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“I’ll tell him, sir.”
Wonder what this is about, Fender thought. When the tracking was completed, everyone walked back to the CO’s office, stopping briefly to help Dorsey clean the guns and put them away. When they entered the orderly room, the 1SG went into the CO’s office and announced their arrival.
“Go ahead and report to the CO.” Being told to “report” had a certain meaning in military jargon. It meant “Don’t go in and be looking for a beer, but go in, come to the position of attention, salute and state, ‘Sir, so-and-so reporting as ordered.’” Once the salute was returned, you were to drop your salute and remain at the position of attention until told to stand at ease. Fortunately, Fender had briefed his crew before they went in, and they all demonstrated the proper military decorum.
After returning their salute, the CO said, “Stand at ease. Specialist Kelly, you’re the crew chief, correct?”
“Yes, sir,” Kelly replied.
“Dorsey, you are the gunner, correct?”
“Yes, sir.” If he’s the crew chief and they’re the pilots, wouldn’t I be the gunner? Dorsey was thinking.
“So why didn’t you two clear the aircraft out of the LZ and avoid the tree?” the CO asked. “Tree strikes are serious matters. What were you doing to allow this to happen?” It was obvious that the CO didn’t know the whole story and had only heard that there had been a tree strike.
“Sir, if I may explain,” Fender jumped in.
“Mr. Fender, you will have an opportunity to explain yourself. Right now I want to hear from them.” He looked back at Kelly and Dorsey. “Well?”
“Sir, I was honestly looking along the tree line and didn’t notice a tree in the PZ on our approach. I was more concerned about taking fire and getting out of there than any trees in the PZ. I scanned the PZ and didn’t see any, so I was concentrating on the tree line,” Kelly responded.
Major Adams refocused his eyes on Dorsey. Without waiting, Don started talking. “Sir, I was scanning the PZ on the approach, and once we were on the ground, I was looking at the tree line also and getting the downed crew out and back on our aircraft. As we started coming out, I didn’t notice a tree on our flight path as I was in the cargo bay getting a first aid dressing on the Vietnamese copilot,” he explained.
“So what I’m hearing is no one saw a tree but you had a blade strike. Am I understanding this right?” Major Adams asked with a bit of frustration. “Mr. Fender, did you see a tree?”
“No, sir.”
“Mr. Reid, did you see a tree?”
“No, sir.”
“So if no one saw a tree, why did you report a blade strike?” the major asked everyone.
“Well, sir, we heard what sounded like a strike, so I thought it best to report it right away and have Maintenance check it out when we got back.”
“All right, this has been reported as a tree strike to Battalion. There have been enough tree strikes in Battalion as it is, and people are getting killed because of it. No more. Mr. Fender, this is your third reported blade strike since I’ve been in command. I’m pulling your AC orders until you get a check ride with the unit IP. You’re dismissed.”
Everyone was in shock that Mr. Fender had just lost his AC orders, especially since it couldn’t be confirmed that there had been a tree strike and there was no damage to the aircraft. As they left the orderly room, Kelly turned to Fender.
“Sir, I’m sorry, but we didn’t see a tree in that PZ. Plenty of stumps, but I swear I didn’t see a tree. This sucks.”
“Hey, don’t worry about it. I suspect the major is sending a message to everyone that we have to tighten up our procedures. I’ll get my AC orders back. Don’t beat yourselves up over this. Let’s go get some cold beer,” Fender said, leading the way.
A few days later, Lockwood, the company clerk, came into Fender’s room. “Mr. Fender, the CO wants to see you in his office.”
“I’ll be right up there.” Fender started getting his boots on.
As he walked up to the orderly room, he wondered, What am I going to get my ass chewed over now? He knocked on the door to the CO’s office as no one was in the orderly room to announce him.
“Sir, you wanted to see me?”
“Mr. Fender, yes, come on in and sit down,” Major Adams said. This is good. He’s smiling, Fender noticed. He took a seat.
“Mr. Fender, I’m restoring your AC orders. I received a letter this morning through Battalion and Group, from Colonel Huynh Ba Tinh, commander of the Third ARVN Airborne Division,” Major Adams said, handing a piece of paper to Fender. “It was sent to Lightning Bolt Six and has been forwarded to me. Colonel Tinh is officially recognizing you and your crew for the rescue you did the other day. I spoke with Colonel Islem, and he agrees that it would probably not be right to pull your AC orders under the circumstances. I believe a request for the Distinguished Flying Cross is being prepared for you and for your gunner, with Air Medals for Mr. Reid and Mr. Kelly. Good job.” Major Adams extended his hand to Fender, who stood and accepted it.
“Thank you, sir. We were just doing our job,” Fender mumbled.
“Well, go tell Ops you’re back on AC status and have them put you on the board. Go on.”
