AUGUST 2016
Blue Ridge
ESWS
In Review Crossword Page 2-3
CAPTAIN’S CORNER Page 4
The Flagship Logs: Lay Huey Down in the South China Sea By: Mass Comunication Specialist 2nd Class Kevin A. Flinn
In the tumultuous, lawless morning air in the bays of the southeast Vietnam during the fall of Saigon on April 29, 1975, the crew aboard USS Blue Ridge laid along Vietnamese shores waiting for direction to begin their mission. At 10:51, directions were given: L-hour (landing hour) would be 1500. What followed ended up being the largest helicopter evacuation ship in history, Operation Frequent Wind, with Blue Ridge serving as the command ship for the more than 40 ships involved.
Ret. Gen. David J. Baratto , an icon in the US Army, and the Army’s Special Operations community in particular, famously said “humans are more important than hardware.” In Operation Frequent Wind, this was demonstrated a massive scale. Over $10 million in Hueys were jettisoned off the sides of US naval vessels to make room for all incoming aircraft carrying evacuees. At one point, all the helos that couldn’t be quickly relocated off the
“Humans are more important than hardware.”
Around noon, about six to seven Bell UH-1 Iroquois heliocopters, commonly known as “Hueys,” or “a Huey,” for its original designation (HU-1), were circling Blue Ridge. One pilot that was directed to ditch his helicopter, allowed the helo to hit the side of the ship after his fearful escape. Still, one of the most iconic visuals for Blue Ridge in the ship’s history is the long rememberd image of the Blue Ridge crew pushing a Huey off the side of the flagship to sink to the bottom of the South China Sea. Hueys were the primary heliocopter used throughout the Vietnam War, with approximately 7,000 seeing service during throughout the war. Whether they were American or Vietnamese, Hueys flounded around around US naval ships, waiting for a clearing on any flight deck to land. While some Hueys eventually found a desired landing zone, many others had their pilots drop off passengers, including Sailors catching babies off the fantail of USS Kirk “like basketballs,” according to Kirk’s chief engineer at the time, Hugh Doyle. After completing their missions, and safely dropping off evacuees, many of these helos were directed to crash into the ocean, abandoning the aircraft just before impact, where they would be rescued thereafter.
Photo Courtesy AP Archive
flight deck of aircraft carrier USS Midway were jettisoned to make room for an SVN Air Force Maj., his wife and children, carried by a pilot struggling to land with less than an hour left of fuel. Although Baratto’s famous quote rings true for servicemembers, whether looked upon as a sacrificial instrumental for saving human life or for their operational utility, it’s still impossible to think of some rusted Huey on bottom of the ocean floor without a bit reverence.