More than a thousand helicopter pilots are in New Orleans this week with amazing stories to tell. They all flew missions during the Vietnam War and are gathering in the city for the their association's 29th reunion.
"At that time I was all of 21 years old," said Robert Jones as he remembered his war service in the 60's northwest of Saigon. "To be in charge of an aircraft at that age, it was like nothing I'd ever done before," he said.
Jones was one of dozens of Vietnam pilots touring the D-Day Museum seeing the history of one war, while remembering flying in another.
"I was 34 years old, I had 12 helicopters and 127 guys," said Pete Rowe, who was injured in the war in December of 1966.
Richard Thompson said sitting on the ground waiting for the wounded to be loaded was the scariest part.
"You're stuck, You're there, you're a target."
The Huey AH-1b attack helicopter was the most prominent during the war in Vietnam. Glamorized by the 1979 movie Apocalypse Now, the air cavalry was used for the first time during that conflict. Huey pilots hunted down enemy positions.
"The scariest part was drawing fire. We would intentionally try to make people shoot at us so we know where the enemy's at. You hope you don't get shot," said Scott Hill.
"I ended up losing my tail rotor which made the helicopter go crazy," recalled Sam Prestipino.
"We hit a rice paddy, knocked the skids off, broke the machine in half, and landed right side up."
That was one of 17 times Prestipino was hit. Pete Rowe's plane took fire too.
"We took a hit in the rocket pod in the left side of the copter," he said. A piece of shrapnel came through and hit him in the leg.
There is no museum yet dedicated to the war against the spread of communism in Vietnam, but these pilots are living history of the firefights in the jungles.
"Some of them didn't come back and I felt like I was one of the lucky ones," Robert Jones said.
Scott Hill, Vietnam Veteran Helicopter Pilot
