WEBVTT 1 00:00:12.080 --> 00:00:16.519 Welcome to Veterans Chronicles. I'm Greg Corumbus. Our guest in 2 00:00:16.519 --> 00:00:21.000 this edition is retired US Army Lieutenant Colonel Bruce mckentee. 3 00:00:21.039 --> 00:00:23.879 He served twenty one years in uniform, and he is 4 00:00:23.920 --> 00:00:27.079 also a veteran of the Vietnam War, where he flew 5 00:00:27.160 --> 00:00:31.440 Cobra attack helicopters. He was also shot down by an 6 00:00:31.519 --> 00:00:35.920 enemy SA seven heat seeking missile and barely escaped with 7 00:00:36.000 --> 00:00:40.240 his life in nineteen seventy two. We'll hear that story 8 00:00:40.560 --> 00:00:44.359 and how he was rescued in great detail in today's podcast. 9 00:00:45.000 --> 00:00:48.039 We'll also learn all about the cobras and what types 10 00:00:48.079 --> 00:00:52.159 of missions he was flying over Vietnam. Bruce mckentye was 11 00:00:52.159 --> 00:00:55.240 born into an army family, and he says his path 12 00:00:55.280 --> 00:00:58.359 from being the son of an officer to an ROTC 13 00:00:58.520 --> 00:01:03.000 cadet to becoming a career Army officer seemed natural from 14 00:01:03.079 --> 00:01:04.400 a very early age. 15 00:01:04.719 --> 00:01:07.519 I was born into the Army. My father was a 16 00:01:07.640 --> 00:01:11.280 World War Two, Korean War, and Vietnam veteran. He served 17 00:01:11.319 --> 00:01:15.000 thirty one years in the field artillery. I grew up 18 00:01:15.560 --> 00:01:19.799 in the military environment and enjoyed it. I went to 19 00:01:19.879 --> 00:01:23.319 high school. I went to school all over the United States, 20 00:01:23.359 --> 00:01:25.760 and I went to high school in France. So that's 21 00:01:25.760 --> 00:01:28.519 a pretty good start in life. Go to high school 22 00:01:28.519 --> 00:01:31.640 in Paris, France. How many people can do that. I 23 00:01:31.680 --> 00:01:34.799 went to college at Texas A and University, and I 24 00:01:34.840 --> 00:01:39.200 went there strictly to obtain a commission in the United 25 00:01:39.239 --> 00:01:42.480 States Army. I was planning to be a career officer 26 00:01:42.799 --> 00:01:46.840 ever since high school. So I completed Texas A and 27 00:01:47.040 --> 00:01:52.680 M in nineteen seventy graduated, and I went to went 28 00:01:52.719 --> 00:01:56.640 into my Officer Basic course. I was a Field Artillery 29 00:01:56.640 --> 00:02:00.719 officer on active duty, but I was also obligated to 30 00:02:00.719 --> 00:02:03.239 go to flight school because I went through the ROTWC 31 00:02:03.400 --> 00:02:05.719 flight program at Texas. 32 00:02:05.480 --> 00:02:06.000 A and M. 33 00:02:06.560 --> 00:02:10.639 In January of nineteen seventy one, I went to my 34 00:02:10.719 --> 00:02:15.960 Officer Basic course at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, completed that. I 35 00:02:16.000 --> 00:02:18.199 had four months to wait until I could go to 36 00:02:18.199 --> 00:02:21.439 flight school. So I was an OCAs tack officer and 37 00:02:21.560 --> 00:02:27.719 the local officer candidate school battalion and as a tack 38 00:02:27.800 --> 00:02:30.159 officer until I went to flight school, and I think 39 00:02:30.199 --> 00:02:34.639 it started in April of nineteen seventy one. Went to 40 00:02:35.120 --> 00:02:39.280 Fort Walters, Texas, where I went through ULSER Primary Helicopter School, 41 00:02:39.319 --> 00:02:43.319 in the THH fifty five helicopter, and I really enjoyed 42 00:02:43.319 --> 00:02:46.599 that because I went to school in Texas, I felt 43 00:02:46.599 --> 00:02:50.479 like I was right at home. So that was a 44 00:02:50.520 --> 00:02:56.439 four month course, I believe. Once we completed that, we 45 00:02:56.479 --> 00:03:01.680 went to Fort Rucker, Alabama for our advanced helicopter training, 46 00:03:02.120 --> 00:03:06.840 which we did instrument training, we did contact training, and 47 00:03:07.240 --> 00:03:09.800 to learn how to fly the UH one helicopter, which 48 00:03:09.840 --> 00:03:11.919 was the basic workhorse of the army. 49 00:03:12.080 --> 00:03:16.199 Mckentie completed flight school in April of nineteen seventy two, 50 00:03:16.240 --> 00:03:18.840 and soon he was off to Vietnam as an attack 51 00:03:18.960 --> 00:03:22.439 helicopter pilot, specifically in cobras. 