This story is not about one person's experiences but about a group of Pilots, Crew Chiefs, and Gunners that made up the aviation unit of HHC of the 3^rd Brigade, 4^th Infantry Division, known as Aloha Airlines – Vietnam Branch.  We only had 4 to 6 helicopters at any one time but the reputation among the infantry units we supported says it all.

In the early 1960's the unit was stationed at the Schofield Barracks in Hawaii as part of the 25th Infantry Division.  It was at this time when the name Aloha was first obtained from the obvious source.  The welcome signs in front of the operations tent said "Aloha Airlines - The Friendly Airline".   Aloha Airlines - Vietnam Branch was HHC Aviation of the 3rd Brigade, originally of the 25th Infantry Division but was changed to the 3rd Brigade of the 4th Infantry Division on August 1st, 1967 with the swap of the 3^rd Brigades.  The phrase "The Friendly Airline" was dropped sometime in 1967 with the name only known as Aloha Airlines - Vietnam Branch.

Aloha arrived in Pleiku with six OH-23's and a fixed wing Beaver (#57-2561).  The members that deployed with the unit from Hawaii were: Major Neal Christensen, CPT Bob Mandap, 1LT William B. Collar, CW4 George T. McKenzie, CW2 Clayton (Les) Coker, SFC David Kawakami, and SFC Petrowski.  WO1 Gary Eddy and WO1 Paul Lancy joined us later in country.  

"Upon landing at Pleiku AB in C-141's we came under a mortar attack while unloading the OH-23's and other equipment.  We managed to get most of our gear off the planes before the Starlifters blasted off in clouds of red dust.  We sat hunkered down in a nearby ditch, dust blowing, and mortars landing a safe distance away, when George McKenzie (44 years old, second tour, seven kids and in one of the earliest flight classes at Rucker) said, "Yessir, Captain, this Army is all right...three hots, a flop, and they pay _____."

Aloha started out flying Observation and support missions with the 25th Infantry Division.  Shortly after arriving in Vietnam that would change.  Aloha worked with many gunship teams and infantry unit.  Primarily working with units of the 1^st/35^th, 2^nd/35^th, and 1^st/14^th.   The purpose of this group was to primarily to recon areas and call in support from the 174^th Aviation or from the artillery.  They were also called in to support the ground troops from time to time.  This organization was a small part of the 25th and 4th but the impact was far beyond its size.  Each individual in the organization could tell of their experiences and keep a crowd busy for several hours.

In 1966 the group arrived in My Hoa, Vietnam.  From there the unit moved to Duc Pho and would remain in that area of operation until January 1968.  In 1968 the unit was located in 8 different LZ’s.  They started in Duc Pho.  Moved to Chu Lai for a week or two.  The next move was to LZ Baldy (south of Da Nang) where Aloha celebrated Tet with the rest of the 3^rd Brigade.  Shortly after that the unit moved to Bong Son.  A month or two later Aloha moved to the north side of Kontum.  The next move was to a base camp on the south side of Kontum.  In late July or early August the unit moved to a base camp west of Pleiku (called “The Oasis”).  Late August or early September found Aloha operating out of that base camp and out of Pleiku (Camp Earni) at the same time.  Camp Earni was the operations center until the unit was called back to the states in 1970.  It was decommissioned in Fort Louis Washington in 1970.

In 1967 and throughout most of 1968 Aloha was made up of a group of individuals that flew recon missions in OH-23’s.   In late July or early August of 1968, the OH-6a’s arrived and missions were flown using both until the OH-23’s were no longer safe to fly (parts were not available).  The recon missions would be primarily flown at first light and just before dusk each day.  In between the missions inspections were performed on the aircraft if they were required.  The OH-23a’s were usually set up with two M-60’s.  One was hung in each door on a bungee cord.  One case of ammo and few grenades (usually WP or CS) were the usual armament.

During all those recon missions Aloha lost no one to Charlie.  Only one gunner was wounded.  Aloha did lose an aircraft from time to time.  A typical mission would start shortly after we got up in the morning.  The choppers were inspected; loaded with the ammo needed and the assigned Crew Chiefs, Gunners and Pilots would get on board.  The Crew Chief/Gunners were held into their positions with a lap belt.  The bungee cord also offered some stabilizing support.  One leg was placed on the cross-support attaching the two skids and the other leg was placed on the skid.  The flights would take off flying at a couple hundred feet off the ground at best (usually just above the tree tops.  If Charlie was found the action started and would end once the chopper was out of ammo and gunships or artillery were called in.  We didn’t always find Charlie he sometimes found us.  That was not always a positive situation.  Being alert and having quality pilots that knew how to get the most out of the choppers were the keys to Aloha’s success.

When the unit moved to the central highlands fewer recon missions were flown and most flights were support missions.  It was during one of those support missions that we had our first casualty. We lost one of our pilots.  WO Casey was running supplies to one of the infantry companies west of Pleiku.  As he took off the fog was rolling in.  Instead of delaying his take off he put his duty before any fears he may have had.  Trying to find his way back in heavy fog WO Casey ran into a tree.  The Army wrote it up as a non-combat operation (which was accurate) but he was still every bit a hero as those who died in combat.  Aloha will never forget Warrant Officer Danny Casey he is our hero.

By the time the unit moved to Pleiku the missions were almost totally support in nature.  The support missions consisted of, air taxi for officers and other military personnel, re-supplying infantry units, convoy cover, inserting or extracting some LRRP’s, and medavac operations when the larger Huey’s couldn’t land in the area.   During this time period, M-60’s were hung in the doorways of OH-6a’s as defensive measures since the missions were no longer recon.  This did not mean Aloha didn’t see any action.  It was a different type of action.  The OH-23’s and OH-6a’s were small enough to get into tight areas and only needed minimal tree removal for a landing.  The last OH-23 was removed from service in 1969 after parts to keep it flight worthy could not be obtained.

SSG Jim Jernigan helped close Aloha down, turn in the aircraft and was one of the last 30 Americans at Camp Enari.  The division moved to Ah Khe in March/April 70, but the 3^rd Brigade deactivated and retired the colors at Ft Lewis, Washington.  Jim was also in the color guard to help return the colors.  Several articles were written in the Ivy News on Aloha in 1968 and 1969.