A Soldier's General

  The General motioned that he wanted to land and the only place to land was in a crossfire.

Contributed by Clarence R. Moore, Helicopter A/C A co 4th Aviation 4th Infantry Division

The author, Clarence Moore, in Vietnam.

In the fall of 1967, my crew and I were returning to Dragon Mountain from Dak To, South Vietnam.

We stopped at Kontum to refuel.

As my crew chief was refueling the aircraft, a grunt came to the crew chief and asked if we could drop off a couple of packs (people needing a ride) at Pleiku. The crew chief asked me if we could, and I told him we would be glad to. This was not an unusual request, since the grunts only had aircraft to get from the jungle to base camps, medical call, etc.

As the crew chief completed the refueling I felt the packs get on board the aircraft. I instructed the crew chief and gunner to insure the packs had all loose gear safely stored before we took off.

My gunner asked me to handle this task, since the packs were a four star General and his aide. I turned to see General Abrams and his aide. General Abrams had two sons in country at this time, and I had heard about him hitching rides to visit them.

The General's aid told me they wanted to be dropped off at the airfield in Pleiku. En route to Pleiku, I received an emergency call for air support for a convoy that was under attack. After getting enough information to know that the convoy was east of Pleiku and we were close enough to help the convoy, I took off my helmet and ask the Captain if it would be possible for he and the General to make a hasty exit from the aircraft at Pleiku.

After the Captain told General Abrams what was going on, he grabbed my arm and yelled for me to go to the convoy and bypass the airfield. I explained to the Captain that a firefight was in progress and I did not want to bring a four star General into the middle of a firefight. He turned and told General Abrams what I had said. General Abrams tapped me on the arm and pointed towards the convoy and said "GO."

When we arrived at the ambush, the convoy was burning from fuel leaking out of the fuel trucks and ammo was cooking off from the fire. A lot of troops were in a rice paddy returning fire to the NVA that was in two positions on a hill south of the road. The General motioned that he wanted to land and the only place to land was in a crossfire. I told my gunner to give the Captain his helmet so I could explain the situation to him.

I told the Captain that the only place to land was between our people and the NVA; I had called for gunships and they were enroute with a ETA of 5 minutes. The Captain said the General wanted on the ground NOW.

A million things go through your head at a time like this. The ones I remember the most were the thought of someone asking me why I was in Leavenworth and my answer to getting a four star General killed.

I turned the aircraft into a very tight spiral and landed in the crossfire. General Abrams had four white stars on each collar and on his cap. He made a good target from 400 yards. As he jumped out of the aircraft the NVA broke into a run toward a large clump of bushes. General Abrams yelled, "There they go. Get' em." We took off after the NVA with both door gunners firing after the NVA. Just as we approached the bushes, two tanks roared across the bushes in a "x" pattern, mashing the brush flat, then the gunships arrived and sprayed the bushes with mini-guns and a couple of rockets.

I returned to the convoy to offer any assistance I could. Med-evac (helicopters for wounded evacuation) had arrived to take the wounded to the hospital at Pleiku. I started to look for General Abrams and finally found him in a rice paddy up to his armpits, dragging wounded out to the edge of the road where they could be taken to the med-evac aircraft.

After General Abrams was satisfied that the situation was under control, he was ready to return to Pleiku and continue with his return to headquarters in Na Trang.

Dirty uniform, tired body, but a soldier's General. He made everyone at this ambush know that a General Officer had their welfare and well being foremost in his mind.