PART ONE
Below are all the photos from Part One of Deadliest Day
1.1: 17th AHC Pocket Patch
1.3: Ft. Riley to Stockton
1.4: Photo Credit, Copied from Facebook’s UH-1 Huey Helicopter page.
1.2: 1st Combat Aviation Brigade Shoulder Patch
1.5: James Post, Jerry Fry, and John Rapp
1.6: Delat to Cần Thơ : 286 Miles; Tây Ninh to Vũng Tàu, 124 Miles
1.7: Captain Jerry R. Fry
(Vietnam 1968)
2.1: Operations out of Biên Hòa
3.1: Racetrack Gunship Cover
3.2: F4 Fighter-Bomber (Phantom)
2.2: "Ruonr Ruong" is a remote valley about 30 kilometers south of Phu Bai. During the Vietnam War, it served as a major base camp for the 4th NVA Regiment and as a site for large weapon caches, owing to its dense jungle and surrounding high mountains near the A Shau Valley. Map source: https://www.tom.pilsch.com/Vietnam.html
3.3: UH-1C Gunship
3.4: OH-6 Light Observation Helicopter (LOH)
3.5: Captain Paul H. Davin
3.8: Memorial service to honor those who had given the ultimate sacrifice on the deadliest day, April 4, 1968, and others. From “The Golden Brigade,” by Robert J. Dvorchak.
3.7: Sp/4 Charles D. Bartlett
Black Angel Crew Chief
3.6: C/1/505 Lt. Richard Underwood
4.2: Photo Credit: http://www.174ahc.org This website has good information on UH-1C weapon systems.
4.3: AH-1 Cobra Gunship
7.2: Command Group A/1/501st Airborne Infantry, 101st Airborne Division (Airmobile), March 1969. I am 2nd from the left standing. See Photo Gallery, in Part Two of this book, for information on the others. Part Two also contains the story of A/1/501’s search and clear operation into a heavily booby-trapped area in February and March 1969.
4.1: (L to R) Samuel (Sam) Mallory, Joseph (Joe) Pullen, John (Jonnie) Hughes, and Michael (Mike) Sparks. Sam and Jonnie were my excellent crew chief and gunner. Joe Pullen eventually retired as a Sergeant Major (E9).
5.1: Lt. Fry is standing next to a Lancer UH-1C gunship in October 1967. From this picture, it is clear that the cargo compartment is not very large. What cannot be seen is that the floor space is limited due to ammo boxes attached to the floor. On the night in question, the crew chief, gunner, copilot, and two wounded were in the doorway.
5.2: Combat Damaged Medevac (Dust-Off) Aircraft (498th Medical Company) Photo from the cover of the Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association (VHPA) Aviator Magazine, Issue 37-06, November/December 2018. L-R: Aircraft Commander: Warrant Officer (W.O. Jim Siverd (Dust-off 30); Pilot: W.O. Gene Manning (Dust-off 31); Medic: Specialist Jerry Pask; Crew Chief: unknown.
6.1: Sikorsky CH-54 heavy-lift flying crane
7.1: Jerry's Florida license plate showing the CIB
6.2: Sergeant Jerry R. Fry and Future Commander Allen L. Fry (US Navy Retired)
9.1:Distinguished Service Cross
8.1: Captain Jerry R. Fry
C Company, 2/504 Abn. Inf.
82nd Airborne Division
10.1:The Ivory Coast
10.3: Flying a Congressional Delegation visiting Africa. Bottom left, kneeling, is Navy Commander Larry Coppotelli; I am second from the left, kneeling. The tall gentleman standing is Mr. Hugh G. (Gerry) Hamilton, Jr, Deputy Chief of Mission, American Embassy, Abidjan, Ivory Coast, West Africa. I was honored to have served with both Gerry and Larry. (1992).
10.2: Fry Greeting an Ivorian soldier in the Ivory Coast, 1992
10.4: A ten-day 8,650-mile trip from West Africa to Washington, D.C.
10.6: Col. Guéi and me standing in front of my residence in Abidjan
10.5: Left to right: Larry, Joe, and Jerry
10.7: Gen. Guéi speaks with journalists after making Christmas Eve radio announcement that he had assumed power