Rattler/Firebird Association

Fred was my platoon leader (2nd platoon), after Jim Jobson was transfered. He was an exceptional person(as was Jobson). He was kind, gentle, and reserved, which were clearly the attributes that the Warrant Officers that he was in charge of lacked. Not long after he was assigned as “Our Leader” he flew my aircraft (021) and did a late-night preflight during which he left a screw driver in the engine intake. The next morning, Kenny Arthur (the real AC) and I flew the aircraft to Baldy to prepare for a sniffer mission. After getting the junk loaded on board and tied down, we took off headed for West of West. And to our good luck, just after hitting translational lift and at about 25 feet in the air, the screw driver decided that it had had enough and committed suicide by jumping through the compressor section of the engine. The next thing we all knew we were on the ground near the West end of the runway, with the tower operator yelling for us to clear the runway as there was an aircraft in bound. Too bad, it won’t start for some reason. Snake Doctor come get me. On the day that Fred was killed, I was on duty working in Operations. I had moved to Operations to replace Bruce Kelly in late September 68. And sadly, Fred was flying my former “H” model 830 when he crashed into the Chu Lai Harbor. After being notified that he was over due and that Chu Lai tower had reported that a helicopter may have crashed, Major Dehne McGinnis and I flew out to the area looking for any signs of a crash, which we found. I still have the pictures of the helmet and other things that we found that night. I often think of Fred and our other fallen Brothers, and clearly remember what we all must do: make the best of our lives and to never forget their sacrifice.