52 00:03:22.800 --> 00:03:28.240 It's an H one G Cobra attack helicopter made by 53 00:03:28.280 --> 00:03:34.759 bel Helicopter was made and made and fielid into the 54 00:03:34.879 --> 00:03:39.599 Army in nineteen sixty seven. Was built strictly as an 55 00:03:39.639 --> 00:03:45.039 attack helicopter. He was the first helicopter to be built 56 00:03:45.080 --> 00:03:50.280 just as an attack helicopter. Tandem seating front and back seat, 57 00:03:50.599 --> 00:03:54.800 fully closed canopy just like a jet a fighter jet 58 00:03:55.479 --> 00:03:58.919 had air conditioning. Because it was a closed canopy, that 59 00:03:59.000 --> 00:04:00.719 was a nice feature Vietnam. 60 00:04:01.080 --> 00:04:04.240 It's only three feet wide. The fuse launch. It was 61 00:04:04.919 --> 00:04:07.120 a very unique helicopter. 62 00:04:07.240 --> 00:04:08.960 I decided that if I was going to go to 63 00:04:09.039 --> 00:04:10.919 Vietnam and get shot at, I wanted to be in 64 00:04:10.960 --> 00:04:14.319 something that could shoot back, and this could do the job. 65 00:04:14.479 --> 00:04:16.639 McKenty just explained a bit at the end of that 66 00:04:16.720 --> 00:04:19.720 last response why he loved flying the Cobra so much, 67 00:04:20.360 --> 00:04:23.079 the weaponry, and he told us quite a bit more 68 00:04:23.120 --> 00:04:26.680 about the power the Cobra could unleash upon an enemy. 69 00:04:26.920 --> 00:04:29.199 Well special about it as it had a lot of 70 00:04:29.240 --> 00:04:34.720 weapons on it. There were multiple configurations that you could 71 00:04:34.759 --> 00:04:37.600 put on that aircraft, from the two point seven to 72 00:04:37.600 --> 00:04:42.240 five inch fold in fen Areo rocket at seven point 73 00:04:42.279 --> 00:04:48.000 six two millimeter miniguns at a forty milimeter grenade launcher automatic. 74 00:04:48.839 --> 00:04:51.480 I forget the rate of fire for the forty millimeters, 75 00:04:51.519 --> 00:04:54.199 but it was it was something like four hundred rounds 76 00:04:54.240 --> 00:04:59.240 a minute or something, and the miniguns were two thousand 77 00:04:59.319 --> 00:05:03.560 or four thousand rounds per minute you could fire. And 78 00:05:03.600 --> 00:05:06.639 the rockets they went on the rocket pods and the 79 00:05:06.639 --> 00:05:11.079 wing stores, and you had eighteen shot rocket pods and 80 00:05:11.240 --> 00:05:15.399 seven shot rocket pods, so you had indoor pods and 81 00:05:15.519 --> 00:05:19.439 you were which were normally the heavier pods, which were 82 00:05:19.480 --> 00:05:24.480 the eighteen shot rocket pods and M two hundred I 83 00:05:24.480 --> 00:05:26.639 think it was called, and then they had M one 84 00:05:26.800 --> 00:05:30.240 five eight pods, which were the seven shot rocket pods 85 00:05:30.240 --> 00:05:31.000 on the outboard. 86 00:05:31.360 --> 00:05:34.800 Mkenty also says the Cobra had good speed and could 87 00:05:34.839 --> 00:05:37.399 stay in the air for quite a while before needing 88 00:05:37.560 --> 00:05:38.279 to refuel. 89 00:05:39.199 --> 00:05:42.040 The top speed was about one hundred and eighty miles 90 00:05:42.040 --> 00:05:45.240 an hour in the one hundred and eighty. 91 00:05:45.079 --> 00:05:46.720 Knots nautica miles per hour. 92 00:05:47.480 --> 00:05:51.000 The fuel range was about two and a half hours, 93 00:05:51.439 --> 00:05:55.199 and we normally, you know, flew for about two hours 94 00:05:55.240 --> 00:05:58.480 two hours fifteen minutes before we returned to the station 95 00:05:58.639 --> 00:05:59.079 for fuel. 96 00:05:59.439 --> 00:06:02.199 By the time McKenty went to Vietnam, much of the 97 00:06:02.240 --> 00:06:06.160 American public and especially people his age, had soured on 98 00:06:06.240 --> 00:06:09.800 the war effort, but McKenty says he was laser focused 99 00:06:09.800 --> 00:06:12.959 on training and getting ready for the duty that he 100 00:06:13.040 --> 00:06:13.959 knew would be coming. 