Rice, Donald, Maj

Best Friends
Maj. Jay Huber
Maj. Wesley Rhodes
Maj. Joseph Harrop - deceased
Maj. Ron Vargo
Capt. Grant Reed Waugh - deceased, air crash Cam Rahn Bay

Best Moment
Successful emergency airdrop at Hiep Duc to 500 ARVN troops surrounded by enemy forces. The troops and their American Advisors had been trapped on a small rise in Hiep Duc Valley for eight days. They had numerous casulties and were running out of supplies. There was steep terrain on the east, south and north sides of the valley. The base of the valley was a little over a mile wide and about four to five miles in length. The drop zone where the troops were located was only a couple of hundred yards wide and about 200 to 300 yards in length and situated at the east end of the valley. The obvious approach to the drop zone was to come in from the west at 500 ft., make the drop and do a tight climbing turn to the north to prevent running into the high terrain at the east end. Unfortunately the NVA was very much aware of this and had their guns positioned on the adjacent hill sides and at the west entry way into the valley. The day prior to our airdrop, two of our units C-123's had attempted to make an airdrop to the troops and took heavy ground fire damaging one aircraft, wounding the pilot and navigator. Both aircraft missed the drop zone and to prevent the supplies from being recovered by the NVA, Navy aircraft destroyed their drop with napalm.
The next day I was assigned as lead aircraft and the number two aircraft in our flight was flown by Maj. Robert Walton from the 312th Airlift Sqd. The navigator and coordinator for the airdrop on my crew was Maj. Ben Swett, Wing Navigator. We left Phan Rang early in the morning and flew to Chu Lai where supplies were onloaded for the airdrop. While our aircraft were being loaded and refueled, we met with the FAC assigned to the area who would be in contact with the ground forces and mark the target for us on our approach. The FAC briefed us on the NVA gun emplacements, the terrain and location of the drop zone. The FAC reported that when he departed the area, the weather was 1,000 ft ceiling and two miles visibilty. Maj. Swett had spent considerable time preplanning the mission and recommended rather than flying into the valley from the west, we should make our approach from the south east descending thru the clouds into the valley to a point two miles west of the drop zone. This would put us in a position to make a 90 degree right turn into the drop area. After the drop, we would make a tight climbing left turn to clear the east and north walls of the valley. This approach would give us less exposure to ground fire. Maj. Walton was to follow two minutes behind us and use our chutes as a guide and aim point to the drop zone in the event we were off on our drop.
Both aircraft departed Chu Lai and we climbed to 8,000 ft. and proceeded to Hiep Duc which was about 45 miles NW of Chu Lai. Cloud layer topped out at 6,000 ft. Our FAC who was flying an O -1, had taken off a few minutes prior to our departure so was on station when we arrived in the area. Maj. Swett took a final fix on a river bed then started his timing for our point of descent. When over the descent point we started down at 1,500 ft per minute on a heading into our turn point. We entered the clouds at 6,000 ft and at 500 ft. we were in and out of the clouds with heavy rain. We continued our descent to 300 ft arriving at our turn point to the drop zone. As we started our turn, the FAC marked the target and reported we were taking ground fire. At the turn point Maj. Swett started his timing for the drop and 30 seconds after rolling out we made the pull up to jettison our four pallets. Within 3 to 5 seconds following the pull up maneuver, our loadmaster reported "Load Clear", we started our tight left climbing turn. Within 200 ft., we were back in the clouds. Holding a 45 deg. bank turn and pitch attitude that rode the stall envelope, we cleared the east and north wall of the valley by about 500 ft. During the turn our FAC reported "Bulls Eye, all eight pallets on target". I thought to myself, what the hell is he talking about, we only dropped four pallets. When breaking out of the clouds at 6,000 ft. a crew member reported "Number Two Man on our right wing". I looked out the right side and there tucked in behind our right wing was Maj. Walton. After we landed at DaNang for debriefing, I approached Maj. Walton and said "Bob, I thought the plan was that you would come in two minutes behind me." He looked at me and replied, "You know Don, that weather was just so dam stinky, I don't think we would have ever found the drop zone, so I just joined up on your wing and followed you in." Now that's what I call a pilots pilot. He hung in there thru a lot of tight maneuvering and in some real crappy weather.
On our flight back to Phan Rang, I reflected on the mission and attributed our success to team work and professionalism of the flight crews, coordination from our FAC and those trapped on the ground. I also have to mention the night before this mission I did a lot of praying and those prayers were answered. The weather encountered reduced our exposure time to ground fire and neither of our aircraft took a hit. Then there was the element of surprise coming in from the southeast meant descending over high terrain in the clouds which I'm sure the NVA did not expect. Last and most important was the lives of 500 men were spared that day.

Worst Moment
Taking a mortar round about 40 yds in front of my aircraft during lift off at Bu Dop a forward operating base on the Cambodian border. There was considerable sharpnel damage to the aircraft; but we were able to make an emergency landing at Bien Hoa.

Other Memories
1. Airlifting a plane load of refugees out of Ban Lung Cambodia to Pleiku. The loadmaster could not control the number of people who rushed the aircraft when the loading ramp was dropped. The refugees were jammed in from the front bulk head going up to the cockpit to the rear of the aircraft. Over the interphone I asked our Loadmaster how many bodies did we have onboard? His response was "I couldn't count them but it shouldn't be a problem as they are little people and not a one of them weights more than 90 pounds". It was a long takeoff roll and a slow climb out, but the Good Lord lifted our wings and we flew.
On board our aircraft was Col. John T. Parrish, Vice Wing Commander. While on the ground at Ban Lung he had exited the aircraft and surveyed the landing strip. Weather conditions were low clouds and heavy rain. The landing strip was less than 3,000 ft in length and though it had some contour and was penna prime covered, there were areas of standing water . With the given weather conditions and short runway, Col. Parrish, considered the mission to dangerous for C-123 operations .
When we arrived at Pleiku the Loadmaster told me we had about 200 refugees on board. In the C-123K, personnel load limits for transporting U.S. Army or Marine personnel was limited to 85 bodies with their combat gear or 100 Veitnamese (ARVN) troops with combat gear. Needless to say we over the recommended max gross weight when taking off from Ban Lung.
Over the years I have reflected on this mission many times and I know without a doubt the Holy Spirit was with us that day. I often wonder of the 200 people we airlifted out of harms way on that mission survived and what about their offspring and generations that have followed. I'm sure God had a plan.