Preserving The Oral HistorIES of Combat Veterans
3:03 | One great thing about flying helicopters in the Army. The guy who maintained the aircraft flew with you. That made all the difference in the world to Thomas Gipson. His crew chief took good care of the him, as well as the Huey, and he had to set him straight on what the nose art really meant.
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College wasn't going that well for Thomas Gipson, so he knew the draft would eventually come for him and he would end up in Vietnam. When he found out that you could be a helicopter pilot in the Army without a college degree, he knew that was the path for him.
It was long hours and long days for Thomas Gipson in Vietnam. He gives an overview of his tour, describing the different types of missions and some of the misadventures. The amount of flying time was closely monitored to make sure the pilots didn't crack, but it was still exhausting.
The first combat mission for helicopter pilot Thomas Gipson was memorable. He saw an NVA soldier stand up and fire right at him and then wanted to forget what he saw our bulldozers doing after the fight. He was still in the right seat as a co-pilot, trying to get used to this new, dangerous world.
On Thanksgiving day in 1968, Huey pilot Thomas Gipson spent all day delivering meals to various camps and bases. When he saw what his own holiday meal consisted of, he felt a little neglected. It was dangerous operating in a dense jungle and he recalls an incident in which another aircraft was shot down.
Thomas Gipson was lucky enough to be able to go to Hawaii on R&R to meet his wife, getting away from Vietnam for a break. That was great, but there was a downside.
The fog rolled in while he was out an a mission. Huey pilot Thomas Gipson had to divert from his base to a nearby base in Pleiku which had IFR capability, instrument flight rules. They would have to talk him down.
Once he made aircraft commander, Huey pilot Thomas Gipson had to mentor other pilots fresh from flight training. He remembers one cocky pilot who couldn't be bothered to follow common sense rules.
Every helicopter pilot in Vietnam had to take a check ride every 90 days to make sure his skills were holding steady. When Thomas Gipson was on his check ride, sudden engine failure nearly caused a disaster.
The load limit on a Huey is not something to be ignored. Thomas Gipson was piloting the last aircraft on a mission to extract a ground unit. He had never carried more than eight passengers but somebody screwed up. There were thirteen men left.
The takeoff was a tense moment for Thomas Gipson. The Huey pilot was leaving Vietnam on a commercial airliner and he was not in control, hence his nervousness. He had this feeling again when he ventured into rush hour traffic back home. The Army offered to promote him straight to captain if he would go back for another tour, but that was a tough sell.