101 00:06:14.240 --> 00:06:17.759 Well, I went to a military school, Texas Stadem, although 102 00:06:17.800 --> 00:06:21.759 it's not a military academy, at a pretty strong military school, 103 00:06:21.839 --> 00:06:23.519 just like the Citadel and VMI. 104 00:06:24.759 --> 00:06:27.399 So everybody's pretty gung ho. 105 00:06:27.879 --> 00:06:35.000 Military were very patriotic, and we did what our president. 106 00:06:34.600 --> 00:06:35.160 Told us to do. 107 00:06:35.560 --> 00:06:41.079 So I had no doubt that once I completed helicopter 108 00:06:41.160 --> 00:06:45.120 training and I was going to Vietnam, although most of 109 00:06:45.120 --> 00:06:48.360 my class de duct out of Vietnam, because it was 110 00:06:49.240 --> 00:06:52.759 at that point in the Vietnam that they were starting 111 00:06:52.800 --> 00:06:58.720 to stand down the military divisions and ground troops and 112 00:06:58.800 --> 00:06:59.600 sending them home. 113 00:07:00.240 --> 00:07:02.839 In fact, when I arrived. 114 00:07:02.360 --> 00:07:07.759 In Vietnam, there were a very very few ground troops there. 115 00:07:08.079 --> 00:07:11.480 When he arrived in Vietnam, McKenty became very aware of 116 00:07:11.560 --> 00:07:14.680 certain things that were very different than they were back home. 117 00:07:15.360 --> 00:07:18.360 From the climate, to the enemy threats, to the general 118 00:07:18.399 --> 00:07:22.079 condition of the country. He immediately knew he was in 119 00:07:22.120 --> 00:07:23.040 a whole new world. 120 00:07:23.399 --> 00:07:25.720 What impressed me it was very very hot, It was 121 00:07:25.839 --> 00:07:28.639 very very human. He broke out into a sweat as 122 00:07:28.639 --> 00:07:31.959 soon as you got off the airplane. We're all in 123 00:07:32.000 --> 00:07:37.959 our lightweight tw uniforms, and it was instant sweat as 124 00:07:37.959 --> 00:07:39.720 soon as you walked down the ramp. 125 00:07:41.680 --> 00:07:46.720 What really stuck with me was riding in. 126 00:07:46.959 --> 00:07:51.600 We got on a bus to ride to a processing center, 127 00:07:52.360 --> 00:07:56.839 and as your driver down the bus had had like 128 00:07:57.000 --> 00:08:01.199 a wire on the on the windows. It was like 129 00:08:01.240 --> 00:08:05.279 a chain link fence on all the windows. So and 130 00:08:05.480 --> 00:08:06.920 I've tried to figure. 131 00:08:06.600 --> 00:08:07.920 Out what that was all about. 132 00:08:07.959 --> 00:08:11.120 And the guy goes to grenades, so grenades don't get 133 00:08:11.160 --> 00:08:13.560 in the bus and go off, they hit the screen 134 00:08:13.639 --> 00:08:18.000 and bounce out. So that plus, when we got into 135 00:08:18.040 --> 00:08:22.199 a civilian part of the country, all the structures that 136 00:08:22.319 --> 00:08:25.360 I could see there were so many just old tin 137 00:08:25.480 --> 00:08:29.560 roofs and they were arrested, and just pieces of metal 138 00:08:29.680 --> 00:08:33.600 that don't even match covering the tops of the rous 139 00:08:33.639 --> 00:08:36.000 and I was just amazed. 140 00:08:36.279 --> 00:08:40.879 I mean, my father spent a couple of tours in Europe. 141 00:08:41.000 --> 00:08:43.120 I went to high school in France and never saw 142 00:08:43.159 --> 00:08:47.200 anything like that, so that was quite shocking. 143 00:08:47.639 --> 00:08:50.559 Mkenty didn't go up in the Cobra immediately, he says, 144 00:08:50.600 --> 00:08:53.519 for a short time. Other duties took up his time. 145 00:08:53.919 --> 00:08:57.759 I actually stayed they called it Camp Alpha, which is 146 00:08:57.840 --> 00:09:00.480 right there in Saigon, and stayed there a couple of 147 00:09:00.519 --> 00:09:04.279 days until they decided which unit that I was going to. 148 00:09:04.960 --> 00:09:07.039 I don't know how they made those decisions. All he 149 00:09:07.120 --> 00:09:10.759 knew was I was a cob rated commissioned officer and 150 00:09:11.679 --> 00:09:15.399 so they were limited. I couldn't go to just any 151 00:09:15.399 --> 00:09:19.159 helicopter unit. I had to go like an aerial field 152 00:09:19.240 --> 00:09:22.639 arty unit or to an air cavalry unit. Where they 153 00:09:22.639 --> 00:09:27.080 had Cobra helicopters. So I just sat there and waited. 