Posted November 12, 2015 10:45 am by Comments

By Tactical-Life

The following is a release from Sean Kimmons, Air Force News Service:

The day when nearly 70 bullets riddled his Sikorsky HH-3E “Jolly Green Giant” rescue helicopter as his crew tried to save two Airmen during the Vietnam War remains vivid for retired Chief Master Sgt. Dennis Richardson.

It was March 14, 1968, and Richardson, a flight engineer at the time, and others were called out to retrieve the Airmen after their F-4 Phantom II had been shot down. Both ejected safely but they landed near enemy positions along the Ho Chi Minh Trail.

The first rescue attempt for the pilot was fraught with enemy gunfire as bullets pierced the helicopter’s engine exhaust, causing the crew to quickly abandon the area.

“They shot the hell out of us,” Richardson, a 34-year Air Force veteran, said before the National Veterans Day Observance at Arlington National Cemetery.

The helicopter crew agreed to go back for the pilot. But a few more daring attempts proved unsuccessful and resulted in Richardson being wounded.

“It was bad news,” Richardson said of the hot landing zones. “We were shot off again and limped out of there with …Read the Rest

Source:: Tactical Life

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