“Lots Of Hot LZs”: An Enlisted Helicopter Crewman Who Became A Commissioned Army Aviator Recalls Lam Son 719

COL(R) Don Pipes was born in August 1951 in northern Missouri. His father ran a construction company while his mother raised Don, his three brothers, and his sister. Growing up on a subsistence farm, the children were assigned various daily chores. In high school, Don acquired a reputation as the class clown and a jock, playing football and baseball as well as running track. He recalls seeing news reports about Vietnam and anti-war protests, but his awareness of the conflict was primarily due to his brother’s service as an artillery NCO in Southeast Asia. He volunteered for the draft in April 1970 because he “got into some trouble” and “needed to get out of town.” Don found basic training at Fort Leonard Wood to be a “tough shock effect.” He enjoyed firing the M-16 on the rifle range and fighting with pugil sticks, but despite being in good physical condition, he disliked the road marches. He describes AIT (Advanced Infantry Training) at Fort Ord as having been “wonderful,” with combat-veteran NCOs using their experiences to convince the privates to “pay attention” to every aspect of training. Don also remembers graphic “Jody” cadences intended to “dehumanize the enemy” and prepare soldiers to shoot someone, which he came to view as “psychological preparation to help prevent guilt.” After taking leave at home, he reported to Travis AFB in Oakland and flew to South Vietnam in September 1970. Stepping off the plane at Ton Son Nhut, he was struck by the “intense heat” and “a smell in the air like burning human waste.” He vividly recalls boarding a bus with chicken wire on the windows and thinking, “Oh, crap. I’m here.” After receiving uniform items and weapons, Don qualified on the firing range before reporting to the 4th Infantry Division at Ahn Khe. On his first night in the jungle, he encountered monsoon rains and unsettling sounds as he dug a “shallow grave” and stretched a poncho over the top. He remembers thinking to himself, “What am I doing here?” and desperately wanting a Hershey chocolate bar. The 4th ID returned to the US in October 1970, and Don was reassigned to the 101st Airborne at Camp Eagle. Two aviators entered the mess hall and asked for volunteers to serve as helicopter door-gunners. Envisioning “creature comforts” such as a “warm bed and hot chow,” Don raised his hand, and he was soon assigned to B Company of the 158th Aviation Battalion (“Lancers”). As a door-gunner and later a crew chief on Hueys, Don participated in a wide variety of missions, including insertion/extraction, field resupply, and general transportation. The Lancers provided direct support for Command and Control North (CCN) based at Da Nang, a “special spook compound” at Quang Tri, and Fire Support Base Ripcord in the A Shau Valley. He recalls “lots of hot LZs,” and notes that “the worst part was body bags.” Don provides a detailed account of his experiences during Operation Lam Son 719 (February 8 to March 25, 1971), which was intended to utilize ground units of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN), supported by American airpower and artillery, to disrupt North Vietnamese supply efforts along the Ho Chi Minh Trail through Laos, thereby demonstrating ARVN capabilities as the process of “Vietnamization” gradually transferred combat responsibilities from U.S. to South Vietnamese forces. Carrying ARVN soldiers to LZ Lolo on March 3, 1971, without Cobra gunship support, the Lancers, along with elements of the 223rd Combat Aviation Battalion (“Rattlers” and “Firebirds”) and A/101st Assault Helicopter Battalion (“Comancheros”), encountered determined resistance during three successive landings as North Vietnamese Army (NVA) units employed a tactic of waiting until the first two helicopters landed before opening fire, resulting in the loss of eleven aircraft. After his Huey was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG), 1LT Charles Anderson landed his wounded bird and ran toward a nearby trench. Not realizing the front end of the Huey had sunk into soft ground, he was struck by the main rotor and killed instantly, while Don’s hooch-mate, SP4 Paul Sgambati, suffered a head wound from an AK-47 round. Bob Morris, a Comancheros pilot, assisted in Paul’s evacuation to Khe Sanh and tried to make him comfortable, but Paul passed away, leaving Don “devastated.” He remembers returning to his hooch after flying all day and feeling numb as he discovered that all of Paul’s belongings had already been removed. Don continued flying multiple missions each day, including a historic CCN operation involving 120 aircraft carrying ARVN troops to LZ Hope. Expecting the assault, the NVA were well-prepared with Soviet tanks and MiGs, forcing a chaotic ARVN evacuation that Don describes as “an army in rout.” Following Lam Son 719, the Lancers resumed a more traditional operational tempo, and he returned to the States on November 11, 1971. Four days later, he was out of the Army, and he entered what he calls “a dark period in my life.” Although people welcomed him home, he walked into a bar and “felt like everyone was staring” at him. Experiencing what he later learned were panic attacks due to Post-Traumatic Stress, he self-medicated with alcohol and drugs before going to the VA and being diagnosed with “Vietnam Syndrome.” He enrolled at Northeast Missouri State University, where he “partied too much” and “worried about failing” before accepting a friend’s dare to join ROTC. Despite his initial reservations, Don “turned it around” and “started seeing success,” becoming convinced that “God nudged me.” He commissioned in 1979 and branched Armor. He met his future wife Beverly while assigned to the 1st Infantry Division in Germany and felt that his “life was coming back together.” He and Beverly were married in El Paso on August 15, 1981. Realizing he wanted to go to flight school, Don informed his new battalion commander that he wanted to be a pilot, and he spent most of 1983 flying at Fort Carson (he asserts that “instruments was tough”) before completing his training at Fort Rucker and transferring to Aviation Branch. In 1987 he reported to Michigan State University as a military science instructor, noting that his “ROTC students were really excited.” While he was at MSU, the Berlin Wall fell and the Cold War ended, resulting in “huge RIFs” (Reductions in Force) throughout the Army. Although Don left active duty in 1990 and began working as a purchasing and materials manager, he continued to serve as a leader in the Michigan National Guard over the next 16 years, commanding aviation, logistics, and armor units. In October 1990 he took command of the 1077th Maintenance Company (“typewriters to tanks”), which mobilized for Operation Desert Storm before a change in orders sent the unit to Nuremberg, Germany, where the company supported VII Corps operations for six months. In 2006, Don retired from the Army after 28 years of uniformed service, 12 on active duty and 16 in the National Guard. In this interview, Don Pipes discusses his childhood in Missouri, his enlisted service as an infantryman and a helicopter crewman in Vietnam (including a detailed account of Operation Lam Son 719), his return to the Army as an officer in both Armor and Aviation branches, his experiences as an ROTC instructor, and his command assignments in the Michigan National Guard. He concludes the interview by reflecting on what his service means to him and offering his thoughts on the importance of attending unit reunions.