LZ: Texas
LZ NACOGDOCHES: Seawolves Momma
"...And he said to think that I got to sit where your son Michael would have been sitting and now I'm sitting next to Mike's mom. Well, we both cried..."
Despite the fact that she’s logged seven decades, only a few years ago Dorothy Schafernocker drove the Moving Wall across the country. “It was just me and those 58,000 boys,” she says. This Gold Star mother, who describes herself as “a crazy old broad,” has become known to legions of veterans as Momma Nocker because the loss of her own son has made her a mother to all of them. Dorothy rode 091 with door gunner Michael’s fellow Navy Seawolves—the specialized USN Huey unit commissioned and decommissioned in Vietnam—and a PBR sailor her son had saved.
LOOK, GOD
Look, God, I have never spoken to you,
but now I want to say, "How do you do".
You see, God, they told me you didn't exist.
And like a fool, I believed all this.
Last night from a shell hole, I saw your sky.
I figured right then, they had told me a lie.
Had I taken time to see the things you made,
I'd have known they weren't calling a spade a spade.
I wonder, God, if you'd shake my hand,
somehow, I feel you will understand.
Funny, I had to come to this hellish place,
before I had time to see your face.
Well, I guess there isn't much more to say,
but I'm sure glad, God, I met you today.
I guess the zero hour will soon be here,
but I'm not afraid since I know you're near!
The signal, well, God, I'll have to go.
I like you lots and I want you to know.
Look now, this will be a horrible fight,
why who knows, I may come to your house tonight.
Though I wasn't friendly to you before,
I wonder, God, if you'd wait at the door.
Look, I'm crying.... Me, shedding tears!
I wish I'd have known you these many years.
Well, God, I'll have to go now, goodbye....
Strange, since I met you.... I'm not afraid to die!
-Michael E. Schafernocker
U.S. Navy HA(l)-3 "Seawolves"
2.28.49 - 4.28.69
LZ HURST: Home of Bell Helicopter
"We all took pride in our work because we -- we knew that the helicopter was going into battle somewhere. And we wanted it to stay together and bring back our troops and make sure that it did its job."
At Bell Headquarters the men who built the Huey during Vietnam are still working on the line, still building helicopters, but it has never been like it was for them then, when they knew that every machine was going into war. “We were very aware that the men in Vietnam depended on us,” they told us, as they pulled 091 back into her birthplace. “We worked long hours. We missed seeing our children grow up. But if what we did brought one GI home, it was all worth it.”
From the Guestbook:
Some of the Bell guys who got a ride on 091 were--believe it or not--getting their first Huey helicopter ride! But not this one...
This is a project that way overdue. Not im my wildest dreams would I have expected to end up working in the place where all these Hueys were born. I have worked for Bell for 28 years and I have worked along side many of the old Bell employees that produced a hundred and thirty aircraft a month. Our Heritage Hall Museum is full of the history of this great company. A company that answered the call just as many of us did. I spent all of 69 at Long Thanh North with the 303rd. GS which was a maintenance outfit that worked many a broken Huey and got them back into action for the 1st.Avn. Brigade, 1st.Cav & others. The sound of rotor blades, that comforting sound, it's always with me every working day. As the Manager of Flight Operations & Final Assembly at Bell I can tell you that the spirit shown by all the old timers now mostly retired or past on is still very much alive here at Bell. I look forward to assisting in your visit for the proposed rollout out of Final Assembly and continuing to tell a very important story. It's our legacy and the sound of those blades is still there and always will be. Welcome home to you all and I look forward to welcoming you to Bell Helicopter Fort Worth.
-Jim White <jwhite@bellhelicopter.textron.com> Fort Worth, Texas
And this seems like the right place to repeat what we've heard a hundred times from Huey pilots: "When they take the last Blackhawk to the junkyard, it'll be a Huey that carries the crew home!"
"These guys, they just seemed like they love me just like, you know, like they have known me my whole life. I guess I'm one of their links to one of their fallen comrades, I guess..."
-Lester Rose, whose brother Don was KIA in Vietnam.
LZ KILLEEN
Huey crews in Vietnam flew many kinds of missions but they had only one job: to support the men on the ground. When the infantry called, the helicopters came, and that is why on 15 December 1969, Aircraft 206 of the 176th Assault Helicopter Company lifted off in bad weather for a flare mission. It went down shortly after, taking the lives of Larry Shatto’s friends and mentors, including crew chief Donald Rose, who was scheduled to leave Vietnam the next day. At Landing Zone Killeen, Shatto organized a memorial to the crew of 206, where Donald’s mother, sister, and brother met his wartime friends for the very first time.
Postscript: Another Texan, Dee Hyden, was killed in the same crash that took Don Rose's life. In Killeen, the Rose family presented the ITSOTB crew with a flag for the Hydens, whom we would meet in Amarillo.
LZ SOUTHWEST AIRLINES:
Walking the Walk to Support Vietnam Vets
"By the mid 1970's, the second most decorated air force in the world was a little outfit from Texas..."
