra

parked on the airstrip had taken a hit, and

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light for the Tailwind mission didn’t come

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ble Mountain.

They planned to try again on Sept. 11.

Groah was the left door gunner on the search

and rescue bird, YH-20, nicknamed Bits and

Pieces by crew chief Sgt. Lonny Spalding.

Also aboard were pilot 1st Lt. Will Jones,

co-pilot 1st Lt. Raul Bustamante, right door

gunner Sgt. Ron Whitmer and Capt. Henry

Cipolla, the assistant squadron maintenance

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assisted in spotting enemy positions.

The YH-20 crew was the rescue team for

Marine CH-53 helicopters hauled not only

troops but also supplies, like the cargo being

hoisted into this one from HMH-463 in

September 1968. The squadron was based at

Marble Mountain Air Facility, at right.

Da Nang

Marble

Mountain

Air Facility

DMZ

Dak To

SOUTH

LAOS CHINA SEA

SOUTH

VIETNAM

Kontum

On Sept. 11, 1970, Marine helicopters

loaded with Hatchet Force troops, took

off from Dak To and landed the men

in Laos. When the choppers returned on

Sept. 13 to evacuate the wounded, one

helo was shot down and the evacuation

canceled. During the pickup of the ground

troops on Sept. 14 ,a second helo was

downed, but the extraction was completed.

Operation

Tailwind

Chavane

Sept. 14

Extraction

Sept. 11

Insertion

Sept. 13

Helicopter

Down

Sept. 14

Helicopter

Down