154 00:09:27.320 --> 00:09:29.919 I wanted to go to the first calve. I ended 155 00:09:30.000 --> 00:09:32.799 up in the first calve, so I was very happy. 156 00:09:32.559 --> 00:09:35.159 When it was time to fly. Mkenty says he was 157 00:09:35.279 --> 00:09:38.639 very confident in his skills, but was keenly aware he 158 00:09:38.679 --> 00:09:42.279 had never used them in combat, so he learned everything 159 00:09:42.320 --> 00:09:44.919 he could from the more experienced pilots. 160 00:09:45.159 --> 00:09:47.279 No, I was focused on learning my job. 161 00:09:47.679 --> 00:09:50.240 I was I knew how to fly the alicopter and 162 00:09:51.080 --> 00:09:55.480 did really know how to perform the mission of an 163 00:09:55.519 --> 00:09:59.919 air cavalry troop. So I concentrated on trying to learn 164 00:10:00.080 --> 00:10:03.360 from the experienced The aircraft commander that I was flying 165 00:10:03.399 --> 00:10:07.360 with cover is a two person helicopter. You have an 166 00:10:07.399 --> 00:10:11.799 aircraft commander who is a rated pilot in the back seat. 167 00:10:12.080 --> 00:10:17.480 He flies the aircraft and controls the winging, stores all 168 00:10:17.519 --> 00:10:21.720 the rocket firing. Then you have a front seat who 169 00:10:21.759 --> 00:10:27.080 was also a rated pilot, and he has controls up 170 00:10:27.120 --> 00:10:30.679 there that he could fly the aircraft, and he can 171 00:10:31.039 --> 00:10:33.279 yes switches that he could take over, and he could 172 00:10:33.320 --> 00:10:36.720 fire rockets that he could fire machine gun in forty 173 00:10:36.759 --> 00:10:43.519 millimeter either see could do that, but the aircraft commander 174 00:10:43.600 --> 00:10:45.480 sat in the back, and he's the guy that has 175 00:10:45.519 --> 00:10:50.360 all the experience. He's been there probably in country five 176 00:10:50.440 --> 00:10:53.279 or six months already, and he's now the aircraft commander. 177 00:10:53.320 --> 00:10:54.960 And I'm a pilot. 178 00:10:55.080 --> 00:11:00.000 I'm a pilot copilot gunner, and so I learned from 179 00:11:00.120 --> 00:11:02.720 him the mission of the air cavalry and how to 180 00:11:04.279 --> 00:11:08.879 navigate across that strange land. I mean a lot of 181 00:11:08.960 --> 00:11:19.639 jungle of bryce patties and mountains or pretty diverse terrain 182 00:11:20.279 --> 00:11:24.320 to learn how to navigate around. And I learned how 183 00:11:24.360 --> 00:11:28.600 to when we were out in free fire areas. You know, 184 00:11:28.679 --> 00:11:32.600 we'd do some target practice on trees or something, just 185 00:11:32.759 --> 00:11:38.240 learning the fire better when we weren't actually looking for 186 00:11:38.279 --> 00:11:39.000 the bad guys. 187 00:11:39.720 --> 00:11:43.360 That's retired US Army Lieutenant Colonel Bruce McEntee. He's also 188 00:11:43.480 --> 00:11:47.080 a Vietnam veteran who was wounded twice while serving as 189 00:11:47.080 --> 00:11:50.720 a Cobra attack helicopter pilot. One of those times he 190 00:11:50.840 --> 00:11:55.000 was also shot down. That story and the dramatic rescue 191 00:11:55.039 --> 00:11:58.759 that followed are straight ahead. I'm Greg Corumbus, and this 192 00:11:59.320 --> 00:12:01.080 is Veterans Chronicles. 193 00:12:01.000 --> 00:12:02.639 Sixty Seconds of Service. 194 00:12:02.960 --> 00:12:05.360 This sixty Seconds of Service is presented by T. 195 00:12:05.519 --> 00:12:05.879 Mobile. 196 00:12:06.120 --> 00:12:09.080 T mobile offers exclusive discounts for a veteran and military 197 00:12:09.080 --> 00:12:12.600 families and are proud supporters of the National Defense Network. 198 00:12:12.799 --> 00:12:15.960 Visit tmobile dot com slash military to learn more about 199 00:12:15.960 --> 00:12:19.519 how they support our military community and Indiana ambulance service 200 00:12:19.559 --> 00:12:22.519 providers trying to address shortages and look out for veterans 201 00:12:22.519 --> 00:12:26.000 at the same time. Transcare's new training program aims to 202 00:12:26.000 --> 00:12:30.159 do two things. First, addressed to EMS personnel shortage. Second, 203 00:12:30.200 --> 00:12:33.440 provide veterans and recently transitioned service members and easier return 204 00:12:33.480 --> 00:12:36.799 to civilian life. The intent is to help veterans understand 205 00:12:37.159 --> 00:12:39.960 that there are occupations out there they may have not considered. 