I would think that the squadron would not have been 263, if the date of the mission was in November of '67. HMM-263 had rotated back to the states then, and I believe it was 362 that had relieved it in country. I had been a member of 263 during that transition, and we moved from Chu Lai up to Phu Bai during October '67. We turned over the Chu Lai area to the army, which came in like a herd of water buffalos and stirred up much VC trouble.

I rotated out of country on 10 November (happy Marine Corps Birthday to me!), so I wasn't part of that mission.

I'm sure that there are some 362 members that remember that mission, though, as we were being briefed on it daily, before I left.

Hi Steve,

Thanks for the response. It's been a long time!

I remember that 263 had rotated its colors to the States a week or two before this mission and that the 34s and some crews were assigned to another squadron (I thought it was 364) while they were waiting for their H-46s to arrive. This mission was flown by former members of 263 and I think all of us still thought of ourselves as 263, which is why I phrased it that way. The problem is that I have no memory of who else flew on the mission. As I recall there were 8 263/364 birds involved along with 8 VNAF Kingbees. That was my last mission in country.

Paul Gregoire

Paul:

It certainly has been a long time, and your memory on this is probably better than mine. All I remember for sure is that we were all 'sweating bullets' over this mission, especially us 'short timers.'

Steve

PS - next time I'm up your way (Pac NW?), which will be in the next month or so, I will give you a call.

Paul, I was on the mission you described. I was flying EG 5, crew chief was Mitch Gibbs-no gunner carried and everything possible removed due to weight and unfortunately don't remember who my co-pilot was. Mission out was on 9 Nov and return pickup made 11 Nov according to my log book. As far as I know we were still called 263 but did have some of the other folks involved. I think it was only a few days later that the other squadron id was used. Reason I remember was doing a one wheel landing on the top of the ridgeline [ not the football sized area we supposedly owned], losing an antenna wire off the bottom falling down the hill on the extract because I found the only tree to fly through when the bad guys threw a few rounds our way and I zigged. Got back and had a flat tailwheel in the fuel pits so air taxied back to parking area. Next morning AOM the other skipper chewed everyone about that being an unsafe maneuver and if he ever saw anyone do that he would personally send them out to be a fac with the grunts. Didn't have the brass to ask if air taxiing was so unsafe why was it taught as a basic maneuver at Pensacola and did anyone tell the Huey drivers since that was how they got around. The extract was called on a scramble type note mid-morning and aircraft were assigned. I asked the scheduler if instead we could have the same bird/crew chief as on the insert because we already had our individual briefs in place. Surprise, they did it. By the way, I was 28 1/2 minutes into the 30 min low fuel light when we got back from the extract. Sorry for being so long winded. Anything else I can help with, let me know. Semper Fi Joe Hanner [ aka Hostileman]

Joe,
Great to hear from you! The reason for the post is that I've been in contact with the guy who commanded the Hatchet Force that we took in. In turn, he's been in contact with several other people from other services that were involved, Facs, Jolly Green crews, etc.. It turns out that this mission was one of the largest and most complex ever attempted in Laos. He's hosting a reunion Memorial Day 2006 weekend at his home in Oklahoma. If you'd be interested in attending please contact me at ponga92807@sbcglobal.net. I'd love to see you there.

SF
PG