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| Strachan, James D., 1st LT (Plt Ldr) Leger, Jimmye C., PFC Powers, J. L., SP4 Neumeister, Russel L., PFC Santiago, Carlos R. SSG (NCOIC) Bullock, Ernest B., PFC Henderson, Don R., PFC Parenteau, David G., SP4 Richmond, Elijah, PFC Taylor, Kenneth R., PFC Eberwein, Charles D., SGT | Akagi, Howard T., PFC Bailey, David L., SP4 Stephen, Donald, PFC Felty, Larry L., PFC Needs, Frank R., SP4 Perkins, Boyd P., SP4 Pinto-Alamo, Eladio, SP4 Franklin, Robert M., PFC Korp, Paul M., SGT Wine, Richard, PFC |
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"I recall that the Shotgun plan
was not "hatched in early 1963" because I seem to remember
waiting by the phone in our bachelor pad in Honolulu for a call
about being selected or rejected for the secret mission over
"I commanded the 4th Provisional Platoon Machine-gun (Counterinsurgency), 1st Battle Group, 35th Infantry, 25th Infantry Division. We were one of five such platoons of volunteers recruited from each of the 25th's five infantry Battle Groups for an initially secret mission to an undisclosed place. We trained on Oahu Jan-Mar 63, including firing machine-guns from H-21's at 55-gallon drums in a remote valley. " " We deployed from Hawaii to
Vietnam on TDY in Mar 63 to replace crew-member door gunners
in the five helicopter companies then supporting ARVN forces.
The Shotgun 1 platoon of the Cacti Green arrived at
We returned to Hawaii in June '63. A couple of years later, we were all retroactively qualified for the aircraft crewman badge. I have a platoon roster which should get into the 33rd history in some way. Haven't yet read Brandt's book but I knew him then. When I went to Hanoi in 1994, I stopped by an art exhibit and there was Richard Olsen, one of the Olsen twins who was a 33rd pilot when I was there. We had a 33rd mini-reunion in Hanoi, of all places! Jim Strachan, Missouri City, Texas. "We in Shotgun 1 didn't have
a patch, nor did we ever hear of the 118th, which became the
redesignated "Our only wounded gunner was PFC Larry Felty. He was grazed by a bullet under the arm while protecting a CH21 that went down. As I recall, one of Veatch's gunners at Soc Trang may have been wounded too, I think in the stomach, and those two gunners may have been the only Purple Hearts awarded in Shotgun 1, although I am not completely sure. " "Our 1/35 Battle Group CO, COL
Olson, who selected me for Shotgun 1, is still alive, as are
all four of the other original Shotgun 1 platoon leader 1LTs
- Veatch, Clements, Altmeyer and Hartford. After being selected
to command the 4th Provisional Platoon, I was allowed to pick
20 men (a Platoon SGT and 19 EM) from a group of about 100 volunteers
in a rigorous interview process at Schofield Barracks. I still
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APO 27, San Francisco, California
TC 350. Following indiv APPOINTED.
Eff date: 1 April 63, Pd, Indef, WILLIS, BROWDER A JR 04025031 CAPTAIN
33d Trans Co, APO 27 RENEAU, BILLY W. W3150212 CWO W2
33d Trans Co, APO 27 STRACHAN, JAMES D. 093964 1ST LT,
Co C, 1st BG, 35th Inf (Signed) JOSEPH E HENDERSON DISTRIBUTION: |
| Crotty, Timothy J. 1st LT (Plt Ldr) Gladney, James G. SP4 Jones, Willie PFC Sandoval, Thomas F. PFC Tenorio, Thomas P. PFC Eller, Clyde T. SGT Norris, Henry L. SP5 Frieze, Larry L. PFC Perry, Grover C. PFC Helms, Roy T. SGT Stevenson, Donald E. SGT | Dahlgren, Mickey A. SFC (NCOIC) McNabb, Dennis R. PFC Rodgers, Theodore Jr. SGT Tatar, George E. PFC Curry, Donald W. SGT Miller, Claude E. PFC Parham, James SP4 Cobb, James E. SGT Dushane, Cyrille J. SGT Fountain, Cecil M. SFC |
3. From the General Orders, the stated Mission was: "To provide gunners to man machine guns and automatic rifles from U.S. Army helicopters in the Republic of Vietnam." These men were assigned TDY to the units in Vietnam for a period of 90 days and then most returned to their duty stations in Hawaii. Authorized strength for the 1st Prov. MG Platoon in Sep. 1964 was one(1) officer and thirty-two(32) enlisted men. However, it was not long before they were right back in Vietnam as the 25th Inf. Div. deployed to Vietnam in late 1965.
4. In General Orders # 651, dtd 1 Nov 1964, the seven(7) Provisional Machine Gun Platoons were DETACHED from their respective Aviation Companies and RE-ATTACHED to the following:
5. Finally, in General Orders # 506, dtd 30 Mar 1965, of HQ, U.S. Army Support Command, Vietnam, the platoons were re-named "Aerial Door Gunner Detachments." Plus, the number of detachments was increased to thirteen(13) from seven(7). Then, there was also added the attachment of SECURITY DETACHMENTS ALPHA through GOLF to the same Aviation Battalions. In the orders as Special Instructions, it reads, "Personnel to be rotated through airfield security and door gunner duties. Primary mission that of Airfield Security."