206 00:12:40.159 --> 00:12:44.120 The company usually provides transports between hospital facilities, but Operation 207 00:12:44.240 --> 00:12:47.120 EMS is part of their effort to train and certify 208 00:12:47.480 --> 00:12:51.639 emergency medical technicians and paramedics. Today's sixty Seconds of Service 209 00:12:51.720 --> 00:12:54.559 is brought to you by Prevagen. Prevagen is the number 210 00:12:54.600 --> 00:12:58.240 one pharmacist recommended memory support brand. You can find Prevagen 211 00:12:58.279 --> 00:13:00.799 and the Vitamin Aisle in stores everywhere. 212 00:13:00.960 --> 00:13:05.039 This is Veterans Chronicles. I'm Greg Corumba's. Our guest in 213 00:13:05.039 --> 00:13:08.639 this edition is retired US Army Lieutenant Colonel and Cobra 214 00:13:08.679 --> 00:13:13.200 Attack helicopter pilot Bruce mckentie, who now begins the story 215 00:13:13.240 --> 00:13:16.720 of how he was shot down over Vietnam in nineteen 216 00:13:16.799 --> 00:13:17.399 seventy two. 217 00:13:17.879 --> 00:13:21.559 That day I was flying with Bobby Reinhardt. He was 218 00:13:21.600 --> 00:13:25.559 a CW two experience. He's probably about seven or eight 219 00:13:25.600 --> 00:13:29.279 years older than I am and had probably about tener. 220 00:13:29.120 --> 00:13:30.240 Eleven years of the army. 221 00:13:30.960 --> 00:13:35.519 The other helicopter was combated by CW two Bob Minette. 222 00:13:35.600 --> 00:13:38.399 We call him Buffalo Bob, and one of my best 223 00:13:38.440 --> 00:13:41.799 friends to this day. He was on his second tour. 224 00:13:41.919 --> 00:13:44.799 He was also one of the instructor pilots of the Cobra. 225 00:13:45.639 --> 00:13:48.480 Very experienced, and I had a lot of flights with him. 226 00:13:49.200 --> 00:13:53.480 And his front seat was First Lieutenant Danny Buddha, another 227 00:13:53.799 --> 00:13:56.440 new guy like me, right out of flight school, first 228 00:13:56.480 --> 00:14:01.840 tour in Vietnam, and then Wally Wall He was a 229 00:14:02.360 --> 00:14:05.879 City of B two and he he was an experienced 230 00:14:06.240 --> 00:14:10.000 helicopter pilot and he was on his second tour. He 231 00:14:10.159 --> 00:14:15.600 was flying the six Alpha, which is their scout helicopter. 232 00:14:16.919 --> 00:14:20.600 So and George Hewlett was the troop commander, and First 233 00:14:20.600 --> 00:14:22.759 Lieutenant Jefferies was the. 234 00:14:23.240 --> 00:14:25.759 Co pilot for the. 235 00:14:25.000 --> 00:14:28.799 Command and Control ship and they we all took off. 236 00:14:29.720 --> 00:14:35.039 We were flying in the Razorback Mountains, which was in 237 00:14:35.080 --> 00:14:40.559 between the city of Tannin in the Tetan province and 238 00:14:40.559 --> 00:14:41.840 in the Cambodian border. 239 00:14:42.080 --> 00:14:43.320 Up around the parents. 240 00:14:43.080 --> 00:14:48.159 Beat kind of low mountainous, not big high mountains there 241 00:14:48.840 --> 00:14:52.159 a couple thousand feet first of all, the C and 242 00:14:52.200 --> 00:14:54.679 C ship gets up around four thousand feet where he 243 00:14:54.679 --> 00:14:56.720 could get sight. 244 00:14:56.600 --> 00:14:57.559 Of the whole area. 245 00:14:59.240 --> 00:15:04.840 We're flying altitude. When I first got in country, we 246 00:15:04.840 --> 00:15:07.960 were flying right on top of the trees because we 247 00:15:08.039 --> 00:15:12.720 didn't have IR suppression kits, and they had lost a 248 00:15:12.759 --> 00:15:17.279 lot of cobras in the months of the Eastern Offensive 249 00:15:17.840 --> 00:15:22.080 of nineteen seventy two. He'd lost a lot of cobra 250 00:15:22.240 --> 00:15:27.960 helicopters to SA seven he seeking missiles. So when I 251 00:15:28.000 --> 00:15:32.559 got there, they were retrofitting all the aircraft with IR 252 00:15:32.639 --> 00:15:37.080 suppression kits so