Preserving The Oral HistorIES of Combat Veterans
5:41 | Helicopter pilot Hugh Bell operated in the III Corps area of Vietnam during his first tour, finishing up as the pilot of the command and control aircraft for the brigade commander. He recalls a flight to a gruesome ambush site and then recounts the tale of a drunken emergency mission.
Keywords : Hugh Bell Vietnam III Corps command and control helicopter pilot ambush Vung Tau Saigon Tan Son Nhut champagne Cu Chi North Vietnamese Army (NVA) drunk Joe Galloway
Hugh Bell was already a fixed wing pilot when the Army decided that he would go to helicopter school. He was soon living in a hooch in Vietnam on the first of two tours, performing a variety of different missions from simple courier to air assault.
Recalling the best and worst days of his tours in Vietnam is easy for helicopter pilot Hugh Bell. The best was when he met his wife in Bangkok for two weeks of R&R. The worst was when he had to put down in a rice paddy because of a fuel leak. Then there was the news from home concerning the antiwar demonstrations.
After his first Vietnam tour, helicopter pilot Hugh Bell returned to fixed wing aircraft. After some extensive training and testing with a hard nosed examiner, he returned to the war for a second tour, flying night surveillance missions.
Hugh Bell began his second Vietnam tour flying night surveillance missions over the midsection of the country, but he was then sent to Udorn air base in Thailand. His new mission area was Laos, where he was shot at constantly without result because the enemy gunners had no radar.
The effect on his life was mostly positive, says Hugh Bell. Two tours in Vietnam gave him the confidence and competence to succeed in life. He reflects on how the war is remembered, how returning vets are treated today, and on his feelings when visiting The Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
Having finished two tours in Vietnam, pilot Hugh Bell went to Fort Lewis with the 9th Infantry Division's aviation battalion. After years as an aviator, he was given the assignment of straightening out a troubled infantry company.