Southwest Airlines wasn't originally on the production schedule, but by the time the mission ended we had learned that this is a company with a story worth telling. Now one of the most successful airlines in the world, Southwest built its company with "25-year-old pilots who had the experience of 45-year-old pilots." When most companies were avoiding hiring Vietnam veterans, Herb Kelleher was different. Southwest Airlines was supporting veterans long before it was cool to support veterans.
And they supported this mission, too. With no request for anything in return, Southwest Airlines quietly flew scores of family members and veterans to ITSOTB Landing Zones. They didn't ask to have their logo on anything. They didn't ask to be publicly recognized. And they certainly didn't ask for this endorsement, but we would like to tell you: if you want to support a company that supports veterans, fly SWA!
A Letter From Our SWA Angel
"At Southwest Airlines, the business philosophy is "If you believe in it, then you have the power to make it happen." That was put to the test for me a few months ago when I was contacted by the Shadow crew. They were looking for support of any kind and as I listened to them explain the project, I could hear the passion in their voices and it wasn't long before that passion seeped into my heart and I began researching ways to offer them support.
I went to my director with what I thought was an unrealistic request given the environment we're in. I explained the project and the meaning behind it. When I was done, my director simply said "If you believe in it, then you have the power to make it happen." And I did.
The past few months have been nothing short of amazing. To thank Southwest for its support, the crew flew the Huey to Southwest's headquarters for an event to honor our veterans. As that beautiful helicopter swooped out over the building, the entire crowd gasped and a thousand hearts began to thump in rhythm with the blades. That day brought tears to everyone's eyes and much-deserved recognition to all of Southwest's veterans.
I had the personal honor to ride in the Huey and I, a journalism major and former reporter, can't even find words to explain that experience.
Thank you, Shadow Crew, for allowing Southwest Airlines to be a part of this project. The privilege is ours."
Angela Vargo
Southwest Airlines
LZ BASTROP: The Red Cross Girls
"We looked like their sisters, we looked like their girlfriends, we looked like their next door neighbors."
During the Vietnam War more than 600 young, college-degreed women served with the Red Cross in Vietnam. They wore powder blue uniforms and flew in Hueys to firebases to build troop morale. Despite the name they inherited from World War II, not one of them remembers ever seeing a donut in Vietnam, much less serving one.
Everyone's first question for the Vietnam Donut Dollies is the same: what was a nice girl like you doing in a place like the Vietnam War? When Pat Rowan and Barb Lilly heard President Kennedy say, “ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country,” they took the message to heart—and to the Red Cross enlistment office, where they signed up to go to Vietnam.
From another Donut Dolly who flew In The Shadow of The Blade: The last flight was the best... no helmet, no doors, clear blue sky and leaves changing colors on the trees below us as the sun began to set. For me, that is as close to heaven as I'll ever come on this earth. You gave me a gift I can never match, but I'll try if you'll let me know what I can do for you. Keep'em flyin', clear left, and save my seat... I love all of you and send very special DDWHHs... hope you're not tired of them.
-Kammy McCleery - Lexington, KY USA
POSTSCRIPT: Keep an eye out for Arrowhead Films' Vietnam Donut Dolly documentary, now in production. The Dollies had a reunion in 2005 and they're looking for their lost sisters. Let us know if you find one!
LZ BASTROP: The Door Gunner
"But to fly in a bird that meant so much to so many of us, and saved so many lives, was a great honor. And I'm just happy to be part of it all."
Johnny Hubbs, a Huey door gunner in Vietnam, heard about ITSOTB through his friend Keith Bodine. We conspired together to surprise Keith by putting Johnny on the aircraft with Connie Mac Pearson (see the story below). In order to do this Johnny and his wife Karen had to jump into the ITSOTB current feet first with no orientation. Thankfully, they were up for it.
We arranged for them to meet us at the remote McKinney Falls, Texas location where the aircraft had done RON. Just as the sun began to rise that morning, we all pulled in and with barely a "hi-you-must-be-Johnny-nice-to-meet-you--okay-get-over-there-in-front-of-the-Huey-before-we-lose-this-light-and-play-harmonica," we were rolling.
If you can picture this man, who is seeing a Huey for the first time since Vietnam... on a stunning fall morning in a field bursting with Texas wildflowers... and imagine what he must be thinking...
But there's no time for thinking! We gotta pull pitch for Pasadena, 'cuz there's a reunion waiting to happen. Somehow, John Hubbs, veteran of the U.S. Army Air Cav, found a way in all of a film crew's hullabaloo to quiet himself enough to play a most "Amazing Grace" on a day that would be graced indeed.
Okay, this is a great time to tell an ITSOTB driving story. If we don't tell it, Keith Bodine will tell it for us. The helicopters took off toward Houston and we got in our cars and headed down the highway, with Karen Hubbs in the caravan. We drove, uh, somewhat fast toward Houston after a late start, and then, yes, we got lost on the way to LZ Pasadena. Took the wrong highway in Houston. And lost in Houston means....lost. We were on the phone to Ellison to "hold the helicopters" and by the time we got to Keith's church he was well on the way to being sunburned. But I think he's forgiven us by now.
