View Full Version : Evacuation of Viet Nam 1975
Greg DaSilva
06-16-03, 09:24 PM
VA-93 Roof Rats 1973-75
Hey, any of you guys out there Evacuate Nam with us? I hear that several of our crew has passed away! Drop a line!
Greg DaSilva:)
Pistol Pete
06-16-03, 10:11 PM
I'm in Tulsa and knew a guy years back that said he was part of the evac (Army). His name is Mike Roberson. He said his last flight was to the Ranger and after they clear the craft, it was shoved overboard, along with others.
A lot of helos were pitched over the side during evacuation of Saigon, aka Operation Frequent Wind. This was also when a South Vietnamese Col landed a Cessna O-1 Birddog on the Midway... with his family onboard. Pretty amazing feat. I have pics of Operation Frequent Wind here. (http://cv41.org/ship.html#ofw) There are also some at:
Eagle - Pull (not me) (http://www.usskawishiwi.org/Vietnam/Eagle-Pull.html)
When all this started I was on leave in Japan looking at Cherry Blossoms. All the hops between Japan and Clark/Subic were canceled so I had to fly from Tokyo to Manila. From there took a taxi to Subic. The driver passed on all sides of the road including the dirt fields. Scared the hell out of me.
By the time I arrived in Subic the Midway had been sent to help with the evacuation so I was stuck setting up Grandy Island. Even helped the first few boat loads when they arrived.
On the second day we were placed on a supply ship that was scheduled to meet the Midway. Once in sight there seemed to be hundreds of helos trying to land. Being evening the skipper of the supply ship darken the external lights keeping the helos from landing on his ship.
Next morning we were flown to the Midway. My forward birthing area had been taken over by the refugees and all my belonging stored in the NTDS computer room. We slept on there until we return to subic.
What was the name of the ship taken over by the Cambodians? The Midway we sent to help free it shortly after the evacuation. :what:
Greg DaSilva
01-06-04, 03:12 PM
Hey Barry,
the name of the ship was the Mayaguez. That was insane! I recall the Marines from Okinawa that we had on board jumped over the side of our ship onto the Mayaguez and 20 minutes later their flag came down and ours went up.
I remember when the choppers started arriving, the XO and the chief MAA always looked like they weren't enjoying themselves. I think the XO went down to the armory to get a sidearm and they wouldn't give him one. Then he threw a hissy fit and finally got one. The second night of the evacuation the sky at night had so many aircraft in the area it looked like L.A. International airport. The meals they were serving the Vietnamese in the forward mess deck was so much better than we were getting. Before the evacuation, I was sitting at my table on the mess decks with one of the Air Force guys and he was raving about how great our chow was. The Air Force must have pretty bad chow.
Hey Gary94, would you be interested in talking to someone that's writing a book on Frequent Wind? Let me know and I'll pass you his e-mail.
Eagle3, sure why not.
Gary,
Sent you a private message with the details.
NayVBrat
08-21-04, 01:55 AM
My father was there. Ray Carter. He is alive and well, living near NAS Memphis. If anyone wants contact info, let me know privately.
mulletdc
09-13-04, 05:22 PM
Hey Gary94, would you be interested in talking to someone that's writing a book on Frequent Wind? Let me know and I'll pass you his e-mail.
I wasn't there for the evac, but joined HC-1 Det 2 in July afterwards. I do have a copy of a special edition of the Spectrum, a sort of mimeographed magazine put together by the Journalists of the Midway's PAO. It was a special edition because it covered Frequent Wind
I've been thinking about donating it to the Museum, but haven't gotten around to contacting them, yet. I want to digitize it before I do. I was thinking maybe this guy writing the book might want a copy.
ttprince
09-13-04, 06:34 PM
I wasn't there for the evac, but joined HC-1 Det 2 in July afterwards. I do have a copy of a special edition of the Spectrum, a sort of mimeographed magazine put together by the Journalists of the Midway's PAO. It was a special edition because it covered Frequent Wind
I've been thinking about donating it to the Museum, but haven't gotten around to contacting them, yet. I want to digitize it before I do. I was thinking maybe this guy writing the book might want a copy.
Spectrum Special Edition, Vol. 1, No. 3
Operation FREQUENT WIND ~ April 1975
To save you a little time, a scanned copy of this special edtion of Spectrum is already on MidwaySailor.com (http://www.midwaysailor.com/midwaymemorabilia/newsletter.html) ... look towards the middle of the page of that link and you'll find each page scanned separately.
I wasn't there for the evac, but joined HC-1 Det 2 in July afterwards. I do have a copy of a special edition of the Spectrum, a sort of mimeographed magazine put together by the Journalists of the Midway's PAO. It was a special edition because it covered Frequent Wind
I've been thinking about donating it to the Museum, but haven't gotten around to contacting them, yet. I want to digitize it before I do. I was thinking maybe this guy writing the book might want a copy.
Hey Mulltdc. I'll send you a private message about this.
Eagle3
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