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From Sgt. Grit:
http://www.sgtgrit.com/
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Helen Tenant Hegelheimer
In 1966 and '67 she was a flight attendant for World Airways, one of the civilian airliners that had a government contract to ferry U.S. troops in and out of the war zone.
…Going over, there were usually two legs---Travis Air Force Base to Japan and Japan to Vietnam. From California the troops did a lot of letter writing. Guys would ask me,” Is this a good letter? If you received this, would you wait for me?" At first I read the letters, but they really pulled at your heart, so after a while I would just pretend to read them and say they were perfect. There were always some chatty guys who wanted to talk and if we had any special unit guys----Green Berets or Airborne Rangers---there was a lot of bravado. They spoke proudly of their training, how difficult it was for them not to get "washed out". Over time I realized they weren't trying to impress me as much as they were trying to convince themselves their training would help them.
These were boys destined for combat and they had been told in training what their expected mortality rate was. But most of the guys were pretty quiet. They asked us for alcohol and we said," If the military wanted you to have that they would have put it in the contract."
Since the war I've had lots of vets tell me they were served alcohol, but I don't think so. Maybe the policy changed later in the war, but sometimes people's memories do strange things. When we got to Yokota Air Force Base in Japan we had a crew change. So after a layover, I'd get on another plane with a group of guys I hadn't met who had already been on the plane for 12 hours. We had to kind of feel out the mood. By then they were usually very quiet. It was five hours to Vietnam and five hours back. We called this the Vietnam turnaround. We'd go in and out with minimal ground time. It was the senior stew's position to be at the top of the ramp when the men got off in Vietnam, but nobody wanted that job, nothing disparaging to the other gals, but some just couldn't do it. I never said 'good-bye" or "good luck". I would shake their hand, look them in the eye, smile, and say "See you later". Sometimes I'd say "See you in 12 months". They really wanted somebody to look at them. At the top of the ramp was the world; at the bottom of the ramp was the war. At that moment, at the top of the ramp, I was their wife, their sister, their girlfriend, and for those troops who had no one else--- and there were many---I was their mother.
That was the most important thing I've ever done. I don't think there was one of us who did not want to keep them on the plane. That's why some of the girls were back in the bathrooms crying...We were very aware that we were sending them to war and that some would never come back. Therein lies the guilt. We never showed any emotion in front of the troops but we sure drank a lot when we got back to Japan. We substituted booze for crying.
The first thing we'd ask when we arrived in Vietnam is, "Are we taking troops out?" If you took 165 men in and 165 men out, you really could fool yourself into believing they were all coming home. But in '66 and '67 the war was escalating so we often left Vietnam with an empty plane. There was nothing else to say other than,” They’re not all coming home." It would just slam you right in the face. And when we got back to Japan we drank even heavier.
I've heard stories about guys cheering when the plane took off from Vietnam, but I don't remember any cheering, it was quiet. Pretty soon the captain came on and said, "Gentlemen, we have just cleared Vietnam airspace." (Her voice catches) It still gets to me, it was as if everyone on the plane exhaled. But they still didn't cheer. On the way back we walked down the aisle looking to see which ones might want to talk and which ones you ought to leave alone. You'd just start by asking,"Where are you from?"...I clearly remember thinking, these guys are not going home to their girlfriends and that '55 Chevy they had been working on. Their youth was gone and it showed. You absolutely saw a different look in their eyes on the way home. There were guys who came up to me and said,” I need to talk because I want to practice. I'm afraid I'm going to swear in front of my mother when I get home.”
These boys grew up the same way I did in the 50's. We attended church, we knew right from wrong. I believe they did things in Vietnam that were totally against everything they were brought up with and I'm not talking about the killing... drinking, and maybe drugs, and contact with girls. So they weren't just afraid of swearing in front of their mothers; they were afraid their mothers would be able to tell everything they had done in Vietnam. I think that is a big reason why so many veterans just shut down and wouldn't talk about the war to anyone except someone else that had been there.
Flying in, some guys asked, "How bad are the anti-war demonstrations?" That's the hardest question I've had to answer in my life. I'd say, 'they're bad." There were often protesters at the gates outside Travis. I had to tell these guys that had just served their country to get out of their country's uniform as soon as they could. . If they weren't wearing their uniform then maybe they wouldn't be targeted by the protesters. I didn't like the antiwar movement then and I haven't changed my mind today... They came home so quickly; they had no time to adjust. Some men had just gotten out of combat a few hours before they got on the plane. Before meal service, we'd make sure everyone was awake. We had to be very careful about waking these guys up. If you touched them they'd wake up defending themselves--- arms flying all over the place. We managed to hold them until they realized where they were. It only took a second and we always smiled. They always apologized. "Oh ma'am, I'm sorry, I didn't hurt you did I? We'd try not to make a big deal out of it. Every time we arrived at Travis I was disappointed. I had grown up with WWII movies and everybody had a band or something to welcome them home. At Travis there was absolutely nothing. It was just me at the bottom of the ramp. An ungrateful nation let some 23-year-old stewardess welcome these guys home. That was their only greeting.
