LONGHORN 77 LAI KHE & PHU LOI SOUTH VIETNAM

Street shot of the village of Phu Loi, Jan. 20, 1967. I'm surprised I didn't take more shots of the young ladies that would walk those streets....

Photo sent by Dave Morad. A crew chief with the Bulldogs- a unit of the 1st Aviation Battalion of the 1st Infantry Division. Here's Dave's Huey, 1965. He was there before I was.

Lai Khe flight line, 1965. Sent by Dave Morad.

This bird appears to be a UH-1B. A smaller, earlier model than the UH-1D I flew on. Sent by Dave Morad.

Ya gotta love this one. Sent by Dave Morad. Another beautiful day in tropical Vietnam. Actually, monsoon at Phu Loi. The rains were unbelievable.

Photo sent by Dave Morad. Here's good ol' Bob Hope and his 1965 Christmas show.

Photo sent by Dave Morad. What a beautiful site. Hard to believe a war was going on below.

Photo sent by Dave Morad. Here's a prisoner of war. He will be interrogated back at base, but will be treated humanly according to the rules of war and the Geneva Convention.

Photo sent by Dave Morad. Here's Dave, fighting the war.

Photo sent by Dave Morad. Hey, I thought it was all fighting?

Photo sent by Dave Morad. Dave today standing by his bride.

A photo sent from Dan Adkins, who was the door gunner for MG DePuy before my time (left Vietnam early September, 1966). He has an interesting military career. He went back to the States to Flight School and then back to Vietnam. Holy shit! When he left the army he became a cop and eventually chief pilot for the department in Virginia. After that he went to United Airlines, and retired from there. Today he's involved in local veterans affairs. Welcome home. Great service.

This photo was taken by Randy Nead, one of the crew chiefs I flew with on the Longhorns. It was sent to me by his daughter, Angela. My rank here is Private, so this is very early in my chopper gunner career. I'm the bigger handsome dude.

Still another image of your hero from Angela (Nead).

Randy Nead, one of my old crew chiefs. Great guy with a dry sense of humor. I found out from John Andersen that Randy died in November, 2020.

Lt. Wade Burnett (far left), Lt. Chuck Guy (center) and Lt. Phil Carthage (far right). This photo was taken at Phu Loi, the home base camp of the 1st Aviation Battalion.

From left to right: Major Anderson, the CO, Lt. Phil Carthage, Major Don Gieseke.

Lt. Chuck Guy. According to Chuck, this photo was taken when we were flying Col. Thebault who stopped to confer with some South VN troops in a small village. Jesus! I don't remember any Col. Thebault. Chuck's memory is great.

Lt. Chuck Guy today with his wife (she looks a lot younger than him).

Photo sent from Lance Pinamonte, with the "Bulldogs", A Company, 1st Aviation Battalion, 1st Infantry Division. He was out of Phu Loi and was there 1968-1970.

I love this picture, sent from George Gardiner.

Thanks to Phil Carthage identifying everyone, this is Col. William B. Caldwell III (center right) (July 20, 1925 – March 17, 2013). He was the 1st Brigade Commander. Shown here with his staff - L to R Artillery Liaison officer, Air Force Liaison, Col. Caldwell and S3. I flew with this colonel too.

Thanks to Chuck Guy, this "feisty little guy" was identified as Colonel Sidney Michael "Mickey" Marks (January 8, 1919 – March 23, 1995) During 1966 and 1967 he was in command of the 1st Infantry Division's 3rd Brigade. I flew as gunner for him, too- I just couldn't remember his name (again, that's why I created this web site)..

Yes, it's me again! But I never had this photo in my collection. It was sent by Phil Carthage. I couldn't believe it when he sent this. I had no idea (actually, no memory) we flew together (I flew with many pilots). Damn, what a surprise! Notice all the shots of me sucking on or holding a damn cigarette? I quit in 2011 after a heart operation.

Another photo of your hero sent by Phil Carthage.

Still another photo of Brad Pitt sent by Phil Carthage.

Captain (later Major) Ron Piche on the left. He was the aircraft commander/pilot for MG John Hay on the Longhorn 77. I was the gunner for the general. I can't remember the name of the pilot on the right - sorry.

This photo was sent by Bruce Nunziata. He flew on the Longhorns in 67-68 for commanding officers of the First Infantry Division, Second Brigade in Di An Vietnam. They were Colonel Thebeau and Colonel Allen. Call sign was Dagger Longhorn 2.

Major General John Hancock Hay, Jr. A great general, and a great man. God rest his soul. Sent by “Doc” Bill Hawkins, A. Co. 1/1/26 1966-1967.

This group was the commanding officers of the 1st Infantry's Black Lions (2/28), out of Lai Khe. Most all in this photo were killed or wounded during the Battle of Ong Thanh on October 17, 1967.

Fred Dunlap, my inspiration for this site. Fred was infantry with the 1st Infantry Division's Black Lions (2/28). He was stationed out of Lai Khe.

This is Marine Richard L. Incrocci. No relationship, but we share almost the same name (just the middle initial is different). He was killed in Vietnam on 05/26/1968. I was aware of him for a long time. One day, about 10 years ago, I get an email from his son, wanting to know if there was any family ties. It was a very emotional correspondence. He never really knew his father. Richard L. Incrocci was only 21 years old.

