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FOX&nb= sp; FAX

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Journal of the 199^th Recon Airplane Comp= any RVN 1967-70 Vol. 3 , Issue 6 June 06

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Swamp Fox Coordinator 2004-6 Bob Woolley - Fox 26 &n= bsp; bjdubu@ao= l.com

Reunion Coordinator C&C &nb= sp; &nb= sp; Don Nicholson - Fox ?? &n= bsp; lontri= ps0@aol.com

Unit Historian = &nb= sp; Charley Baker - Fox 46 cbkbwdb@starpower.net

Treasurer = &nb= sp; = Dan Aldridge - Fox 56 = ; &n= bsp; Deepsea3= @aol.com

Patch and Shirt Project &n= bsp; Gary Simon - Fox 16 GaryLBB@aol.com

Web Master / Commo Chief= &= nbsp; Ray "Doc" Jennings - Fox 032A r.jennings14@verizon.net

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WEB SITE = www .SwampFox199thRAC.co= m

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199^th= Swamp Fox members take your hats off for Bobby Knight. Many of us in = the 199^th fought with his support on many occasions across the Delta. I recall that in TET period a depot maintenance team arrived at Soc Trang to evaluate the airworthiness of the helicopters. After one of Knight’s gunship= s was declared non-flyable, he said he would fly it over to the parking area. He was told, “No! That helicopter will never fly again.” I believe that the helicopter slung by a Chinook and dropped into the South China Sea. = In that period Soc Trang was running/flying out of= vital aircraft fluids. The vastly exceeded crew rest records status of the crews was being monitored daily at battalion level. We began a period of be= ing shelled about 17 nights in a row. One of the Soc Trang gunships was shot out of the air dueling with a VC .50 Cal positioned in the Tiger Tail, the = wooded village adjacent to the south of the airfield. Bobby Knight displayed= the winning determination we need to maintain today.

Best wishe= s

Curt Herrick

Helicopter pilot Knight led Soc Trang airfield defense=

Duty, = honor, country: Helicopter pilot Knight led marathon airfield defense

By Fred L. Borch and Robert F. Dorr
Special to the Army Times

Robert C. Knight was a captain and l= eader of a helicopter platoon in South Vietnam in January 1968 when he and his fellow pilots flew in combat for an extraordinary 28 consecutive hours to defend their airfield.<= /o:p>

“Bob” Knight dropped out= of high school and enlisted in the Maine National Guard at age 16. After six years as an enlisted soldier, including time as a crew chief on then-Maj. Gen. William Westmoreland’s helicopter at Fort Campbell, Ky., Knight atten= ded Officer Candidate School and was commissioned in 1961. After flight training, he joined the 1st Armored Division.=

In July 1965, then-1st Lt. Knight ar= rived in Vietnam and was assigned to the 101st Airborne Division. He flew UH-1B Huey helicop= ters at Soc Trang airfield in the Mekong Delta. In June 1966, toward the end of his tour, Knight was shot down while flying a night mission. His crew chief was killed. Knight was badly h= urt and medically evacuated to the United States.

About a year = later, in July 1967, then-Capt. Knight returned to South Vietnam to the same airfield and unit — the 336th Assault Helicopter Company. Knight was in charge of= a gunship platoon consisting of seven UH-1C Hueys= .

Two American aviation units were at = Soc Trang, but no U.S. ground troops; providing airfield perimeter security was the responsibility of South Vietnamese soldiers. On Jan. 31, 1968, Knight and his fellow Americans knew an e= nemy attack was likely. The Viet Cong had announced it was canceling= a previously agreed upon Lunar New Year cease-fire. When 2,000 Viet Cong guerrillas launched a coordinated mortar and ground assault on the airfield= and nearby city, Knight was ready.

As bullets flew around him, Knight d= ashed to his gunship. Once airborne, he flew low over the enemy positions and loc= ated several weapons emplacements from which the Viet Cong were firing 75mm recoilless rifles. Ignoring the fire directed at him, Knight destroyed the enemy positions with rockets and machine-gun fire. Knight organiz= ed his five gunships in a team and directed their assaults. He made sure sufficient Hueys were in= the air at all times.=

“My concern,” he said in= an April interview, “was that we would get hammered if too many of us la= nded at the same time to refuel or pick up more ammunition. “So I ke= pt four in the air at all times.”

According to Army records, as the si= ege on the airfield lifted at dawn, Knight was offered a well-deserved rest. = ;He refused and flew with his helicopter platoon toward the adjacent city where= the Viet Cong threatened to overrun vital military positions. Knight and his fe= llow pilots inflicted heavy casualties and repelled the enemy offensive.<= /b>

After the 28-hour battle, Knight was recognized with a Distinguished Service Cross, second only to the Medal of Honor as an award for combat gallantry.

Knight later commanded the Army recr= uiting battalion in New Hampshire. From 1980 to 1982, he commanded 1st Battalion, 66th Armor Regiment, at Fort Hood, Texas. This seemed only right, as the unit’s moniker, the “Iron Knights,” fit their commander’s last name. Knight retired= as a lieutenant colonel in 1984 and lives in Florida.

Fred L. Borch retired from the Army after 25 years and is now the regimental historian for the Judge Advocate General’s Corps. His e-mail address is borchfj@aol.com. Robert F. Dorr, an Air Force veteran, lives in Oakton, Va., and can be reached at robert.f.dorr@cox.net.

