Fullback Six

Company A

227th Assault Helicopter Battalion

1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile)

Fullback Six!
by WO-1 John L. Keller, 1st Flt Plt, A/227

We had been flying out of Tuy Hoa (on the beach) for a few weeks when our ship was assigned the task of transporting a Battalion Commander of the ground forces we would be assaulting into several Landing Zones that day. His Callsign was "FULLBACK SIX." He was an LTC who had been assigned as Battalion Commander just a few weeks earlier. This was going to be a twelve ship assault into a curved, grassy area with trees on the east and west sides. Six gunships from D Company would accompany the first lift with a daisy chain on both sides of the Landing Zone. The LZ was fairly long from north to south and not many stumps or fallen trees. We were setting up an orbit over the area at 3,500 feet AGL and had an extra FM radio on board that was fed into our headsets.
As we orbited, the LTC became a little more anxious since this was his first major operation after taking over the Battalion. Before the ships neared the LZ, we had gotten a call from the LRRPS on the ground that they were in the tree line at the midpoint of the curve in the LZ on the west side. They had been out in the general area for three weeks. ARA of the 2/20th pounded the east tree line because that is where the "bad guys" had been at first light. The LRRPS had been in the west tree line for at least an hour and were going to "pop smoke" to identify their position just before the gunships rolled in to prep the left and right sides.
We were above and behind the first lift as we viewed the combat assault from a position I had not seen before. The gunships came in alongside the first flight of four, but they were too low to see the yellow smoke of the group of LRRPS. They were shooting the rockets when we received a frantic call, "Fullback Six, Fullback Six, You're killing us!" Then, quickly, "Fullback Six, Cease Fire, Cease Fire!" His pleading made the hair stand up on the back of our necks! It was too late! No more transmissions from the radio operator through the FM frequency. We found out later, that one of the rockets went between his back and the radio pack before detonating near the group. Everyone was either dead or seriously wounded! Our LTC was heartbroken that "friendly fire" had taken its toll. We continued to orbit until the rest of the flights had dropped their troops. The last ship in the flight was ordered to wait so the LRRPS could be evacuated back to Tuy Hoa. Once a large perimeter had been set up and initial contact with VC had been taken care of, we landed in the LZ to speak to the top Battalion Officers on the ground.
The lead aircraft had been flown by Captain Pryde of B Company who later related that he had picked up tracer fire from his left when he was on final. The tracers were about 15 feet in front of the helicopter the entire time he was flying, on the ground and then flying again. Someone taught that VC gunner to always lead the aircraft and it worked well for Captain Pryde.