LZ PASADENA: The Reunion
"I was hoping I was going to meet the guy that saved my life before something happened."
The last time door gunner Keith Bodine saw Connie Mac Pearson, he was loading the seriously wounded infantryman on a Huey so crowded with wounded that Bodine had to rip the seat out to make room. That was thirty-four years before this day in Bodine’s Pasadena, Texas churchyard. This time, the Huey was bringing the infantryman in to his life saver.
Connie Mac Pearson earned a Silver Star on his last day in Vietnam. As he was loading a seriously wounded officer on another Huey, he took eight bullets in the back. Helicopters filled with wounded had already passed him by. Pearson caught Bodine's attention. "If you don't take me I will die," he said. Bodine took him. The two men had looked for each other ever since and finally connected by way of the Internet just before ITSOTB lifted off. Pearson and his wife Sue drove from Illinois to Houston for the reunion. And when he finally met the man who'd saved his life, his eyes said it all.
Thank you so much for becoming a part of my life I wanted to put behind me but now look forward to remembering in a different way. Seeing Connie alive and happy means the world to me. God Bless each and everyone of you.
-
Keith "Hacksaw" Bodine/1st Cav division/"A" Co./229th AHB/RVN/Class of 1966-1967
Among those who witnessed the reunion were students from Cherie Whary's high-school English class. Many had never met a Vietnam veteran and they listened, enraptured, as the former pilots and crew members and soldiers told stories from 091's well. One asked Johnny Hubbs, "were you ever afraid?" "Every day," the door gunner answered.
When the session ended one student said, "I'm just really honored to know you" and the rest broke into spontaneous applause. Then there were hugs and handshakes...from one generation to another.
LZ LUBBOCK: The Care Package
"And so I went and got another watermelon. I called my uncle and I said, 'You want to help a kid in Vietnam?'"
It was one thing for Victoria Price to send her husband cookies. "Cookie crumbs," he says. And it was one thing for her to send warm cokes. It was something else entirely for Phil to get a watermelon in Vietnam. But he did.
Behind The Scenes: This is one of those stories we just happened upon. Veteran Phil Price and his wife Victoria climbed into the helicopter and told a tale about a care package that really moved us. We loved this story because it's such a, well, love story. As many, many, many veterans will say, the people who waited for them are their heroes. To be at home, not knowing what's happening "over there," eating a watermelon with tears running down your face... it's tough duty to pull.
And more from the Lone Star State...
![Huey liftoff]()
Our hometown LZ of Austin, Texas was as beautiful as only Austin can be (okay--so we're biased).
“We were the sons of the men who fought in World War II,” Frank Mendez says in Landing Zone Austin, echoing the sentiments of hundreds of veterans ITSOTB interviewed. The children of Austin’s Ballet Folklorico danced in the background as the Tejanos In Action, a Navy Seawolf, an Austin veteran become attorney, and twin brothers who both served put their hands on 091. A young woman named Sharon Bruce Evans bubbled with excitement; her father Ernest flew 091 in country and in Louisiana during the ITSOTB mission.
The Bowie High School ROTC Color Guard carried the American, Texas, and Armed Forces flags. And during the ceremony, photographer Sarah Beal spotted something in the POW/MIA flag that would leave us all speechless:
091 spent a chilly night guarded by Texas Association of Vietnam Veteran volunteers. We left them alone with their symbol and their thoughts. Thanks to them, the ITSOTB crew got a good night's sleep.
LZ BASTROP
Joe Beal is your typical Vietnam veteran. Successful in his career, happily married, a father, a man who enjoys his work and family and hobbies, Joe’s Vietnam service affected his life and recalls for him all the good and the bad that war recalls. But like most Vietnam veterans, and in contrast to the stereotype, he has lived a full and successful life…
Joe is also the father of ITSOTB photographer Sarah Beal, who may now have logged more Huey hours than her dad, and who now has an understanding of veterans that brings her even closer to her father. When we stopped in Bastrop, Joe had something for Sarah--his late brother's Vietnam combat jacket. "It's gonna be cold up in New Mexico," he told her. And there was more waiting for Sarah. But we'll see that at the mountaintop.
The Air Force “Green Hornets,” a specialized Huey unit whose job was to insert and extract long-range patrols and special operations personnel were accustomed to flying over jungles and mountains, so their sortie around the metropolis of Houston, Texas was an unexpected thrill.
From Film Production to Sacred Mission:
We got a phone call near the production's end. A Vietnam Huey pilot, Bob Swart, had died not too long before. His last wish was to have his ashes scattered by a Huey in the Poconos. "We're finding that's pretty difficult to execute," his step-daughter said.
We couldn't scatter. And we weren't anywhere close to the Poconos, but the family decided that having a flight on 091 would be a compromise Bob would understand.
And so, on the very last leg before home, Dorothy Swart brought her beloved for a Huey ride.
What an honor for us.
Next ITSOTB Stop: New Mexico. |
