John Steinbeck aboard a U.S. Army UH-1B Iroquois helicopter of D Troop, 1st Squadron, 10th Cavalry Regiment, at Pleiku, Vietnam, 7 January 1967. (Newsday)
During 1966–1967, author John Steinbeck was in Vietnam. He wrote a series of dispatches to Newsday which have recently been published as a book, Steinbeck In Vietnam: Dispatches From the War, edited by Thomas E. Barden. University of Virginia Press, 224 pp., $29.95.
On 7 January 1967, Steinbeck was at Pleiku, where he flew aboard a UH-1 Huey helicopter with D Troop, 1st Squadron, 10th Cavalry. He wrote the following about the helicopter pilots:
“I wish I could tell you about these pilots. They make me sick with envy. They ride their vehicles the way a man controls a fine, well-trained quarter horse. They weave along stream beds, rise like swallows to clear trees, they turn and twist and dip like swifts in the evening. I watch their hands and feet on the controls, the delicacy of the coordination reminds me of the sure and seeming slow hands of (Pablo) Casals on the cello. They are truly musicians’ hands and they play their controls like music and they dance them like ballerinas and they make me jealous because I want so much to do it. Remember your child night dream of perfect flight free and wonderful? It’s like that, and sadly I know I never can. My hands are too old and forgetful to take orders from the command center, which speaks of updrafts and side winds, of drift and shift, or ground fire indicated by a tiny puff or flash, or a hit and all these commands must be obeyed by the musicians hands instantly and automatically. I must take my longing out in admiration and the joy of seeing it. Sorry about that leak of ecstasy, Alicia, but I had to get it out or burst.”
Bell UH-1B Iroquois gunship of D Troop, 1st Squadron, 10th Cavalry Regiment, U.S. Army. Vietnam, ca. 1966–1967. (U.S. Army)Author John Steinbeck observes the Vietnam War from a U.S. Army UH-1B “Huey” helicopter. A gunner mans an M60B 7.62 mm machine gun. (Associated Press)
Major Patrick Henry Brady, Medical Service Corps, United States Army. (AMEDD)
The President of the United States in the name of The Congress takes pleasure in presenting the MEDAL OF HONOR to
MAJOR PATRICK HENRY BRADY
Medical Service Corps, United States Army
for service as set forth in the following
Citation:
Major Patrick Henry Brady, Medical Service Corps, United States Army
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty, Maj. Brady distinguished himself while serving in the Republic of Vietnam commanding a UH-1H ambulance helicopter, volunteered to rescue wounded men from a site in enemy held territory which was reported to be heavily defended and to be blanketed by fog. To reach the site he descended through heavy fog and smoke and hovered slowly along a valley trail, turning his ship sideward to blow away the fog with the backwash from his rotor blades. Despite the unchallenged, close-range enemy fire, he found the dangerously small site, where he successfully landed and evacuated 2 badly wounded South Vietnamese soldiers. He was then called to another area completely covered by dense fog where American casualties lay only 50 meters from the enemy. Two aircraft had previously been shot down and others had made unsuccessful attempts to reach this site earlier in the day. With unmatched skill and extraordinary courage, Maj. Brady made 4 flights to this embattled landing zone and successfully rescued all the wounded. On his third mission of the day Maj. Brady once again landed at a site surrounded by the enemy. The friendly ground force, pinned down by enemy fire, had been unable to reach and secure the landing zone. Although his aircraft had been badly damaged and his controls partially shot away during his initial entry into this area, he returned minutes later and rescued the remaining injured. Shortly thereafter, obtaining a replacement aircraft, Maj. Brady was requested to land in an enemy minefield where a platoon of American soldiers was trapped. A mine detonated near his helicopter, wounding 2 crewmembers and damaging his ship. In spite of this, he managed to fly 6 severely injured patients to medical aid. Throughout that day Maj. Brady utilized 3 helicopters to evacuate a total of 51 seriously wounded men, many of whom would have perished without prompt medical treatment. Maj. Brady’s bravery was in the highest traditions of the military service and reflects great credit upon himself and the U.S. Army.
// Richard M. Nixon//
President
Call sign, “Dust Off.” (U.S. Army)
Major General Patrick Henry Brady was born 1 October 1936 at Philip, South Dakota, the son of Michael and LaVona Brady. He attended O’Dea High School, Seattle, Washington, and then graduated from Seattle University with a bachelor’s degree in psychology. As a member of the Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC), he received a commission as a second lieutenant in the Medical Service Corps, United States Army Reserve, 20 March 1959.
