Preserving The Oral HistorIES of Combat Veterans
4:24 | Navy gunship pilot Robert Goddard flew missions in support of ground troops in Vietnam. His Huey gunship had awesome firepower but he had to be careful when the situation called for firing very close to friendly forces.
Keywords : Robert Goddard Vietnam helicopter pilot Bell UH-1 Iroquois (Huey) rotor wash gunship Minigun M60 machine gun U Minh Forest Green Beret Sea Wolves US Navy Sea Air and Land Teams (SEALS)
Out of a sense of patriotism and duty, and with a strong desire to learn how to fly, Robert Goddard joined the Navy during the Vietnam War and entered flight school. Taking the helicopter path, he volunteered for the Sea Wolves, a special unit flying Huey gunships.
It was down in the delta where Robert Goddard was based in Vietnam. The Navy Sea Wolves pilot flew a Huey gunship in support of the small Navy boats operating on the rivers and the ground troops in the area. He remembers his first mission well because of something he'd never seen, tracers from an AK-47.
When the scramble horn went off, the Sea Wolves pilots and crew dropped everything and rushed to get in the air. Robert Goddard flew a Huey gunship, often based on an offshore ship in the Gulf of Thailand. They weren't safe from the Viet Cong even there because of sappers constantly trying to attach explosives to the hull. He was lucky, never getting a scratch despite gunfire from the ground, tricky maintenance and water in the fuel.
The Sea Wolves were a Navy helicopter squadron that flew Huey gunships in support of ground troops in Vietnam. Pilot Robert Goddard frequently could not fire because he didn't know where the enemy was, sometimes just trying to attract fire himself to distract them. One day he let a fellow pilot take his place on one of these missions, a decision he thinks about til this day.
His experience in Vietnam as a Navy helicopter pilot gave Robert Goddard a sense of very close kinship with the men he met there. It also honed the skills needed to succeed in civilian life after the war. Did any of the Vietnam War movies get it right? He says there are two.
Navy gunship pilot Robert Goddard remembers close calls he had in Vietnam, some due to enemy fire, some to friendly fire and at least one of his own making.
Huey gunship pilot Robert Goddard recalls the time some "hot intel" turned into a hot reception from the Viet Cong. He can't pinpoint who it was who planted the false information, but it was a set up, for sure.
