Vietnam Air Rescues, Part 1, Jolly Green CSAR Tactics.wmv

Hi, this is Dave Richardson, the guy who did the video. This video was a long time in coming.

In 1967-1968, I was a "Jolly Green" helicopter rescue pilot, flying missions out of NKP in Thailand. During my tour, I performed 7 rescues, saving the lives of 9 men.

On two of these rescues, #3 and #6, I had a combat cameraman on board who shot short film clips of each rescue. Over the years, my eldest son, David, has repeatedly urged me to add narration to the clips.

I finally got around to it and decided to do a 3 video series. This one, the first, has as its focus, the overall Jolly Green mission. Number two, with rescue footage, tells the story of the rescue of Candlestick 01, while number three, with more rescue footage, tells the story of the rescue of Sandy 05.

My book, Vietnam Air Rescues, has received favorable attention. For those who are interested, more photos, these videos, and information about the book, may be found on the website,

http://vnrescues.com.

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• vnrescues.com

[missfying]

I know it's a long shot, but I'm just curious. In the 80ies I had an American friend (I'm from Amsterdam in the Netherlands) Who had a parachute tattooed on his chest with the words 'US Air Rescue' underneath. He also had 'Borne to raise hell' tattooed on his arm (Hells Angels?) His name was Tomas Biguet. I have rarely seen a guy with that many scars. As far as I know he did two tours. Any clues?

[vnrescues]

@missfying Sorry - Doesn't ring a bell. Lots of tattoos by various groups/people then. Sounds as if he may have been assigned to the coast. but I never heard of him. Dave.

[Slickdapj]

Served, proudly, as a PJ with Det 14 in Saigon, Ton Son Nhut, in summer and fall of 1972.

Great video. Brings back some very old and cherished memories.

I'm still in, as a 59 year old Warrant Officer in the U.S. Army, with tours in Iraq. I am very proud of being in the Warrant Officer Corps, but nothing matches the pride I feel from being a part of the Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Service (ARRS) oh so long ago.

We, truly, would dare anything, brave anything, to get our pilots out of there.

[vnrescues]

@Slickdapj My hats off to you. Refreshing to hear from someone who understands why we did some of the things we did that seem a little crazy now. My son spent two tours as a WO pilot of a Blackhawk but is retired now. Dave

[bmarlin475]

I was a Crew Chief at NKP for Sandy 01... TT593 "The Mighty Red Baron" in the 602nd SOS (Firefly) from 1969 to 1970. Spent time in Laos patching up a wounded A1to fly back to NKP (while President Johnson announces that we have no American troops in Laos, go figure....) and briefly in Pleiku when we put 6 birds on Sandy Alert.(You've Been Had By A Sandy Spad!)

Spent a lot of time playing cards at the Sandy Box with Dusky and Jolly crews.

[vnrescues]

@bmarlin475 Ah yes, the Sandy Box. Spent a (little) time there myself. Dave

[nbadhorse]

I salute you sir. I was a Jolly Green crew chief with the 40th ARRS from Jan 71 to Jan 72. First at Udorn then NKP with a TDY to Ubon. I am glad our story is being told. By the time I got there the H-3s had been replaced with H-53s. A great airplane.

Welcome home sir.

[richie1971fly]

Nice job Dave. Was with the 40th ARRS 74-75 Maintaining the HH-43's and then over to the HH-53 side also got to fly in the 53's a quite a few times. Sad to see both platforms DE-Commission.

[vnrescues]

Glad you enjoyed them. I was lucky to have video onboard. Dave

[fushheads]

Thanks for uploading dude. These are the only videos of their nature that I have found.