Posted : 2004-04-22 22:24
Helen/Freedom Birds
Wally
I have invited this fine lady to participate at our Memorial Service on Memorial Week-end. She will be in town with her Uncle for the WWII Memorial Dedication. She does not know if she will make it or not as the Wall is a hard place for her to go. Helen considers it an honor that we have asked her to participate.
Semper Fi
LZ:)
Posted : 2004-04-22 23:25
Helen
Thank You for careing. Bet if you show up in Reno you will get more thanks and some old chatty guys.
top A
Posted : 2004-04-22 23:30
I just finished reading the letter from Helen, about her experience as a flight attendant, taking us to and from Nam.
That was the most touching and incredible read, I can think of. When I think back, (I mean like way back), I never thought about what it was like for the flight crews, constantly making that trip back forth.
I did two tours, and it is interesting when Helen reminises about the obvious loneliness of the guys or the quiet, and by the way, 4 flights and I never had any alcohol. But, my first trip over, was out of Travis, middle of the night, it was cold, not so much weather wise, just the way we did it. There wasn't a lot of talking on the plane, and it was one long trip.
Just turned 19, right out of NAS Memphis. Helen talks about standing at the top of the gangway, her description was so perfect. From that vantage point, it was the world, at the bottom of the steps, was the war.
The smell, the humidity, the jets, the noise, the confusion. 13 months later, I am back at DaNang waiting on that freedom bird to take us back. Like the trip there, it was quiet, as I remember, for the whole trip, it was pretty quiet.
The second time around, wasn't much different, with one notable exception, this time when the hatch to the aircraft opened, I knew what I would see. If fear stabbed at me the first time, the second time my heart stopped.
I don't really remember all of the details all that well anymore, but there is one thing I do remember. On the second trip, the Stewardess was standing at the top of the gangway, and I could not get one foot in front of the other. I was one of the last out, no point in being in a hurry, it was another 13 months. But, from that "view of the world", I froze. It would have to have been the Stewardess that prompted me to take that step, the step into that all too familiar smell, the humidity, the noise but a little less confusion, because now I knew what the next day had in store.
On my first trip back, in Jan. 69 we we landed at Oakland Airport, and their they were, the hippies, the protesters, the Hari-Kirchnas, they were all over us.
It would really be great if Helen or any of the crews that were our 18 hour family, could be in Reno. It is their dedication and professionalism that we will remember, forever.
My sincere "Thanks", to Helen and all of the fine people who got us home, safely.
S/Sgt. Rick Ault
S/Sgt Rick Ault
VMO-6 '66-'68
HML-367 '69-'70
Posted : 2004-06-26 13:12
I went over in Dec.'69 Norton AFB-Hawaii-Okinawa spent a few days in Okinawa Camp Hauge then an American Airlines charter from Okinawa to Danang. On the way down to Danang one of the flight attendants saw the wings on my uniform, and ask me if I was a pilot. She spent most of the flight sitting next to me asking a lot of questions about being a pilot. Her younger brother had gone through AFROTC in college, and was at that time in flight training to become an Air Force pilot. She seemed very concerned that the war might still be going on when he got his wings.
On my flight out of country in Dec.'70 that same flight attendant was on the flight. I didn't remember her, but she remembered me. I guess it was the cigar. She told me that in all the years she had been making the Okinawa to Danang flights I was the first guy she knew for sure had made it back OK. I ask her about her brother. She told me he had gotten his wings, and the Air Force had sent him to Germany.
Posted : 2004-06-26 15:08
Flight Attendant's~!
It was in Mar of 1969, I was stationed in Hawaii, FMFPac with a wife & four sons. My orders came in for 'VIETNAM'~! It had been 10 years & now my orders for 'VIETNAM' were to be followed. On the plane to Okinawa was no problem, but from Okinawa to Danang it was "strange", it hit me, I was going to war~!
As I pasted by the flight attendent I see in her eyes, the many trips she had made before & asked her "Is it always this hot here?" She said "It get's hotter", see your later.!
I kept thinking to myself; Maybe because I was in Administration I would not be involved in the war, I then I walked down the steps to the ground, THE SMELL, THE SOUNDS, THE FEAR~! It really sank in then, I went into the S-l to check in & some warrant office said "Your going to the DMZ, three miles from North Vietnam, then the fear of the unknown really set in, I boarded a C-130 & landed in Quang Tri for the start of my duties. The rest of the story later.........
**GySgt [J.D.] MACK McKernan {Retired}**
{VMO-6, Quang Tri} **{Mar69-Mar70}**🙂
Posted : 2004-06-26 16:42
