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Dennis Haines

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Despite the fact that they could receive no confirmation of his arrival, the family and fiancé of Dennis Haines were there on Christmas Day when he arrived at Walter Reed Hospital. A friendly pilot had made the flight from Alaska fun for the injured warrior. (5:35)

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As if getting shot in the head wasn’t enough, Dennis Haines had many complications on his road to recovery, including a serious infection. He was amused, however, by the process of molding the plastic plate to cover the missing part of his skull. (9:02)

Dennis Smith

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Dennis Smith got his first impressions of war at an early age. As a child, his family lived in France near the Verdun battlefield where he found many relics of the famous battle. When he was older, his father told him about Japanese troops who refused to surrender, a grisly business. (5:04)

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After he was commissioned, the first assignment for Dennis Smith was at a drone squadron in Panama City. His job was air control and he directed the traffic as the drones were used for target practice. But his skill was needed in Vietnam and he took the long flight in 1970. The action at the time was in Cambodia. (5:21)

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Dennis Smith had lived in Okinawa so the heat of Vietnam was a familiar thing. He knew French so that was how he communicated with many of the South Vietnamese officers he worked with. His job was running air control for tanker hookups with fighters, which could be tricky in the volatile weather of the area. (5:15)

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Dennis Smith worked with Forward Air Controllers but his job was different. One night he did a little of it when he was on duty and got a call from a gunship who had spotted some sampans on the Mekong at night which was forbidden. The brass would not give clearance for a strike but then he had a thought. What about the Navy pilots? (4:32)

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After he was appointed Vietnamization Officer and Training Officer, Dennis Smith went to see the commander of the Vietnamese squadron he would be training. The wall was covered with many photographs of men. Who are all these people? The commander abruptly dismissed him. That was when he learned about the Ghost Battalions. (4:17)

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He had to get up to Long Tan. Dennis Smith was waiting for a ride on a helicopter and it was finally his turn. He started to board the ship and an army colonel kicked him off and took it for his own purpose. It promptly crashed on take off and he went to the motor pool where he wound up with a most unusual vehicle. (5:47)

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Dennis Smith flew on Air America a couple of times but he didn't work directly with the CIA, or The Company as it was known. They ran their operations out of Da Nang while he was doing air control for B-52 strikes in Cambodia. (4:15)

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The brass were trying out some new things in Vietnam. Dennis Smith describes how they attempted to create instant landing zones with huge bombs. That didn't work so well but there was one area that new technology was making an important mark. That was in night vision. (3:47)