On 17 September 1959, 2nd Lieutenant Brady was transferred to the Regular Army, with his date of rank retroactive to 8 April 1959. He was promoted to 1st lieutenant, 8 April 1962. Lieutenant Brady served in Berlin, Germany from 1959 to 1963. Lieutenant Brady was promoted to the rank of captain, Army of the United States (AUS), 8 April 1963. (Brady’s permanent rank in the Regular Army was advanced to captain, 8 April 1966.)
In 1963, Brady was sent to the Army Aviation School at Fort Rucker, Alabama, to be trained as a helicopter pilot. He received his wings in December and the following month was sent to the Republic of Vietnam, assigned to the 57th Medical Detachment (Helicopter Ambulance).
When the unit’s commanding officer was killed in action, Captain Brady assumed command of the 57th’s Detachment A at Sóc Trăng Airfield. After completing his combat tour, Captain Brady was assigned as a helicopter pilot at Fort Benning, Georgia.
Major Patrick Henry Brady in the cockpit of a UH-1 Huey “Dust Off” medical evacuation helicopter, Republic of Vietnam, circa 1968. (VHPA)
Captain Brady was promoted to the rank of major, 3 July 1967. In 1967 he was reassigned to the 54th Medical Detachment (Helicopter Ambulance), 67th Medical Group, 44th Medical Brigade, and after the unit completed training, deployed to Chu Lai, Vietnam. It was while serving with this unit that he flew the missions for which he was awarded the Medal of Honor.
The Medal of Honor was presented to Major Brady by President Richard M. Nixon in a ceremony at The White House, Washington, D.C., 9 October 1969.
President Richard M. Nixon presented the Medal of Honor to four soldiers of the United States Army at The White House, 9 October 1969. Left to right: Sergeant Robert Martin Patterson, Captain James Michael Sprayberry, President Nixon, Captain Jack Howard Jacobs, and Major Patrick Henry Brady. (NBC News)
During two combat tours in Vietnam, Major Brady flew more than 2,000 combat missions and rescued as many as 5,000 wounded soldiers.
Patrick Brady served in the United States Army for thirty-four years, rising to the rank of Major General. Major General Brady has been awarded the Medal of Honor, Distinguished Service Cross, Distinguished Service Medal with oak leaf cluster (two awards), Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit, Distinguished Flying Cross with silver oak leaf cluster (six awards), Bronze Star with one oak leaf cluster (two awards) with “V” Device (“participation in acts of heroism involving conflict with an armed enemy”), Purple Heart, Meritorious Service Medal with two oak leaf clusters (three awards), Air Medal with “V” Device (52 awards), and Army Commendation Medal with oak leaf cluster (two awards).
Major General Patrick Henry Brady, Medical Corps, United States Army
Major General Brady retired in 1983 and lives in Sumner, just south of Auburn, Washington, with his wife, the former Nancy Lee Parsek, whom he met in high school. They have six children. Two are graduates of the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York. A daughter, Meghan Brady, who also graduated from the ROTC unit at Seattle University, served as an officer in the Medical Service Corps with duty in Kosovo and the invasion of Iraq. Captain Brady was awarded the Bronze Star.
Major General Brady and Captain Brady are co-authors of Dead Men Flying: Victory in Vietnam (WND Books, 2012).
Major General Patrick Henry Brady, U.S. Army (retired) with Senator John Cornyn of Texas, as they announce The Dust Off Crews of the Vietnam War Congressional Gold Medal Act, at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, 11 November 2015. (U.S Army)
The Bell Helicopter Co. UH-1H Iroquois (Model 205A-1) is an improved variant of the UH-1D (Model 205), which was itself derived from the UH-1B (Model 204). The type’s initial military designation was HU-1, and this resulted in the helicopter being universally known as the “Huey.”
The UH-1H is a single main rotor/tail rotor medium helicopter powered by a turboshaft engine. It can be flown by a single pilot, but is commonly flown by two pilots in military service. The helicopter has an overall length of 57 feet, 0.67 inches (17.375 meters) with rotors turning. The fuselage is 41 feet, 5 inches (12.624 meters) long. The two blade semi-rigid, under-slung main rotor has a diameter of 48 feet, 3.2 inches (14.712 meters), and turns counter clockwise when viewed from above. (The advancing blade is on the helicopter’s right.) At 100% NR, the main rotor turns 324 r.p.m. The two blade tail rotor assembly has a diameter of 8 feet, 6 inches (2.591 meters). It is on the left side of the pylon in a pusher configuration and turns counter-clockwise as seen from the helicopter’s left. (The advancing blade is above the axis of rotation.) The helicopter has a height of 13 feet, 7.4 inches (4.150 meters), measured to the top of the mast.
