Armored Sentinel (Temple, Tex.), Vol. 31, No. 33, Ed. 1 Friday, October 6, 1972 Page: 14 of 24

                                
Pace Fourteen
By STEVE LASSITER
Wedged into the side of a
granite terrace that stairstepped
to two frozen lakes several
thousand feet below was the
battered body of a UH-1N
(NAVY) helicopter the result
of an attempted rescue mission.
The twin-engine huey from
Lemoore Naval Air Station
(NAS) Calif had lost power and
settled into the jagged rocks
that formed part of snow capped
Mt. Whitney. Crew members
and passengers including a
doctor and navy medic were
unhurt. But the job of retrieval
of the downed chopper fell to a
Ch-4 7C (Chinook) helicopter
named "Gertrude" and her crew
ACCEPTING CARDS Lt. Gen.
George P. Seneff Jr. Corps and
and Ft Hood Commanding general
receives the first pledge card and bro­
chure for the 1973 Ft. Hood Combined
The annual Ft. Hood combined
Federal Campaign commenced
on Sept. 18 and will end Nov. 3
1972. This campaign is a one
time drive combining three
major organizations —the Ft.
Hood United Fund the National
a A an
International Service Agencies.
This year at Ft. Hood there
a re 3 6 pa at a
participating in this one fund
raising campaign.
The Ft. Hood United Fund is a
community activity supporting a
broad base of needs of the local
area. It includes health and
service agencies as well as
support of the surrounding
communities and their United
Funds. The Ft. Hood United
Fund provides monetary support
to agencies such as Dependent
Youth Activities Boy Scouts
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4th & Rancier
KILLEEN
from "D" Co. 227th Avn. Bn.
1st Cav. Div. The Navy and
Marine Corps had no helicopter
capable of transporting the
aircraft within the limits of
safety.
Delta Company operations
handed CWO 3 David L. Helton
the mission sheet at 5:30 p.m.
Wednesday Sept. 14. He was to
be the mission commander and
his pilot was CWO 3 Charles H.
Mathews—together they had a
total of over 28000 hours of
flight time 3800 hours of which
were in the CH-47 2600 hours as
instructor pilots in the Chinook
their crew consisted of CWO 2
Stan R. Gregory maintenance
officer CWO 2 John Winchester
The International Service
Agencies are primarily service
organizations operating on an
international basis. This group
includes such organizations as
Care and Hope.
The Campaign is designed to
solicit funds where you work
Take one before
bedtime.
So your stomach won't go to bed unhappy we stay up late.
OPEN 10:00 AM Daily CLOSE:
So Get Up And
Get Away To.
rigging master Spec. 6 William
M. Peele flight engineer Spec.
6 ha S it a
inspector and Spec. 5 Thomas
A. Rhiel crew chief. These
seven were all combat veterans
and combined to form the most
experienced crew in the 5th
Army area.
Maj. Larry Snook 1st Cav.
Div. transportation officer was
sent to Lemoore as liaison
officer and technical advisor for
the rescue mission.
The "magnificent seven" was
airborne and headed westward
by 9:45 a.m. Thursday Sept. 15
and arrived aboard NAS Friday
afternoon. The decision to
attempt the lift was up to Helton
Federal Campaign from Col. Francis
Giacomozzi AC of S G5 the Cam­
paign's Chairman. (Photo by Bob
Hill)
Federal Campaign
into full swing at fort
Girl Scouts as well as the Red
Cross and others as indicated in
the brochure passed out to every
individual working at Ft. Hood.
The National Health Agencies
are a group of asencies that
up or re a a in
personnel and provides help to
millions of Americans through
local doctors and hospitals. This
group of agencies are national in
an in
or an at on as A a
an S A it is
Foundation as well as March of
Dimes and others.
Sun. thru Thurs.
Fri. and Sat. ..
The Key man is the representa- generously give your average
share. Help yourself by helping
others to help themselves.
tive of all agencies and the sue
cess of the ampaign is depen­
dent upon his resourcefulness.
Cash check or allotments are
collected by the key man from
an individual and turned in to
the project officer. The project
officer turns the money in to the
Ft. Hood National Bank and the
allotment forms to the finance
office servicing the unit. The AC
of S G5 as the Campaign
Chairman is the central point of
contact for the drive.
The organizations combined
together for this drive are non
profit organizations. They are
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....1 AM
... .2 AM
McDonald's
?rm"
y.
into a box canyon with two lakes Lemo0ire
dwarfed by immense shelves of
rocks. Helton and Mathews both
THE ARMORED SENTINEL FORT HOOD TEXAS
Hood's 'Gertrude' retrieves downed craft
who explained "Due to the enormous block stepping stones
altitude of the crash (11500 ft that flatten out into a valley
above sea level) and winds in containing two lakes
the mountains we elected to go Mathews cautiously made his
to the crash site at 8 a.m.
way
Saturday. The Navy had already
slightly above the crash site
to a
^helf just iarge enough to
re he a to is a a
head and blades and all the Winchester Gregory and Smith
radio equipment." went down to the Huey with
"Gertrude" and company equipment and rigged both
followed a UH-1N or j-jjg tail section and main body
helicopter the next morning as it Helton elected to move the tail
ad it a to he as he
0
to a a
weather was perfect a vast approximately 500 feet below the
blue cloudless sky ha
stretched out over the barren
site first t0 ci€ar
0f
ridges and peals of the Sierra become hazards. The attempt to
Nevada mountain range. The remove the main body was
sun was partialy eclipsed by the aborted after an initial try due
to in W it as in an in re as in id
long shadows like painted black temperature and lack of wind
streaks on a gray canvas. factors contributing to a
As the escort ship started
desending Mathews hung in
Sund*
squinted as the maddening conditions were very favorable
sunlight blinded their front.
