"And this [pilot's] talking to this guy like he's ordering a pizza at a pizza parlor. 'Well, I’m at 4500 feet. Both engines are gone. Hydraulics are gone. We’re going in. I’m going to try to put it in someplace, maybe we can survive the crash.' … And we understand about 50 feet in the air the main rotor came off the helicopter."
Description of Interview:
Special Forces medic Mike Rose tells the remarkable tale of his experiences with MACV-SOG and the Exploitation (or, Hatchet) Force he served with during his tour in Vietnam. He recalls overrunning and entering an NVA logistics center, hearing a telephone ring, and then watching as his captain calmly “picked this thing up, and he said, ‘Hello, Captain Gene McCarley with Special Forces Group. How may I help you?’” He describes his emotions 40 years after giving the order to leave three KIA Montagnards behind. And he describes saving the life of a Marine gunner named Stevens who had taken a 12.5 round through the neck on the helicopter that then crashed, and his delight in discovering much later that the Marine lived another 42 years.
Key Words: Operation TAILWIND, Chavane, Laos, Medal of Honor, MACV-SOG, B Company Exploitation Force, Command and Control Central, medic
Key People: Captain Eugene McCarley, Dave Young First Sergeant Adair, Sergeant First Class Bernie Bright, Neil Thorne, Colonel Sadler, Margaret Mary Cottsman, General O’Connor, Sergeant First Class David Hayes
Unit:
MACV-SOG; 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne), 1st Special Forces
Read the Complete Transcript of this Interview.