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“How’s the hand, Jonesy?” Cory asked. Jonesy had been hit in the hand and sent to Japan for two weeks, but since no serious damage had been done, he had been returned to light duty for two months. He had flown with Cory and Dorsey in Lam Son 719, but Cory still was concerned about it.
“It’s good, sir. See, I was able to salute you, sir,” Jonesy responded with a sarcastic smile.
Clowns, Cory was thinking as he strapped in and picked up the start-up checklist. As he read it off, Captain Curran checked each item and started the aircraft. Once Jonesy and Dorsey were sure no fire was in the engine compartment, they came forward and closed the pilots’ doors, secured them, then climbed into their seats behind the guns. The guns were loaded with three thousand rounds of ammo. As soon as they cleared Camp Holloway, they would ask to test-fire both.
“Go ahead and take us out, John, and I’ll get our clearances,” Cory instructed him. John was still a right-seat pilot, not having accumulated enough combat flying hours or time in-country to be considered for aircraft commander, but he was a good pilot.
“Roger, on the go,” John said, and he was cleared by the two clowns in the back.
As they moved out of the revetment, Cory noticed Major Adams preflighting an aircraft with Ben assisting. It wasn’t 510, the major’s aircraft, however. Hm, the major’s aircraft must be in for maintenance, Cory thought. Specialist Durand was mounting the guns and Robinson was examining the engine compartment.
The flight from Camp Holloway up to Dak To was uneventful, meaning no one was shooting at them yet. There was no doubt in anyone’s mind that they would get shot at sometime today.
“So, John,” Cory said, trying out their new relationship between captains as they cruised at four thousand feet, “what’s the major doing that he needs a C&C aircraft with the MACV advisor on board?”
John turned to Cory with a surprised look. “You don’t know?”
“Know what?” Cory responded with equal surprise.
“The major’s going into Firebase Five to retrieve the bodies of the downed crew,” John responded.
“What! That’s a damn suicide mission. He can’t be serious. Hell, Colonel Shelton won’t allow that,” Cory stated a bit too loudly. “You can’t be serious.”
“He ran it by Colonel Shelton last night and got approval, and he is serious. Told Colonel Shelton that back on his previous tour, he had a similar situation. Grunts were surrounded and cut off, and if they didn’t get off a hilltop, they were going to be overrun. He took a single ship and went in low and popped over the top and landed before the gooks knew he was there. Coming out with a full aircraft and one soldier hanging, literally hanging on the skids, he dove the aircraft over the side of the hill and got away. Landed in a small clearing and got the soldier on board. Everyone went home that night. Got his first of two Silver Stars for that one.”
“John, he pulled it off once, doesn’t mean he can pull it off again,” Cory said. The rest of the trip was quiet, each crew member deep in their own thoughts.
Approaching Dak To, Dan called the advisors and was told to refuel and shut down. Once the aircraft was shut down, Jonesy started checking fluid levels and Dorsey started cleaning guns. Cory pulled out a hammock and hung it under the tail boom to rest his head. John pulled out a worn pocket-sized Western novel by Zane Gray.
“Hey, Captain C, the CO is on short final,” Jonesy said, looking at an aircraft approaching the runway a half hour later.
Cory reluctantly opened his eyes and raised his head. Shit, I best get up and look like I’m busy, he thought. He rolled out of the hammock and stretched.
“Mind if I occupy your hammock, Captain C?” Jonesy asked.
Cory flashed a “have I been had?” look at Jonesy. “That had better be the CO on final or your ass is going to be out of there really fast,” he said, still trying to focus his eyes on the approaching aircraft in the bright sunlight. He pulled out his aviator sunglasses to get a better look. Oh, shit, it is the CO, Cory thought as the aircraft landed behind his aircraft, dusting Jonesy with dirt. As the aircraft was shutting down, Cory walked over and opened the major’s door.
“Morning, sir,” Cory said.
“Morning, Dan, how you feeling this fine morning?” Wow, the major used my first name. That’s a first, Cory was thinking.
“Never felt better, sir.”
“Lying through your teeth, Captain Cory,” the major chuckled. “Even through those sunglasses, I can see the red in your eyes. Sorry I missed your promotion party. Seriously, you okay to be flying today?”
“Yes, sir. If I wasn’t, I wouldn’t be,” Cory assured him as he glanced over at Ben Hodges. Ben didn’t look that happy. I wonder if the major told his crew about the mission today. He also noticed that Specialist Durand, the door gunner, and Specialist Robinson, the crew chief, didn’t look too happy either.
“What mission you flying today, sir?” Cory asked, wanting confirmation that John wasn’t bullshitting him about the day’s mission.
“I need to talk to the senior ARVN advisor,” Major Adams said, not really answering Cory’s question, as he climbed out of the aircraft. He turned to First Lieutenant Hodges. “I’ll be back in about thirty minutes and we’ll get going.”
“Yes, sir.”
Major Adams walked towards the senior advisors’ headquarters across the airfield.
Cory turned to First Lieutenant Hodges. “So how goes it today, LT?” Cory noticed that Durand and Robinson, nicknamed Short Shaft, also hadn’t said much, and they wandered off to talk to Jonesy and Dorsey.
“Not for shit, sir,” Ben answered.