This is Captain William Byard Hollowell. Died from wounds in our helicopter crash in March 1967. I got his name from Colonel Warren R. Silva, who was a good friend of his.

This is SGT. Larry Reed, KIA on December 25, 1966 (Christmas Day). We recovered his body from the jungle. I didn't know him, but I never forgot him.

This is John Aust, the crew chief / gunner that had seriously damaged his leg when we crashed. I recently heard from his son Michael that he had died on February 27, 2021 at the age of 72. Glad you had a full life old friend. Rest in peace.

This is gunner John Andersen. He also was infantry before becoming a Longhorn door gunner. He describes this photo as "a good day". He just ended the careers of seven VC. Being a door gunner was considered one of the most dangerous jobs in Vietnam. His chopper was riddled with holes after the fight and had to be lifted out of Lai Khe and back to Phu Loi.

John Andersen again. He flew shotgun mostly for Col. Sidney Marks, the 1st Infantry Division's 3rd Brigade commander. John was there October '66 thru July '67.

John Andersen and crew chief Smitty. They enjoyed flying over the Iron Triangle and target practice on live targets. PS, the Iron Triangle was a free-fire zone. Nobody belonged there.

John Andersen. Ex-infantry and door gunner. He didn't take life easy.

Gunner John Andersen and crew.

More of John Andersen. He became a police officer in Florida after Vietnam.

Phu Loi base. Home sweet home. I spent most of my time at Lai-Khe, but Phu Loi was my actual home base when I was in aviation.

More of Phu Loi.

The hanger at Phu Loi. Around late 1966 or early 1967.

Arial of Phu Loi. This is later in the war. The large building appears to be a new hanger. The older, smaller hanger can be seen in front of it.

Lai-Khe airstrip again. But this one is much later with a more developed airstrip.

Me again. Probably at Phu Loi base camp.

Phu Loi base camp, I think. Yes I liked monkeys. Probably because they reminded me of many of the girls I dated. My mother would have called them all tramps- including the monkey.

This photo was sent to me by CW2 Jim McCroan, a pilot I flew with later in the war. I'm the handsome dude on the far right. The fella on the far left is SPC5 Lonnie Carter, and CW2 Jim McCroan is in the center. ....OK, I know we're lonely out here, but get your hand off my knee.

Another old soldier sent me some photos. This is Glen Price. Served from January 1966 'till December 1966.

Here's Glen again with an unidentified soldier.

Would you believe this was the enlisted men's club? Thanks for the update John Andersen. This is why I spent more time in Phu Loi with "Suzie".

Home on leave from first tour in Vietnam. Me and my maw.

Home on leave from first tour in Vietnam. Me and my grandmother. I guess you would call her "meemaw" or however Sheldon would spell it.

Home on leave from first tour in Vietnam. I look like a real dago, huh?

Me and my cousin Janet. April 1967- home on leave from first tour. Yes, I let my hair grow.

Me in basic training (from the yearbook and all of 19 years old) at Ft. Leonard Wood, MO. in January 1966. I was so young and stupid and wondering why the hell did I ever join the army????

This is Bill Boggess, he was at Lai Khe and assigned to the Big Red One in the S-3 section from 67-68 and involved in TET.

We wish you a Merry Christmas, we wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year...la la la... Photo from Bill Boggess.

My gal, my woman! Raquel Welch! This photo is also from Bill Boggess. Looks like we were both at the 1967 Bob Hope Christmas Show.

Photo from Bill Boggess.

Yes, we had a swimming pool and girls in bikinis....OK, I'm lying about the girls....and the bikinis. I actually never knew we had one at Lai Khe. Photo from Bill Boggess.

Hey, that's a far better house than I ever had!

A summer cabin. Great hunting nearby- unfortunately, sometimes the game returns fire. Photo from Bill Boggess.

A downed plane. The reality of war. Photo from Bill Boggess.

This is what our airstrip at Lai Khe looks like from a 2014 photo when Bill Boggess returned to Vietnam on a special trip. I doubt if even this exists today. Google maps show it to be all developed. Photo from Bill Boggess.

OMG! Would I love to have this displayed in my living room! What a toy!

The Next group of photos was sent to me by Col. Warren R. Silva, Aircraft Commander for BG Hollingsworth, on Longhorn 79.

From Col. Warren R. Silva.

From Col. Warren R. Silva.

From Col. Warren R. Silva.

Kids and choppers.

Lt. Chuck Guy, going home. We had lunch together 50 years later. Great guy!

Me and Lt (Col) Guy, 50 years later at a restaurant outside of Chicago. I look the same - he got old!

More of Lt. Wimpy Pybus. I see MG Hay has given him a medal - but I can't tell what medal it is.

Lt. Wimpy Pybus.

From Col. Warren R. Silva.

Pilots and crew chief of Devil Longhorn Nov. '66. From Col. Warren R. Silva.

Sorry. I had to put her in twice. She was that hot! I saw her looking at me....I saw her....she wanted me....