Army Reporter information
for 1/9 CAV 1 CAV
1 BDE 1 CAV
For date 680113
1/9 CAV 1 CAV was a US Army unit
1 BDE 1 CAV was a US Army unit
Primary service involved, US Army
South Vietnam
Location, Bong Son
Description: The following is an edited version of an article titled "12 Killed By Daring Cav Pilots" dated 13 Jan 1968.
Two pilots from the 1/9th Air Cav, using four different gunships, killed 12 enemy soldiers and paved the way for a successful operation by the Cav's 1st Bde recently seven miles north of Bong Son. The two pilots, CPT James Holden and CWO William E. Gibson received a call for assistance from the brigade's APCs). The APCs were forming to attack the village of Dai Dong and eliminate the suspected NVA battalion in the area. They asked the gunships to move in front of the vehicles and screen or look for enemy positions. "When we arrived on stations," said Holden, "Charlie was everywhere. We killed eight of them before they knew we were around." Gibson sighted a 57mm recoilless rifle position manned by four NVA soldiers. "They had fired once, but missed, and had loaded the second round in place when we rolled in with our mini-guns (six-barrelled Gatling-type automatic machineguns) and rockets," said Gibson, "Needless to say, they never got the second round off." In destroying the recoilless rifle, the gunship killed the four enemy around the gun, bringing the total for the day for the pilots to 12. As the gunship took the enemy by surprise, free world forces moved in and attacked the enemy, recording 55 enemy dead in the day-long fight.
Comments: CPT Holden, James; pilot; ;
CWO Gibson, William E.; pilot; ;
The source for this information was 6801AR.AVN supplied by Les Hines
Additional information is available on CD-ROM.
Please send additions or corrections to: Gary Roush Email address: webmaster@vhpa.org
Return to panel index
Return to Helicopter Pilot KIA index
Return to VHPA Home Page
Copyright © 1998 - 2023 Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association
Date posted on this site:
05/13/2023