we could fly at altitude. Did most 253 00:15:37.080 --> 00:15:40.120 of my flying before this right on top of the 254 00:15:40.159 --> 00:15:42.759 tree tops at one hundred and fifty miles an hour, 255 00:15:43.440 --> 00:15:46.679 flying circles around a little bird in the middle, trying 256 00:15:46.720 --> 00:15:51.919 to protect him and to react if he got shot at. 257 00:15:52.919 --> 00:15:55.960 We'd been flying at altitude for several months, but it 258 00:15:56.000 --> 00:15:59.639 was still uneasy because the clouds were low, with the 259 00:15:59.679 --> 00:16:03.759 cloud through about two thousand feet. We were flying at 260 00:16:03.840 --> 00:16:07.279 about eighteen hundred feet below that, which is put you 261 00:16:07.360 --> 00:16:12.440 in the range for SA seven heat seeking missile. It 262 00:16:12.519 --> 00:16:16.919 also puts you in range for all their heavier anti 263 00:16:17.000 --> 00:16:23.240 aircraft weapons, the fifty one caliber twenty three millimeter. We're 264 00:16:23.279 --> 00:16:26.360 just out of range, so there's small arms, just the 265 00:16:26.480 --> 00:16:33.080 rifles or AK forty seven. Buffalo. Bob goes flies down, 266 00:16:33.159 --> 00:16:36.519 but they call trolling. He goes down in his cobra 267 00:16:36.600 --> 00:16:40.639 and he just tools goes through it about one hundred 268 00:16:40.679 --> 00:16:45.080 miles an hour or one hundred knots on top of 269 00:16:45.080 --> 00:16:49.120 the trees, the trolling to see if there's any bad 270 00:16:49.120 --> 00:16:53.279 guys down there. He didn't take any fire, so he 271 00:16:53.360 --> 00:16:55.120 came back up and he put the little bird on 272 00:16:55.159 --> 00:16:57.519 the trees. So he's just going down there and make 273 00:16:57.559 --> 00:17:00.840 sure we're not putting the little bird into hornet's nest. 274 00:17:02.399 --> 00:17:05.920 The little birds stand on the bottom, and we get 275 00:17:05.960 --> 00:17:08.880 into a racetrack pattern where we're flying about one hundred 276 00:17:08.880 --> 00:17:11.440 and eighty degrees out from each other at about eighteen 277 00:17:11.519 --> 00:17:17.039 hundred feet in a big circular pattern, and so that 278 00:17:16.480 --> 00:17:19.480 both the aircraft could keep an eye on a little 279 00:17:19.519 --> 00:17:23.319 bird command and control ship because of the cloud cover. 280 00:17:23.720 --> 00:17:28.359 He's flying at the same altitude we are, except he's 281 00:17:28.400 --> 00:17:34.279 flying a bigger circle around us. We're flying around and around, 282 00:17:34.359 --> 00:17:40.519 and I'm waiting for something to happen because I'd bet 283 00:17:40.559 --> 00:17:43.400 at this position before the first time I got shot. 284 00:17:44.079 --> 00:17:48.759 It was just a weird, eerie feeling that day. It 285 00:17:48.880 --> 00:17:56.440 comes with being close to the cambody in border. When 286 00:17:56.480 --> 00:18:03.000 you're flying on a mission in Vietnam at that time, 287 00:18:04.400 --> 00:18:07.599 there are no good guys on the ground. When you 288 00:18:07.640 --> 00:18:13.279 get shot down, you're in bad trouble if your immediate 289 00:18:13.279 --> 00:18:17.359 guys are flying with can't come and get you. So 290 00:18:17.400 --> 00:18:24.279 it's kind of spooky. Cambodia is spooky. It's like you 291 00:18:24.319 --> 00:18:27.000 can't see the border, but you could feel it. 292 00:18:28.000 --> 00:18:28.880 You get and we were. 293 00:18:28.759 --> 00:18:32.559 Flying close to the border. But our mission is to 294 00:18:32.599 --> 00:18:37.119 protect that little bird, so and as the co pilot gunner, 295 00:18:37.279 --> 00:18:43.119 I'm supposed to be taking notes on whatever he's finding 296 00:18:43.200 --> 00:18:47.279 down there. So I got straight on doing that, but 297 00:18:47.359 --> 00:18:49.480 I still have this weird feeling in the back of 298 00:18:49.519 --> 00:18:55.279 my head. We had BET up for fifteen minutes or 299 00:18:55.319 --> 00:18:58.880 twenty minutes, and all of a sudden. 