More detail on this person: John A. Little,
Silver Star Medal Recipient, dies at 81
1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) and AH-1G Cobra
Helicopter Aviator repulsed North Vietnamese
firepower with his own helicopter, dies at 81
On March 6, 1969, during a six-hour battle
involving over 40 helicopters of the 227th Assault
Helicopter Battalion of the 1st Cavalry Division,
in the South Vietnamese city of Bien Hoa, an
entrenched and heavily fortified North Vietnamese
Army (NVA) battalion encircled a hot landing zone
(LZ) and rained down heavy .50 caliber
anti-aircraft machine gun fire on 30 US Army
Infantrymen. Then-US Army Major John Little led
two sections of AH-1G Cobra Attack Helicopters as
they escorted transport helicopters into that
harrowing LZ. Ignoring the North Vietnamese fire
hitting his own helicopter, he immediately engaged
the NVA as he simultaneously synchronized his
and the other Cobra gunship crews. While
pinpointing devastating fire on the NVA positions,
he personally made six more trips into that hot LZ
under intense enemy fire, continuously flew
low-altitude orbits over the LZ while directing
the transport lift ships, and thereby enabled
evacuation of the friendly infantry battalion. As
darkness approached and NVA machine guns
engaged two of his crew's gunships, without
hesitation he dove his own helicopter directly
into the intense anti-aircraft fire and aided in
neutralizing the position. At nightfall, the NVA
made a final assault to overrun the understrength
friendly forces. All the while, then-Major Little
remained on target, directing his attack
helicopter crews, and using his own aircraft's
firepower to repulse the last thrust of the enemy.
He was awarded the Silver Star Medal for his
actions that day, the military's third-highest
award for individual gallantry, and was credited
for that same battle in his battalion's citation
for the Valorous Unit Medal, the second highest US
military decoration bestowed on an entire unit for
extraordinary heroism in actions against an enemy.
In addition to the Silver Star in 1969, he was
awarded three Distinguished Flying Crosses (DFC)
for heroism while in aerial flight during his
first Vietnam tour in 1966. Then-Captain Little
was assigned to the 114th Assault Helicopter
Company while flying the Cobra's predecessor, the
UH-1M Iroquois (Huey) Gunship Helicopter.
For the first DFC, he was engaged with entrenched
Viet Cong (South Vietnamese insurgents who were
more of a guerrilla force). Upon learning that a
South Vietnamese advisor was critically wounded,
he dauntlessly landed and awaited the wounded
soldier while machine rounds hit inches from his
aircraft. Upon learning that the advisor had been
killed, he immediately finessed his helicopter out
of the area and continued his devastating fire
support until the Vietnamese troops were able to
break out of the enemy trap.
For the second DFC, Viet Cong inflicted heavy
casualties on South Vietnamese battalions and
reactionary forces. He flew directly into hostile
machine gun fire at tree-top level and delivered
suppressive fire into enemy emplacements to
enable a South Vietnamese battalion to advance.
Although wounded on his last attack, he completed
the destruction of the enemy firepower.
For the third DFC, while supporting a search and
destroy mission, he led a force to impede 75 Viet
Cong moving toward the Cambodian border.
Heedless of his own safety, he repeatedly flew at
10-20 feet altitudes to enable his door gunners to
effectively sweep the Viet Cong positions with
their machine guns. At one point, he landed to
capture a prisoner and killed two Viet Cong who
attempted to throw hand grenades into his
aircraft, and confiscated enemy intelligence
materiel.
During his second postwar tours in Korea from 1963
to 1964, he was the Flight Section Commander of
the Engineer Group and successfully executed an
aeromedical evacuation mission from a remote site
that was isolated from ground transportation due
to rising tide waters. After learning that a
helicopter from another unit had turned back due
to these flying conditions, then-Captain Little
displayed outstanding professional aviator skills
in completing this mission.
Assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division and
deployed to the Dominican Republic during the
height of the Cold War in 1965, supporting the
Operation Power Pack mission, then-Captain Little
flew "combat and stability operations" missions
(and now commonly referred to as "peace keeping
operations").