| PFC Garrett Sargent(Silverman), a gunner remembers: "LT Irving took a .51 cal in the chest while they were shut-down outside a village. He was my CO and we were really hot over this. He was a great guy and a great officer. We ran 5 miles every morning for 6 weeks with him while we were in our training in Hawaii as Shot Gunners. I think all of us would have followed 1LT Irving into Hell!" |
| Harold "Chip" Austin, a gunner remembers: " I was assigned TDY as a door gunner to the 118th Aviation Company from the 25th Infantry Division from April to Sept. 1965). It was called the Shot Gun program. Lt. John Irving was KIA in my assigned UH1B slick ship.(I think it was ship #2 in the 1st Platoon)He bumped me off that day because he wanted to fly. I did not want to return to duty on this ship after his death and asked to be transfer to the armed platoon. I was assigned to ship #7 in the third platoon (Bandits)which was nicknamed the "Death Trap". It was the oldest ship in the platoon and sustained a lot of damage over its service life (about every exterior skin part was a different shade of olive drab touch-up paint). Within a short period of time, the old aircraft was retired and a brand new UH-1B replaced it. The prior door gunner on ship #7 was wounded and sent to Japan for treatment in the same operation that Lt. Irving was KIA. Lt. Irving's death was a severe blow to our Gunner Platoon because he was well liked and respected. We also lost another member of our Gunner Platoon named PFC Willam Oakley. He was killed when two UH1-B slick ships of the 118th aviation collided in mid-air over Bien Hoa Air Base. We left Hawaii with 28 men and if my memory serves me correctly we returned with 18." |
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Jimmy Thompson remembers: "I was with the 65th Engr Bn in Hawaii, having joined the division in May of 63. The 65th was asked to provide a platoon of door gunners to depart for Vietnam in December of 1963. I was the Platoon SGT. of that platoon. We arrived in Vietnam about the 10th of December after a trip on a C-130 that had us spending two days in the Philippines due to maintenance problems with the plane." "We arrived at Tan So Nhut and were taken by bus to Bien Hoa and the 118th. We spent 90 days there flying eagle flights and combat assaults. I also remember Colonel "Coal Bin" Willie Wilson. He was a stickler for military protocol." That was at that time when it was a five day war. When the week-end came a number of the people went to Saigon for the weekend!" |
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Chad Payne, early "Shawnee" pilot and a member of the Bandits when they formed in late 1963 remembers: "All of our Door Gunners were volunteers from the 25th Infantry Division out of Hawaii. These "Tropic Lightning" troops came to Vietnam for 3 months TDY and were assigned as a Platoon sized unit to each Aviation Company. The 118th had one group of Door Gunners that extended for an additional 3 months while I was there. They had an assigned Platoon Leader named Tim Crotty who was my hooch mate. I was a sort of liaison between the 118th and the gunners because I had been a machine gun squad leader in the old 45th Division"Thunderbird" from Oklahoma and knew the M-1919-A6 Browning pretty well, and I was an Infantry Officer with Infantry experience." "At one point, Tim Crotty had to go TDY and was gone for a few weeks. I stood in as the gunner's Platoon Leader. I guess I was picked because I was the only aviator who could speak"Gunner". "When we got and transitioned into UH-1B Hueys, the old Browning machine guns were consigned to history and the Door Gunners used M-14's on full automatic. It wasn't all that great because of the 20 round magazine of the M-14. When the Door Gunners tried to adjust their fire by watching the tracers, they would run out of ammo many times before they got fire on the target. I am not sure just when we got M-60's for the Door Gunners." "I remember we had one M-14 blow up! The barrel peeled back like a banana. I suspect that one round lacked a powder charge and the primer drove the bullet down the barrel partway and it stopped. The next round came up behind it and the pressure split the barrel. The Door Gunner wasn't hurt, fortunately, but he said it sure kicked like hell." |
| Tom Carlton, a door gunner from the 25th DIV. remembers, "The term 'Shotgun Two' started about May of 1963 when the 25th DIV at Schofield Barracks in Hawaii started sending platoons consisting of one officer, a Plt SGT and 25 enlisted men to Vietnam to different bases. Each platoon was TDY for 3 months and then replaced by another platoon. I was in the second group and we were sent to Bien Hoa and the 118th. The 25th DIV came up with the idea of calling these gunner platoons, 'Shotgun Platoons' and we were very proud of our nicknames." |
| Ted Jambon, who was 1st PLT Cmdr and an Operations Officer in the 118th during the 64-65 time period remembers the "Shot Gunners"....."They received some initial training before leaving Hawaii, and then when they got to their unit they received advanced training down at Bear Cat (near Long Thanh) just south of Bien Hoa. We had sort of a firing range setup down there. Those gunners were magnificent with the M60. I was always amazed at how accurately they could deliver fire on an enemy position. Most of the gunners who came over from Hawaii wanted to transfer into the 118th rather than go back to home. That tells you something about them, and about us." |
| Ted Jambon continues with this story..." I didn't really get to know any of them very well as I was in Operations until just about the time the 25th came over. But there was one particular gunner, whose name was Cornelius Williams, who I made sure was on my ship & on my side of the aircraft. That guy was a virtuoso with the machine gun. I recall once we were called out on a quick reaction lift to bring in troops to bail out a unit that was meeting heavy opposition. We landed in a paddy and the VC started popping out of spider holes all around us. I was 1st Plt, Ldr. then and leading the flight. To our front about 40 yards away a man and two women popped out and started firing at ME. I yelled to Williams to put some fire on them. He looked outside to the front and said "I don't kill women"! At that moment one of the gals fired a burst from a submachine gun at him and the next thing I heard was a burst of M60 fire and the immortal words, "Die you blankety blank!, and saw her being flipped over backwards. He next hosed the the other gal and the guy who were shooting at us. As we flew over them departing the LZ, I glanced down and one was trying with her last dying breathe to lift up her weapon and get a shot at us. Williams nailed her good that time. I loved that guy, he was very good with a M60 machine gun." |
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