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Project Jenny KLIK - 1st Inf Di v Women in Vietnam RELATED-- To AFVN To Saigon To Vietnam Further Afield Index
Comments by the person who sent this to Bob
This is a second time for me for this one--but [it] brings back some great memories of what it was like at An Khe in 1965--that airfield was tiny and the ramp even smaller and still at times we had Caribous, C123 and C130's plus all those Huey's and Gunships lined up along side the runway. It wasn't easy but it seemed like fun at the time--we probably earned our money. Those USAF FAC pilots in those L19er's earned theirs for sure. Later in 68 with the 173rd the FAC pilots lived in the mud and dust right along side of us grunt types. Got to give them credit. There was one little blip in there where it looked like an H-13 was having trouble parking or putting it on the ground--now that could have been you know who--not many of us Caribou types wanted to get that helicopter transition anyway. The 17th Avn Co guys will see clips that will bring back the memories--An Khe was something to see as the 1st Air Cav grew and took over the place. Wow . . . .
Submitted by Bob Nelson
This was sent by the Exec of the Army Otter and Caribou Association (of which I am a member) and did bring back some memories. I followed a year later but landed there many times both in assignments to 57th Aviation Company and later in 535th Troop Transport Squadron when it converted the Caribou from Army to AF control. (Dumbest move the Army ever made in giving up the Caribou and believing the AF would give them the C-123. The AF would have ditched and sunk them all in the South China Sea before giving them up to the Army.)
An Khe Army Airfield
1st Air Cav.