During his first Vietnam tour from March 1966 to
March 1967, then-Captain Little was: Platoon
Commander, Attack Helicopter Platoon, 114th
Assault Company, 13th Combat Aviation (Delta)
Battalion, Republic of Vietnam, serving all 12
months in the command position, responsible for 20
Officers, 24 Enlisted Soldiers, and nine armed
helicopters who were combat ready on a 24-hour
daily basis. "He skillfully employed the armed
helicopters of the platoon in simultaneous support
of six infantry battalions engaged in ground
combat, by providing direct close fire support,
armed reconnaissance, and screening."
An Attack Aviation Pioneer from April 1967 to July
1968 as Flight Training Commander, Attack
Helicopter Flight Training Division, Savannah, GA.
Responsible for a program of instruction,
supervision, helicopter maintenance and armament
systems, instruction of fifteen instructor pilots
and academic and flight instruction given to
student pilots. He became a Standardization
Instructor Pilot, authorized to qualify senior
aviators as instructor pilots in both aircraft and
weapons systems.
August 1968 to September 1969: Commanding
Officer, Attack Helicopter Company D, and S-3
Operations and Plans Officer, 227th Assault
Helicopter Battalion, 1st Air Cavalry Division.
Commanded and led an attack helicopter company
engaged in continuous day and night combat
operations. The company consisted of eighteen
attack helicopters, 160 Enlisted Soldiers and 42
Officers. The mission of the company was to
provide aerial reconnaissance, landing zone
security and direct fire support for 40 airmobile
infantry companies.
September 1970 to June 1972: Executive Officer,
1st Air Cavalry Squadron, 9th Cavalry, 1st Air
Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, TX. As the Squadron
Executive Officer, he was responsible for the
aviation operations, training, flight control,
records, aircraft and safety. The Squadron
consisted of over 750 personnel and was constantly
deployed to the field in continuous Department of
the Army tests and evaluation of new doctrine and
tactics. The Squadron was selected as the US
Army's Aviation Unit of the Year in 1972.
October 1973 to June 1975: Commanding Officer,
Air Cavalry Troop B, 3rd Air Cavalry Squadron, 5th
Cavalry, 9th Infantry Division, Fort Lewis, WA.
Commanded an Air Cavalry Troop consisting of 125
Soldiers and 44 Officers, twenty-seven aircraft.
Organized and trained the unit into a combat ready
unit that was prepared and capable of deploying
aircraft and Soldiers into combat. "He received
the most intense loyalty from his subordinates
that I have ever observed" (5th Cav, Commanding,
Senior Rater comments) June 1976 to February
1978: President of the Discipline and Adjustment
Board, and Vocational Training Manager, US
Disciplinary Barracks, Fort Leavenworth, KS.
Presided over an appointed board which evaluates
alleged violations by inmates of the Disciplinary
Barracks rules. Adjudicated over 800 cases
annually, making recommendations to the
Commandant, each requiring written reports, legal
filling of records, and responding to legal
appeals. Manager of the Vocational Training
Manager of funds providing prisoners with training
in different vocational job skills
Johnny inauspiciously started his military career
at the age of 17 when the high school principal in
the greater Los Angeles area invited Johnny and
his two closest friends to join the military,
because they wouldn't be graduating from high
school. His mother Ida's only option for him was
the Air Force, and he was promoted to Airman First
Class during his first tour in South Korea as an
Operations Technician. He returned to California
seeking new adventures, so he enlisted in the
Madera Army National Guard. He rose to the rank
of Staff Sergeant, and then earned his commission
and Honor Graduate as a Second Lieutenant as a
Fort Benning Officer Candidate School in 1960.
John graduated from Infantry and Armor Officer
Career courses and the Rotary Wing [Helicopter]
Flight School by 1963. He returned to Korea in
1963 for 13 months; served in the 82nd Airborne
Division from 1965 to 1966 including the
deployment to the Dominican Republic; deployed to
Vietnam from 1966 to 1967 with the 114th Assault
Helicopter Company; served as AH-1G Flight
Training Commander and Standardization Instructor
Pilot at Hunter Army Airfield from 1967-1968; and
he again deployed to Vietnam from 1968-1969 as D
Company Commander, 227th Battalion, 1st Air
Cavalry Division. His overseas and combat tours
were long and continuous, displacing his own
personal life and relationships with family and
friends. For over 10 of his almost 30 years of
marriage, the lion's share of raising their seven
children fell to his former wife Mary.
