Preserving The Oral HistorIES of Combat Veterans
7:41 | In the aftermath of the massive Operation Junction City, helicopter pilot Jack Swickard was assigned to ferry a special ops paymaster from camp to camp. At one of these stops, he was asked if he could help extract a civilian irregular unit that was surrounded by a large enemy force. Of course he could. Part 1 of 2.
Keywords : Jack Swickard helicopter pilot Vietnam Operation Junction City Al Croteau gunner Civilian Irregular Defense Group (CIDG) Tom Baca
Jack Swickard was from a military family and when the time came to be drafted, he enlisted beforehand as a matter of honor. He selected the warrant officer program that put him on track to be a helicopter pilot. First up was basic training, where he found the DI's to be quite entertaining.
It was a memorable arrival at Mineral Wells for Jack Swickard, who checked into a hotel that turned out to not be a hotel. Once flight school began, he was at the mercy of higher ranking individuals who liked to make him snap to attention.
During helicopter flight training, Jack Swickard's first instructor pilot really had it in for him, writing him up with pink slips for no reason. After he went through a check ride with another instructor, he was able to fix the situation.
The group of new pilots was split up for the flight to Vietnam and Jack Swickard was on the first plane out. He was a little miffed that he was on the way while the other guys were partying in San Francisco. When he reached Honolulu, an engine failure gave him his revenge.
It wasn't a hooch in Bien Hoa, it was a nice villa. Helicopter pilot Jack Swickard was amazed to find his billet was so luxurious. He had not been there long when he got an unexpected lesson in firearm safety right there in his room. On his first mission, he was puzzled at the strange behavior of the aircraft commander, who was slapping himself in the face.
He had to cut his way down through the vegetation with his rotor blades. Pilot Jack Swickard had volunteered to extract a unit under siege and it was tough just getting down to them on the ground. Once there, as the men began loading onto the chopper, the bullets were flying thick, some finding targets among those already on board. Pt 2 of 2.
Jack Swickard recalls a couple of incidents from his days as a helicopter pilot in Vietnam. One involved a Viet Cong hand grenade brought into the cockpit as a trophy. In the other, his aircraft was mysteriously propelled straight up with no control.
In Vietnam, unexpected action was the order of the day. On a routine flight, helicopter pilot Jack Swickard and his crew chief Skip Lyons saw another chopper going down and their mission immediately changed to rescue. As they landed, the enemy approached.
Skip Lyons was the best crew chief helicopter pilot Jack Swickard ever had. He remembers how he once resorted to a fistfight to protect his pilot and how his foolhardiness changed over time to caution.
Combat is a series of very close calls. That was Jack Swickard's experience flying choppers in Vietnam. He recalls landing in a mine field and facing down a VC with an AK-47.
Jack Swickard recalls an unnamed fellow pilot who had one of the civilian women who worked around the base chasing after him. He came up with a novel method to get rid of her, one which developed into some trouble at the officers club. (Caution: adult subject matter.)
The soldiers who served in Vietnam fought well and were gentlemen. That's what helicopter pilot Jack Swickard wants people to remember about that war. He decided early on that he would not indiscriminately kill anyone so that he did not have to live with that on his conscience.
