"Dowd's Dirty Half Dozen" Vietnam Dec '69 - Rangers/Airborne

http://www.myspace.com/roadsidemark2 Below, are the lyrics to the song that was dedicated to the members of Ranger Team 1-6. This song was written and composed by Mark Whitehead, a good friend of Larry "The Reb" Smith.

"Dowd's Dirty Half Dozen"

Well this here's story's about Vietnam, back in Nineteen Sixty-Nine

It's short and its true, and it left some scars, on pretty good friend of mine

Sgt. Dowd led the team of six men, who were "Soldiers" down to the core

And two replacements for R&R, that they borrowed from team 1-4

It was Dowd, Burke, Dean and the Reb, they were of the original six

They got Barber and Sinclair from team 1-4, brought 'em into the mix

They were headed out on just one more run, to help with the overtake

It was 4 days till Christmas in Vietnam, and they all needed the break

Well they boarded the Huey, with a couple of gunners, they didn't know that well

And two young pilots that had their mission to fly helicopters over hell

When they climbed onboard, some photos were shot, as the men joked in fun

What they didn't know, was that this team, was out on a final run

Well they made a few rounds to some different grids, trying to lead the enemy off

So they wouldn't know the exact locale, that the boys would be jumping off

But they took on fire at every attempt, and it looked like it was hell to pay

Then they banked to the right after a heavy jolt, and the crew begin to pray

Yea they got hit hard by a 50 cal, and the Huey begin to spin

It crashed in the province of Quang-Tri, outside Con Thien

So right there on the twenty-first, of December Sixty-Nine

Nine men landed in the hands of God, and one was left behind

Yea the "Rangers lost 5 Hero's" of the "Dowd's Dirty Half Dozen pack"

But the one they call "The Reb" still recalls the fatal attack

Yea Ole Larry woke up in the hospital, on that Christmas day,

He was told about the rest of the guys, that are no longer with us today

"Smitty" was a lone survivor, he's alive and doing fine

He still has all the war wounds, and lives out in North Caroline

Well here's to the "Hero's of Team 1-6" who were Brave and they played that part

To "Larry" The Lone Survivor, who still waits for his purple-heart.

Mark Whitehead
copyright © 2001

Category:

Music

Tags:

• dowd's
• dirty
• half
• dozen
• vietnam
• ranger
• airborne
• larry
• smith
• quang-tri
• hero
• christmas
• con
• thien
• war
• died
• patriot
• freedom

[BIGMIKECSO903]

My uncle Gary Sinclair was one of the two men brought in from team 1-4. I wish My Mother was alive to see that her brother Gary Sinclair and all the other men died as hero's. She would be happy to see that there are people who do remember the men who gave thier life for us. "Please Don't Ever Forget."

[TheGavigan]

Its nice to remember my husbands uncle gary sinclair, he remembers that christmas as if it was yesterday

[penelopepi]

facebook gave a link to honor soldiers, randomly if you didn't have one in mind, and my friend found Sgt Dowd and so I looked for information on him and found this. Thanks for posting!

[BLP173rd]

Rest in peace brothers....

[beerbelly133]

My husband and I knew Jeff Burke, one of the Half Dozen that died. Rest in Peace, dear Jeff and all the other brave men that died with him.

[beerbelly133]

Thank you for honoring all these brave young heroes. Jeff Burke was a personal friend of ours from the little town of Carnegie, PA.

Rest in Peace, Rangers.

[GFYS1]

Nice tribute

RLTW

[Rebelrgrteam16]

Thank you for the honor and tribute to my fellow teammates. It is truly a honor to be part of this video. rebelrgrteam16

[xr29fb32]

Great way to honor the Rangers! Thanks.