John broke his back in a helicopter crash in
November 1971 while flying on a night
cross-country mission when the aircraft
encountered rapidly deteriorating weather at Fort
Hood. Through sheer determination, he returned to
full flight status in 1972 and went on to command
an Air Cavalry Troop in the 9th Infantry Division
at Fort Lewis. Unfortunately, his flying career
ended years later when, during the darkness of the
early morning hours, he fell on ground ice at Fort
Leavenworth, permanently re-injuring his back. His
final active duty assignment was the President of
the Discipline and Adjustment Board and
Vocational Training Manager at the US Disciplinary
Barracks, and he retired in 1978.
In 1972-73, the Army ordered him to University of
Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg, and he earned
a bachelor's degree in History and Political
Science. While attending Command and General
Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, he earned a
master's degree in Criminology from Wichita State
University. He later earned a second master's
degree in Political Science from Calif. State
University, Fresno, before becoming a college
professor himself.
His unwavering regard for the Vietnamese people
continued throughout his life, and he taught US
Citizenship classes in the "Little Saigon"
community on Saturdays. If you passed his
challenging citizenship class, you were pretty
much guaranteed to pass your citizenship test. At
the same time that he taught citizenship classes,
he was an English as a Second Language (ESL)
professor concurrently at both UC Irvine and a
community college, teaching full time until he
permanently retired.
John was happiest when spending time with his
grandchildren, children, nieces and nephews,
family and friends, and his college students. He
traveled whenever possible, dividing his time at
his home in Fresno near his sons and
grandchildren, and when visiting with his
daughters, sons-in-law, and grandchildren in
England (United Kingdom) and Virginia. He enjoyed
telling stories of being a father, grandfather,
uncle, teacher, and Soldier.
John loved the Army and was a hard charger. John
Little was a patriot, lived a lifetime in service
to his country, and believed that Americans should
honor their citizenship. He was an avid reader of
history, war, and international affairs. He never
stopped learning, as a student and classroom
professor. He enjoyed his morning coffee and
cigarettes while reading the newspaper and books
on the sun-soaked patio. He liked his evening
Irish Mist whiskey and weekend Washington
Redskins football games.
His older brother Don became a second father to
him after John's father, Henry, died many years
beforehand. Not surprisingly, Don and John
retired from the Army as Lieutenant Colonels.
Don's wife Donna was the "girl-next-door", and she
would frequently joke that God saved her brother
Gary and the Army saved Johnny. Don and Donna
preceded John in death.
His 29-year marriage to the former Mary Garibay
ended in divorce, yet neither remarried. Mending
fences after the tragic loss of their daughter
Laura, they remained friends and said their
heartwarming goodbyes near the end.
Surviving children and grandchildren include: son
Michael and his wife Diana; son Jeffrey and his
son Matthew; daughter Denise and her husband
Bill; and daughter Theresa, her husband Michael,
and their children, Sabrina, Seth, and Sophia.
Grandchildren also include: Erik; Daniel;
Christine; and William, his wife Dylan, and their
daughter Hallie.
In the patriotic spirit he shared with his fellow
Soldiers and Officers of the 1st Air Cavalry
Division's 227th Assault Helicopter Company and
the 114th Assault Helicopter Company, we farewell
our father and grandfather, brother, uncle,
cousin, and friend with great love and admiration
- Lobo 6 out!
John will be laid to rest at Arlington National
Cemetery, Virginia, near Washington D.C.
Additionally, his family will honor him with a
Celebration of Life starting at the Madera
Veterans Monument and then the Madera VFW this
Saturday, February 23. In lieu of flowers, please
send donations in memory of John to his favorite
charity, the American Indian College Fund at
Burial information: Arlington National Cemetery
This information was last updated 03/21/2019
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Date posted on this site: 03/10/2024
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