His battalion was one of the most decorated units of the Vietnam War, and helped redefine modern warfare. Johnson piloted the UH-1 "Iroquois"-better known as the "Huey"-as part of the famous First Air Cavalry Division. At age nineteen, Tom Johnson flew in the thick of it, and lived to tell his harrowing tale. His battalion was one of the most decorated units of the Vietnam War, and h During the Vietnam War, one out of every eighteen helicopter pilots never made it home alive. Check your local listings to learn more.During the Vietnam War, one out of every eighteen helicopter pilots never made it home alive. “Helicopter Missions: Vietnam Firefight” is available on demand from the Smithsonian Channel. In the film, the men return to the scene of their amazing rescue four decades later. On their final run, the defense perimeter was under the rotor blades. It took Baca and Liss, along with a second helicopter piloted by Swickard and engineer Al Croteau, 11 hours to evacuate the men. On the 15-minute ride, they got another desperate message: The remaining men were pinned down by a battalion of 600 men, and the entire company needed rescuing. They picked up six casualties and headed back to camp. Fully aware that damage to the underside of the rotor blade could cripple their helicopter, the two carved out a landing zone and set down. “We were a lawnmower, basically,” recalls Baca. Baca and Liss decided that the lack of a landing zone wouldn’t slow them down: they decided to use the Huey’s rotor blades to slice through the bamboo canopy. We were not going to say no.” When they got to the coordinates, they realized there was no landing zone tall bamboo covered the area where they were meant to set down. “We were the only helicopter there,” says Baca, “and they needed our help. It was May 14, 1967, and Baca had just 12 days to go in-country when he and Liss get the call about a group of soldiers that needed rescuing. Their heroic story is the subject of the Smithsonian Channel film “Helicopter Missions: Vietnam Firefight.” Army, NASM collectionīut this self-described “really bad pilot,” along with pilots Tom Baca and Jack Swickard, and engineer Al Croteau, went on to save more than 100 South Vietnamese troops ambushed by the North Vietnamese Army-using an unarmed VIP Huey. So I’m beginning to panic.” Out of 84 pilots, Liss was ranked 82. I was already in the ninth hour and still couldn’t hover. “My whole class,” says Liss, “was able, after a couple of hours, to take the helicopter up to a hover.
The first five hours were spent learning how to hover. Army had created an accelerated training program: Four months primary instruction at Fort Wolters, followed by advance training at Fort Rucker. You should sign up for helicopter training.’ ” So Liss did.įour days later he was stateside. You’re freezing your ass off, it’s snowing, look at me, I’m warm. “He said, ‘You’re such a jerk’-he used other words I’m trying to keep it clean-” recalls Liss more than 40 years later. The pilot-who was wearing short sleeves and drinking a cup of coffee-took one look at Liss and shook his head. It was a Bell UH-1 helicopter, still on the ground. In 1966, Second Lieutenant Larry Liss was on the Czech-German border during a snowstorm, freezing his varlata off, when he saw something beautiful.