4. Vietnam II Read Online Free PDF

instructed him on rescue combat air patrol before we deployed.
    "Get the fuck out of here Willie," I told Wilkes over the radio.
    "Fuck you, Bennie," Wilkes said. "I'm running things.  You’re looking good.  You’re safe.  Help’s on its way.”
    “Sure,” I had my doubts about that.  I had fucked up big.  He was just trying to give me hope.  There was no one coming to save me.
    Wilkes held his position for the better part of a half hour.  He made wide circles around the area to prevent the enemy from getting a fix on my exact position.  Fuel though drove him to press on out of there. 
    “I’m Bingoed out.”  Wilkes said indicating he was running on fumes.
    “Thanks for sticking around.”
    “Good luck,” Wilkes said and then the radio went silent.
    I was alone.
     

Lieutenant Colonel Carol Madison
    Air Force Intelligence Officer
     
    “He’s too far north.  The risk is too great.”  Elway, my Army counterpart, was arguing.  “Just have him hide until we can move troops closer.”
    “How can you be so sure we are going to invade?”  I asked.
    “Let’s just say I am.”  Elway replied.  Whoever he was talking to had filled his head with promises.
    “More POWs?  How does that play?”  I argued.
    “A dead helicopter crew?  How does that play?”  Elway responded.
    Everything came to a halt for the shoot down.  The Air Boss himself was running things from the floor.
    “We already launched search and rescue.  Let me know who wins the argument.”  He told us.
    Well I guess we were going in.
     

Staff Sergeant Mike Dolby
    HH-60 Gunner
     
    Captain Bean was flying our HH-60 hard that day, and as we made their way toward Arthur, we received orders over the radio from AWACs to turn back and abort the mission. Then we received orders to continue from headquarters.  It was one of those times when command and control were not getting along.  This conflicting orders thing happened more than you would have thought and it was always frustrating.  Either way we would end up pissing somebody big and important off.
    AWACs repeated their retrograde order.  They told us that Arthur was too far north, and rescuing him would be too great of a risk.  They told us MiGs were reported in the area.
    Bean made a decision that probably saved Arthur’s life.
    “What do you say?”  Bean asked us.
    No one seemed to want to answer.
    “Christ we’re almost there.”  I told him.
    "AWACs, there's too much static," Walker said. "I can't hear you. We're going in to get him."
    Knowing there were MiGs in the area didn't diminish the threat of enemies on the ground, and I kept my eyes open.  The entire crew was on edge.  I hoped any civilians had the good sense to stay away. 
    Anyone would be a target for my M134 Minigun.
    The way I looked at it if they wanted to mess with our helicopter then they were messing with my family.  If they were going to mess with my family they were going to have to die.
    Major Ben Arthur
    F-16 Fighting Falcon Pilot
     
    Hornets reached me about two hours after I was shot down.  It felt like days had passed.  The Hornets circled overhead and dropped smoke grenades to mark my position.  They were all way off.
    I waited for them to figure it out.  They quit dropping smoke, moved further north and dropped more smoke.  I couldn’t take it anymore.
    “Hey Navy, you’re way off target.”  I told them over the radio.
    "We know that," the pilot said. "We know what we're doing."
    They were leading the enemy away from me.  Well I guess I’m the asshole.
    Less than ten minutes later I heard the whoop whoop of helicopter blades. 
    I just about cried.
    The HH-60 appeared and then hovered overhead.  I popped a smoke grenade and pulled out my flares.  The device that fired the flares looked like a big marker.  You pulled this string and they shot into the air.  I had six of them and I fired them all.  One of them bounced off the canopy of the helicopter as it swung by