Suddenly the lead ship radioed
and a
W on on on on he
canyons look all alike make a reasons
go-around!"
"MAKE A GO-AROUND?"
hig
Seconds later they were pjck_Up ship thus increasing
be in he or or in
stability
his descent-Mathews followed.
Below them a giant shadow
enveloped an entire side of a
moves
one time from all personnel at able to operate only because
Ft. Hood for all agencies people care and donate to their
(exept AER). The drive Is cause. These
organized with a campaign operate and
committee composed
project officers and keymen
the crash
obstacles that might
lack of lift capability. The crew
picked
behind him as they sunk slowly
up the tailboom and part
of the blades and headed
back to
crew arrived at
at 7 4g a.m.—the
{or a with a
cool 32 degrees
gjig^ wind blowing down
a in
a
Helt0n
used a 40 ft.
~rotcjr blades from angling
Helton and Mathews looked at Moulders. Keeping his
each other probing somewhere
noge
for the humor that was
jn|0 wind and backing
down
desperately needed at such
mountain Mathews
skillfuUy broUght
times. There was hardly any stairstep fashion to a large
room to turn much less buzz
away. Instead they had to back original site.
up and out utilizing 14 that point Winchester
'magnificent eyes" as rear-view shortened the sling to 20 ft.
mirrors clearing their moves. bringing the load closer to the
the main body
area
some 500 feet from the
an as
their way around a craggy bend. Mathews then began pulling in
This time the lead observer had power lifting the 4210-lb. load
the wreckage spotted and began
his Pirf.raft
ridge. Below that was a series of ^e valley until the aircraft had
gained enough speed so that he
could rotate "Gertrude's nose"
toward the direction of flight.
agencies cannot
will cease to
of function unless we help.
Remember give friendly give
lift
about 15 off the groun(j.
With
nnse still pointing
aircraft nose
into the wind he slowly backed
0ff
the pinnacle and down into
Before them was a 12500 ft.
ridge and it seemed as if did
W it as in
contemptuously as "Gertrude"
climbed to 12600 feet and made
her way to Three Rivers
intersection where a Navy flat
bed tractor trailor was awaiting
the load.
Mathews brought her in and
set the Huey on the mattresses
piled on the flat bed. The drop
was perfect requiring only the
lash to secure the load.
Monday "Gertrude" and her
"magnificent seven" were on
thier way back to Ft. Hood.
Six Flags
unfit
presents 2 for I
military night.
6 p.m. to midnight SATURDAY OCTOBER 7.
CRACKUP ON MT. WHITNEY—A Navy UH-IN
rescue helicopter lies crashed on the side of Whit­
ney. The helicopter which was from the LeMoore
Naval Air Station Calif. was airlifted off the moun-
Cav. shows its versatility
during Presidential visit
The scope of assignments for
he am a a
workhorse the 227th Avn. Bn is
varied only by the requirements
for each mission. A recent
am of he a a
versatility came about during
President Richard M. Nixon's
visit to the drug inspection
points on the Texas border.
Six aircraft were sent by the
2 2 7 as up or to
Presidential Flight Detachment
four CH47 Chinook cargo
helicopters and two UH-1H
Huey escort choppers. The
Chinooks from "D" Co. under
the supervision of Maj. Ted J.
Two admissions
for the price of one.
All you need is $5.75 and
someone to share the fun with.
You can bring your girl your wife
your mother your kid your father
your brother your sister or even
your first sergeant.
2 for 1 tickets must be
purchased at Six Flags
front gate on October 7
after 6 p.m.
SIX FLAGS'
OVER TEXAS
Midway between Dallas and Fort Worth. Exit Hwy 360 on Dallas-Ft. Worth Turnpike.
'rl
Dolloff carried secret service
personnel and the press. The
escort ships from "B" Co. and
"E" Co. brought secret service
agents into landing zones prior
to the President's arrival to
secure the areas. They also
we he re id
motorcade by air making a
reconnaissance of the route. The
flight of six followed Marine One
an he re id a
helicopters) from Laredo where
Nixon began his tour to Rio
Grande and then to Harlingen
where Air Force One the
of a re id a a
awaited departure.
RID YOUR
HOME OF INSECTS
Friday October 61972
tain with some very delicate flying by a CH-47
Chinook helicopter from the 227th Avn. Bn. 1st
Cav. Div. at Ft. Hood. (U.S. Navy Photo)
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WHETHER IT'S ANTS TERMITES
ROACHES ETC. WE CAN
SOLVE YOUR PEST PROBLEMS.
-ALL WORK GUARANTEED
634-6869
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