Full Description
It wasn't rockets or artillery that came through the skies one week during the war. It was the horrific force of nature that suddenly put both sides in awe. As an unofficial truce began, questions and emotions battled inside every air crewman's mind as they faced masses of Vietnamese civilians outside their protective base perimeters for the first time. Could we trust them not to shoot? Could they trust us not to drop them off in a detention camp? Truces never last, but life changes a bit for all the people involved while they are happening.
Sometimes wars are suspended and fighting stops for a while. A holiday that both sides recognize might do it, as happened in the Christmas truce during World War I. Weather might do it, too, as it did in Vietnam in October 1970\. The "typhoon truce" was just as real, and the war stopped for three days in northern I Corps--that area bordering the demilitarized zone separating South Vietnam from the North. The unofficial "typhoon truce" came because first, Super Typhoon Joan arrived, devastating all the coastal lowlands in I Corps and further up into North Vietnam. Then, less than a week later came Super Typhoon Kate. Kate hit the same area with renewed fury, leaving the entire countryside under water and the people there faced with both war and natural disaster at the same time.
No one but the Americans, the foreign warriors fighting throughout the country, had the resources to help the people who lived in the lowlands, and so they did. For the men who took their helicopters out into the unending rain it really made little difference. Perhaps no one would shoot at them for a while, but the everyday dangers they faced remained, magnified by the low clouds and poor visibility. The crews got just as tired, maybe more so, than on normal missions. None of that really mattered. The aircrews of the 101st Airborne went out to help anyway, because rescuing people was now their mission. In this book we see how for a brief period during an otherwise vicious war, saving life took precedence over bloody conflict.
Contents
PROLOGUE
Rain Unending
THE MEN OF PLAYTEX AND LIFE IN VIETNAM
Walking Fish • The Technicians • Liftmaster •The Roommates • The Hootch
THE 159TH, THE AIRCRAFT, AND THE MISSION
The 159th Assault Support Helicopter Battalion (159th ASHB) • The Aircraft • The Mission
OCTOBER 14, 1970
Monsoon Flying • Weather Checker • Loose Lips • Last Ditches • Even the Bad Guys Get the Blues • Once Started
OCTOBER 16, 1970
Show Time
OCTOBER 17, 1970
Much Pain, No Gain
OCTOBER 18, 1970
Playtex 820: Roommates Go Flying • Playtex 831 • The Weather Hold • Routine Maintenance Playtex 831 • Broken Bits
OCTOBER 24, 1970
Recovering Playtex 831 • Playtex 831 Returns to Liftmaster Pad • Playtex 820 Goes North
OCTOBER 25, 1970
Playtex 820 Has a Tiny Problem • Liftmaster Prepares for Super Typhoon Kate • Domestic Matters
OCTOBER 26, 1970
Kate Makes an Entrance • Cameraman James Taylor • No More Party Today
OCTOBER 27, 1970
Anticipation • Cameraman Barry Fivelson • Congratulations on Your New Assignment
TYPHOON JOAN ARRIVES AND THE TYPHOON TRUCE BEGINS
Warning Order • Meeting the Locals
OCTOBER 28, 1970
Launch! Launch! • Alice and Strider Go Flying in Playtex 506 • Playtex 506's Crew • The War is Suspended, Day One • Hovering Practice • The New Mission Begins • Weather Hold • Playtex 820's Crew • War Stories and Lunch • Day One Ends • Domestic Matters, Part Two
OCTOBER 29, 1970
Day Two: Playtex 506 Launches Again • The Rescues Begin Again • The Newest Playtex Pilot • Two Wheeler • Surprises • The Next Round • Panic • Getting Tired Now • Playtex 107 Calls it a Day • Not Lost, Merely Disoriented • Playtex 542 Returns to Liftmaster • Bits and Pieces • In Playtex 506, the AC Makes a Decision • RO1N—Remain Over One Night
OCTOBER 30, 1970
Day Three: Playtex 506 • Normalcy •
OCTOBER 31, 1970 - THE AFTERMATH
The RLOs • The Roommates, Part 2 • Strider • Cobb • Steiner • The Locals
EPILOGUE
They Still Live
APPENDIX Who They Were
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
GLOSSARY
