Ronald Cullins
Crawford Class of 1960

Vihn Long, Vietnam  1968–1969
Army Aviation   114 Assault Helicopter Company
Crew Chief and gunner

The time in Vietnam was so strange.  Less than a week after flying combat air assaults I was home watching the war on TV.  It’s been very hard to come to grips with it all, but in 2019 I went back to Vietnam.  I was amazed -- my Vietnam no longer exists. I think going back might help others to reach closure if they need it.

 

Me standing by my bunker in fatigues; me, on one of the few days off we had, in civilian clothes headed out for a stroll

  

(Left) We were providing two helo support to a Seal team on the Vietnam/Cambodian border.  During the day we took our helo to a sand bar off the coast and swam.  The Seal team water-skied up a nearby river.  That night we inserted and extracted them on ambush of large group of Vietcong. (Right) We had just returned to our pick up point after providing support for air assault for ARVN troops and their advisors.  We were on standby to provide medivac/resupply and pickup of troops. We traded trinkets with the villagers and played with the kids.  Ten minutes later there was a battle in progress.

Back in the air supplying an outpost on a mountain top,  We held the top and we held the bottom. No one had been able to walk from one to the other successfully!