300 00:19:02.079 --> 00:19:15.200 Silence. We were complete. I have to tell you I 301 00:19:15.319 --> 00:19:16.200 don't talk. 302 00:19:15.960 --> 00:19:20.519 About this often retired US Army lieutenant colonel and Cobra 303 00:19:20.559 --> 00:19:24.480 Attack helicopter pilot Bruce mckentee. You'll hear the rest of 304 00:19:24.519 --> 00:19:28.880 his incredible story in just a moment. This is Veterans Chronicles. 305 00:19:30.119 --> 00:19:34.039 This is Veterans Chronicles. I'm Greg Corumbus. Our guest in 306 00:19:34.039 --> 00:19:37.720 this edition is retired US Army Lieutenant Colonel Bruce McKenty. 307 00:19:38.319 --> 00:19:42.319 He's also a Vietnam veteran. He flew Cobra Attack helicopters 308 00:19:42.359 --> 00:19:46.200 over Vietnam and narrowly survived being shot down by an 309 00:19:46.319 --> 00:19:50.160 enemy SA seven heat seeking missile in nineteen seventy two. 310 00:19:51.240 --> 00:19:54.359 McKenty now picks up the story right after his Cobra 311 00:19:54.480 --> 00:19:54.799 was hit. 312 00:19:54.920 --> 00:19:55.359 We had. 313 00:19:56.759 --> 00:20:03.119 Absolute silence, which was just areas because part of that 314 00:20:03.200 --> 00:20:05.359 there was a lot of rotorblade noise and a lot 315 00:20:05.359 --> 00:20:10.920 of injined noise, and a lot of communication traffic on 316 00:20:11.160 --> 00:20:16.440 three different radios because the little bird was reported a 317 00:20:16.480 --> 00:20:21.799 lot of activity, and that you know, little one band 318 00:20:21.839 --> 00:20:24.480 trails we saw yesterday or the day before were now 319 00:20:24.920 --> 00:20:28.119 you know, jeep tracks or something, you know, vehicle tracks 320 00:20:29.000 --> 00:20:32.960 bent that there were people coming across the border, and 321 00:20:33.000 --> 00:20:36.200 that's why we were up there on the border to 322 00:20:36.240 --> 00:20:37.680 find out if they were coming back. 323 00:20:37.839 --> 00:20:40.160 And because Adlock the. 324 00:20:41.759 --> 00:20:46.319 Easter Offensive of seventy two, you know, started in like 325 00:20:46.480 --> 00:20:50.839 March April of seventy two and ended the end of June, 326 00:20:50.920 --> 00:20:54.759 beginning of July, and I got there in July. We 327 00:20:54.759 --> 00:20:59.279 weren't sure if it was complete, if they were done, 328 00:21:00.119 --> 00:21:01.920 so we knew there were a lot of bad guys 329 00:21:01.960 --> 00:21:04.519 on the other side of the border trying to get across. 330 00:21:05.680 --> 00:21:09.200 It was eerie because all that noise went away and 331 00:21:09.440 --> 00:21:10.680 all of a sudden, it's. 332 00:21:10.720 --> 00:21:12.240 Like, what's going on? 333 00:21:12.759 --> 00:21:15.759 Uh, Well, we knew it was called on. I mean, 334 00:21:15.799 --> 00:21:19.319 we got hit and we didn't know with what we 335 00:21:19.359 --> 00:21:24.240 knew it was big because the aircraft shook and the 336 00:21:24.480 --> 00:21:28.920 UH and we could see the flames outside the canopy. 337 00:21:29.079 --> 00:21:34.000 The aircraft was on fire and we caught uh fire immediately. 338 00:21:34.119 --> 00:21:38.200 We lost our engine immediately, we lost uh A not 339 00:21:38.359 --> 00:21:42.920 on the engine, electrical you know, hydraulics, we lost everything. 340 00:21:43.119 --> 00:21:44.839 We couldn't even talk to each other. We had to 341 00:21:44.920 --> 00:21:49.880 yell back and forth in the canopy and UH Bobby, 342 00:21:50.440 --> 00:21:56.039 being experienced UH pilot you know, entered all the rotation. Uh, 343 00:21:56.319 --> 00:21:59.720 yelling back and forth. You know, we don't have hydraulics. 344 00:22:01.200 --> 00:22:05.119 Hydraulic reservoir which is about eighteen inches behind his head. 345 00:22:05.519 --> 00:22:09.519 On the other side of a thin firewall exploded, burned 346 00:22:09.519 --> 00:22:14.160 into the cockpit with us. The cockpit started filling with smoke. 347 00:22:15.359 --> 00:22:20.119 And fumes and fire. 348 00:22:20.720 --> 00:22:25.319 The fire came started to commit. Bobby's screaming that he's burning. 