Tommy H. Martin

August 7, 1967 was a monumental day for me.  I had been “in country” for less than 30 days and had not yet been into a “hot” LZ under enemy fire.  This day would change that and change it drastically. Posted here are stories of my day, as well as stories from others who participated in that…

Documentation provided by Wayne “Crash” Coe with help from Robert N. Gibeault Note from Robert N. Gibeault We are preparing to write the definitive story of the Ni Binh battle.  I have interviewed E-4’s to general officers and have photo’s taken during the event.  I am looking to interview any people that were involved that…

The Black Virgin Mountain (Nui Ba Den) rose from the rice paddies just a few miles from Tay Ninh. Tay Ninh airfield elevation was about 200 feet above sea level and Nui Ba Den rose to around 4000 feet.  It was as if someone had just placed this mountain out in the middle of the…

1. FSB Burt was located astride Route 244, probably at about XT500805. Route 246 runs northwest through Bo Tuc and then Katum. 2. According to radio logs from the 187th AHC, The Hourglass was due north of FSB Burt at XT500890. It was about 4 Km south of the Cambodian border. It’s probably the clearing…

Service Record Entered US Army service: June 1965 Vietnam, 187th Assault Helicopter Company, 1967-1968 TAC Officer, Fort Wolters, Texas Vietnam, 180th Assault Support Helicopter Company, 1970-1971 Warrant Officer Advance Course, Fort Rucker, AL 242d Helicopter Company (Medium), Ft Wainwright, AK 120th Helicopter Company, Ft Richardson, AK 724th Maintenance Bn, Hunter AAF, GA 205th Aviation Company…

This page is dedicated to WO1 Ronald Jansinski, KIA, 1971.   I served as Big Windy 18, from 1970-1971.  It was my second tour and I served as one of the Maintenance Officers.  I was a CW2 then. The 180th ASHC was located at Phu Hiep when I first arrived, but was later transferred to Tuy…

Photographs from my second tour in Vietnam, June 1970- April 1971, 180th Assault Support Helicopter Company (Medium) “Big Windy”, Phu Hiep and Tuy Hoa

Photographs of the lanscape and people from my two tours in Vietnam, 1967-1968, 1970-1971

I was wounded on May 4, 1968, when a 122mm rocket hit the officer’s shower, about 10m from my front door. This started a sequence of moves from hospital to hospital in Vietnam, Japan, and the USA. Along the way I saw and experienced a lot of significant stories that added to my life events….

On August 7, 1967, the 187th Assault Helicopter Company (Blackhawks/Crusaders/Rat Pack) was participating in a combat assault north of Saigon.  During the first lift into the landing zone (LZ) the flight experienced heavy small arms fire from entrenched NVA positions, resulting in the lost of a number of aircraft and the wounding (WIA) of aircrews…

Excerpts from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. You can google “First Battle of Loc Ninh” for many more stories about this action and much more detail about the actual battles. The First Battle of Loc Ninh was a battle during the Vietnam War that occurred between 29 October and 7 November 1967, fought by the Viet…