A Bell UH-1H helicopter ambulance, Vietnam, 1968. (John Metcalf, “Dustoff 68,” via dustoff.net)
The UH-1H is powered by a Lycoming LTC1K-4 (T53-L-13) turboshaft engine rated at 1,400 shaft horsepower, though it is derated to the helicopter’s transmission limit. The T53-L-13 is a two-shaft free turbine with a 6-stage compressor (5 axial-flow stages, 1 centrifugal-flow stage) and a 4-stage axial-flow turbine (2 high-pressure stages, 2 low-pressure power turbine stages). The T53-L-13 is 3 feet, 11.9 inches (1.217 meters) long, 1 foot, 11.0 inches (0.584 meters) in diameter and weighs 549 pounds (249 kilograms).
The UH-1H has a maximum gross weight of 9,500 pounds (4,309.1 kilograms). Its maximum speed, VNE, is 124 knots (143 miles per hour, 230 kilometers per hour). With full fuel, 206.5 gallons (781.7 liters), the helicopter has a maximum endurance of three hours.
5,345 UH-1H Hueys were built, and many of the earlier UH-1Ds were upgraded to the UH-1H standard.
A Bell UH-1H medevac helicopter landing while ground personnel standby to offload the injured. (Free Republic)
The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, March 3, 1863, has awarded in the name of The Congress the Medal of Honor to
MAJOR BRUCE P. CRANDALL UNITED STATES ARMY for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty:
Rank and Organization: Major, U.S. Army, Company A, 229th Assault Helicopter Battalion, 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile).
Place and dates: Landing Zone X-Ray, Ia Drang Valley, Republic of Vietnam, 14 November 1965.
Place and date of birth: Olympia, Washington, 1933.
Lieutenant Colonel Bruce P. Crandall, United States Army (Retired), received the Medal of Honor in a ceremony at the White House, Washington, D.C., 26 February 2008. (U.S. Army)
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty: Major Bruce P. Crandall distinguished himself by extraordinary heroism as a Flight Commander in the Republic of Vietnam, while serving with Company A, 229th Assault Helicopter Battalion, 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile). On 14 November 1965, his flight of sixteen helicopters was lifting troops for a search and destroy mission from Plei Me, Vietnam, to Landing Zone X-Ray in the Ia Drang Valley. On the fourth troop lift, the airlift began to take enemy fire, and by the time the aircraft had refueled and returned for the next troop lift, the enemy had Landing Zone X-Ray targeted. As Major Crandall and the first eight helicopters landed to discharge troops on his fifth troop lift, his unarmed helicopter came under such intense enemy fire that the ground commander ordered the second flight of eight aircraft to abort their mission. As Major Crandall flew back to Plei Me, his base of operations, he determined that the ground commander of the besieged infantry battalion desperately needed more ammunition. Major Crandall then decided to adjust his base of operations to Artillery Firebase Falcon in order to shorten the flight distance to deliver ammunition and evacuate wounded soldiers. While medical evacuation was not his mission, he immediately sought volunteers and with complete disregard for his own personal safety, led the two aircraft to Landing Zone X-Ray. Despite the fact that the landing zone was still under relentless enemy fire, Major Crandall landed and proceeded to supervise the loading of seriously wounded soldiers aboard his aircraft. Major Crandall’s voluntary decision to land under the most extreme fire instilled in the other pilots the will and spirit to continue to land their own aircraft, and in the ground forces the realization that they would be resupplied and that friendly wounded would be promptly evacuated. This greatly enhanced morale and the will to fight at a critical time. After his first medical evacuation, Major Crandall continued to fly into and out of the landing zone throughout the day and into the evening. That day he completed a total of 22 flights, most under intense enemy fire, retiring from the battlefield only after all possible service had been rendered to the Infantry battalion. His actions provided critical resupply of ammunition and evacuation of the wounded. Major Crandall’s daring acts of bravery and courage in the face of an overwhelming and determined enemy are in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and the United States Army.
Major Bruce Campbell’s Bell UH-1D Iroquois, “Ancient Serpent Six,” departing Landing Zone X-Ray during the Battle of Ia Drang, 14 November 1965. (U.S. Army)