349 00:22:27.319 --> 00:22:29.920 I can't see Bobby. He's back behind me. We have 350 00:22:30.039 --> 00:22:37.599 a instrument console in between us. So he says, help 351 00:22:37.680 --> 00:22:42.960 me get on the controls and so I but they 352 00:22:43.240 --> 00:22:47.440 slide away, grabbed by little short controls I have in 353 00:22:47.519 --> 00:22:50.880 the front, and we are trying to slow the aircraft down. 354 00:22:51.440 --> 00:22:54.880 We were doing about one hundred and twenty knots when 355 00:22:54.920 --> 00:22:58.680 we got hit. Airspeed for all rotation is eighty nuts. 356 00:23:00.039 --> 00:23:03.640 We're trying to slow this thing down. We're heading towards 357 00:23:03.720 --> 00:23:06.880 the only clearing that we could see as an arc light, 358 00:23:08.119 --> 00:23:11.039 scarred terrain in the middle of the jungle where they 359 00:23:11.160 --> 00:23:14.240 dropped one hundred and eight five hundred pound bombs. That's 360 00:23:14.680 --> 00:23:18.640 what our arc light consists of from B fifty two's 361 00:23:20.119 --> 00:23:23.039 so we could see that. So that's the only place 362 00:23:23.039 --> 00:23:25.880 that we could see where there might be a flat 363 00:23:26.119 --> 00:23:33.119 terrain for us to land. So we're now fighting trying 364 00:23:33.119 --> 00:23:38.200 to get control of the aircraft, but we're also fighting 365 00:23:38.599 --> 00:23:43.519 trying to breathe. We can't breathe. It is talk, it 366 00:23:43.599 --> 00:23:48.720 is we're coughing our gutsa. So we're at about fifteen 367 00:23:48.799 --> 00:23:54.440 hundred feet fourteen hundred feet and I said, you know, 368 00:23:56.160 --> 00:24:01.799 we need air. I opened my front I left canopy. 369 00:24:02.880 --> 00:24:05.559 You know, I supposed to open him above sixty nns 370 00:24:05.640 --> 00:24:08.279 or it's gonna rip off. I don't care, you know, 371 00:24:08.559 --> 00:24:12.920 I'm I need fresh air. All that did was feed 372 00:24:12.960 --> 00:24:17.160 the fire, and the fire just enveloped both of us. 373 00:24:17.240 --> 00:24:26.920 The entire cockit was covered, was in flame. And I 374 00:24:27.000 --> 00:24:30.799 was gonna jump. I was gonna undo my seatbelt and jump, 375 00:24:31.279 --> 00:24:36.119 and I said, I'm going I'm jumping. Bobby opened his 376 00:24:36.279 --> 00:24:39.480 canopy and as soon as he opened his canopy, it's 377 00:24:39.519 --> 00:24:43.839 on the back right, it created a cross draft of 378 00:24:43.920 --> 00:24:48.599 one hundred not win and it just took all the 379 00:24:48.599 --> 00:24:52.599 fire and all the smoke right out the back and 380 00:24:53.119 --> 00:24:57.680 we buckle up. So we decided to buckle back up, 381 00:24:57.720 --> 00:24:59.000 and we're going to ride this. 382 00:24:58.920 --> 00:24:59.480 Puppy in. 383 00:25:01.480 --> 00:25:06.680 So now we can breathe. We're not getting burned anymore. 384 00:25:07.200 --> 00:25:11.400 Bobby got burned bad. But we now have to get 385 00:25:11.440 --> 00:25:13.440 control of this aircraft to get it on the ground. 386 00:25:15.599 --> 00:25:19.400 We're headed in the right direction. We're still trying to 387 00:25:19.440 --> 00:25:23.000 slow this thing down. We do we were doing in 388 00:25:23.119 --> 00:25:26.119 excess of a one hundred knots and we need to 389 00:25:26.160 --> 00:25:29.960 get it back to eighty. And the bad thing is 390 00:25:30.000 --> 00:25:31.960 at the very bottom. We need to pull back on 391 00:25:32.039 --> 00:25:35.200 that cyclic some more, to do a little flare action 392 00:25:35.400 --> 00:25:38.960 to slow down from doing eighty knots to you know, 393 00:25:39.119 --> 00:25:43.759 something like thirty or forty knots before we can touch 394 00:25:43.839 --> 00:25:49.160 down and cushion with our collective. And we are just 395 00:25:49.599 --> 00:25:52.759 straining with all of our might to slow this thing down. 396 00:25:52.880 --> 00:25:57.720 We finally can feel that we're slowing it down, but 397 00:25:57.799 --> 00:26:00.839 we don't We're not going to have anything at the bottom, 398 00:26:02.960 --> 00:26:07.599 so we have really no control of where we're gonna 399 00:26:07.880 --> 00:26:10.599 set this thing down. We're just heading for that park 400 00:26:10.720 --> 00:26:14.759 Lake area and hope we don't hit trees. 401 00:26:16.240 --> 00:26:17.640