Sometime after midnight at Tay Ninh, sappers probed the southern perimeter near the main gate. I grabbed my camera and walked along the edge of the runway. As I got closer, artillery flares started and I caught this eerie sight with a 10 sec. time exposure. April 1968


Sketch by Wayne Lincourt

Jim McCollough and Larry Duppestadt hunt for exotic gifts at a sidewalk vendor in downtown Saigon. This stand offered 1:50,000 tactical maps; the same ones we used.

Contrast in Form: A 'Playboys' Cobra idles nearby as 'Stogie 34' takes 5 at the infield at CuChi. The Snakes were bigger, sexier, faster, and carried more bullets....but nothing sounded quite like a C-Model pulling off the bottom at 94 percent, those huge blades booming and clawing the air, the airframe shaking..everyone wondering if the masthead would take it. The C-Model could do medivacs, pick up prisoners, and carry beer and rations as well as two maniacal teenagers known as a Crewchief and Door Gunner. When B Troop began receiving our Cobras in April, the Chief and Gunner sat on the ground....along with their 2 gallon igloo of Kool-Aid.


"Anybody got a paperclip?"...B Troop mechanics Russell Grant and Robert Johnson turn a few wrenches and wipe some chips off the 'detector' magnet. The criteria was that if the chips had fewer than 3 gear teeth..everything was ok. 1971 at Phu Loi. Photo: Bill Dunlap

The 'Stogie' patch..this one from the Troop Maintenance Platoon.The origins of 'Stogie' refer to Major James T. McManus, 1968 Troop CO and his ubiquitous cigar. Photo: Bill Dunlap

A member of the Rifles loads an ugly mix; High Explosive and White Phosphorus 10 lb. warheads. The Rifle Platoon often helped re-arm while waiting for a possible insertion. 1968 at Cu Chi.

A wounded OH 6 gets lifted back to Tay Ninh from Quan Loi when B Troop was attached to the Big Red One for a month in May 1968. Crewchief Dale Barnett directs the pilot from the door of the UH-1H.

All along the Hoc Mon..peaceful and serene...I just thought this was a nice picture, however it belies the amount of violence that took place at the village of Hoc Mon and the canal which are just south of CuChi.


This is the site of B Troop's first encounter with NVA regulars on the 1st day of the Tet Offensive. Don Jones, 'Stogie 16' spotted 200+ NVA here at the Hoc Mon canal, less than 30 minutes into the first mission and the melee was on. All of B Troop's aircraft scrambled; 2 hours and a kazillion rounds of rocket and minigun later, our local FAC, 'Nail 15' showed up with an airstrike and flattened the place with a vengence. It was impressive; calling in a couple F4's was like calling for a taxi.

Sgt. O'Brien recalled his mother's receipe for West Texas Elephant Tail Chili Grande. B Troop Scouts spotted a full grown elephant north of Nui Ba Dien and were directed by the 25th Division to destroy the pachyderm which was obviously being used by NVA as a pack animal. Jim Ingram feigns disinterest. Tay Ninh Jan '68. Photo: Gilbert Garza
Deane McKinney poses next to his UH1-C model gunship that B Troop brought over from Fort Knox in 1967. At that time, the 3/17th Air Cav was one of 3 pioneer units in the "experimental" Air Cavalry concept. Photo: Deane Mckinney