Mike was a good person and an excellent crew chief. He let me fly his Firebird aircraft on many occasions. During one of those occasions, we extracted 3 or 4 men from an infantry platoon that had been decimated by the North Vietnamese. I had been scrambled to escort medivac helicopters into and out of a small clearing in a mountainous jungle are west of Chu Lai. It was dusk and my entire crew heard the conversation between Dust Off and a young private who begged Dust Off to return for two KIA and 2 WIA soldiers. Dust Off told the young man that they could not return in time – during daylight – to make the extraction due to the small size of the LZ. Because I was the fire team leader (Chuck Carlock was my P and Frank Anton was flying my wing) the private asked if I could make the extraction. I told him that our aircraft was not designed or equipped to fly into tight areas. It was then that he began to cry and explained that his platoon sergeant and platoon leader were dead, and he was one of a several survivors. I queried my crew, because if we did try to make the extraction, their lives would be in danger. Mike Rogers was the first to speak up informing me that we would have to jettison the rocket pods and lighten the ship if we expected to make it. That was a YES! The other crew members agreed, and we proceeded. As I fired all of our rockets on the known enemy position from which Dust Off had been receiving fire and jettisoned our rocket pods, Mike and his gunner provided effective suppressive fire as we made our approach to land on soft mud. Years later during Mikes final unit reunion, he told me that he had contacted the men we extracted and that we had saved the lives of two soldiers! Everyone liked and respected Mike Rogers as a professional crew chief and outstanding soldier. I still miss him.
Mike was a good person and an excellent crew chief. He let me fly his Firebird aircraft on many occasions. During one of those occasions, we extracted 3 or 4 men from an infantry platoon that had been decimated by the North Vietnamese. I had been scrambled to escort medivac helicopters into and out of a small clearing in a mountainous jungle are west of Chu Lai. It was dusk and my entire crew heard the conversation between Dust Off and a young private who begged Dust Off to return for two KIA and 2 WIA soldiers. Dust Off told the young man that they could not return in time – during daylight – to make the extraction due to the small size of the LZ. Because I was the fire team leader (Chuck Carlock was my P and Frank Anton was flying my wing) the private asked if I could make the extraction. I told him that our aircraft was not designed or equipped to fly into tight areas. It was then that he began to cry and explained that his platoon sergeant and platoon leader were dead, and he was one of a several survivors. I queried my crew, because if we did try to make the extraction, their lives would be in danger. Mike Rogers was the first to speak up informing me that we would have to jettison the rocket pods and lighten the ship if we expected to make it. That was a YES! The other crew members agreed, and we proceeded. As I fired all of our rockets on the known enemy position from which Dust Off had been receiving fire and jettisoned our rocket pods, Mike and his gunner provided effective suppressive fire as we made our approach to land on soft mud. Years later during Mikes final unit reunion, he told me that he had contacted the men we extracted and that we had saved the lives of two soldiers! Everyone liked and respected Mike Rogers as a professional crew chief and outstanding soldier. I still miss him.