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WEB SIT= ES of INTEREST

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=

http://www.sdvie= tnamwarmemorial.com/Schedule.htm=

=

=

=

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Coming = Events

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=

183^rd RAC SeaHorse Gr= and Reunion Sept 2006 Washington D.C.<= /b>

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ATTENTION!!!!!!! The 183rd is inviting all Bird= dog Companies to its September 7th through the 10th 2006 Reunion in Washington DC. We had a great time with the Aloft (74th) and the Swamp Fox (199th) group at our la= st reunion and hope to see them and other birddoggies at this one. At this reunion, all birddog members are welcome: The Shotguns (221st); Petrodactyls (185th); Non Stop (184th)= ; Catkillers (220th); Headhunters (219th); Hawkeyes (203rd); Warriors (73rd); Night Hawks (131st= ) and Black Aces (21st).

=

SEAHORSE NEWSLETTER = =

February, 2006 =

2006 183^{rd RAC SEAHORSE REUNION}

The third, and indeed the biggest, reunion is now officially contracted with the hotel and you need to mark yo= ur calendars. The reunion is going to be in Washington, D. C. = at the Crystal Gateway Marriott located at 1700 Jefferson Davis Highway, in Arlington, Virginia. The official reunion activities will begin on Thursday, September 7th and end on Sunday, September 10^th. &n= bsp; If you would like to see more about the hotel, the hotel website is www.crystalgatewaymarriott.com. We have very speci= al room rates, of $109 per night, well below what it normally charged. For those of you who wish to come early or stay longer, the = rate will apply three days before and three days after the reunion. The ho= tel is very conveniently located in an area that is on the Metro System, close = to shopping and a wide variety of restaurants, and very near most of the main attractions in Washington, D. C. There is complementary shuttle servi= ce to and from Reagan National Airport which is a short five minutes from the hotel.

Instructions on how to register with the hotel and receive the discounted room rate will follow in next month’s Newsletter. You will also need to register for the reunion activities with the Seahorses. That information will also fol= low in next month’s newsletter.

This is= partial information from the 183^rd web site.       www.183seahorse.org

=

=

2= 19^th RAC HeadHunters Reunion Sept. 2007 Atlanta Georgia

=

9/17/2005  = HEADHUNTERS decide to hold their NEXT REUNION scheduled for SEPTEMBER 2007 in= ATLANTA, GEORGIA. The hosts will be Steve Butler (RVN 1/68-1/69 P= leiku) and Tom Morris (RVN 7/65-7/66 Nha Trang, Tuy Hoa, Phan Thiet & NonCo). The host location will be Peachtree City Sout= h of Atlanta. MARK YOUR CALENDARS!

=

www.219headhunters.com/Reunions.htm

=

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220th Reconnaissance Airplane Comp= any (RAC) "Catkillers" Reunion

Friday, October 6, 2006 until Sunday, October 8,= 2006

Mark Your Calendars!

South<= span style=3D'font-size:12.0pt'> Shore Harbour Resort & Conference Center
2500 South Shore Blvd.
League City, TX 77573
Phone: 281.334.1000
Fax: 281.334.1157

=

=

Carl Drechsel

Catkiller 30

Reunion C= hairman

sdrexel@yahoo.com

=

=

EAA cal= endar

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http://www.eaa.org/events

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<= /span>

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IBDA

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NMUSAF/MUS 5 June 2006
1100 Spaatz Street
WPAFB OH 45433

Dear Liaison Pilot,

The National Museum of the United States Air Force (NMUSAF) is again planni= ng for a liaison aircraft flying event on 6 R= 11; 8 October 2006. We had originally hoped to hold our first Liaison Fly-In in 2002 and had contacted several of you as potential participants a= nd then had to cancel the 2004 fly-in due to poor weather conditions. We are pleased to announce that the National Museum of the United States Air Force will host the first Liaison Aircraft Fly-In on Friday, 6 October through Sunday, 8 October 2006.

As the National Museum of the United States Air Fo= rce, we are committed to providing unique, entertaining, and educational activit= ies to more than 1.2 million visitors annually. We feel the role of the liaison aircraft in the Army Air Corp and the Air Force is a story that should be t= old.

To portray this era in military flight, our goal is to have an event featur= ing a variety of “liaison” aircraft. Registration will be on a first come, first served basis. The invitation is open to all liaison aircraft wi= th military paint schemes. We may have to limit certain popular types, such as L-4’s and L-19’s to allow a variety of aircraft. We plan to lim= it this year’s Liaison Aircraft Fly-In event to 30 aircraft.

The event will take place on the grounds of the NMUSAF at Wright-Patterson = AFB. The airstrip will be a grass runway located behind the Museum in an area kn= own as old Wright Field.<= o:p>

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Contact Rob for back iss= ues of the BowWow.

=

www.ibdaweb.com=

Rob Robinson

Membersh= ip Director, IBDA

200 Sugar Hollow Road

Hendersonville, North Carolina 28739 U.S.A.

828 696 8414

828 606 7440

saltire@bellsouth.net

<= /b>

FOX HUN= T

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Status quo

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SWAMP F= OX NETWORK

=

Status quo

=

Soldier= s Angels

Do check out this web site if you are looking for char= ity to support our troops.

www.soldiersangels.com<= /o:p>

=

Site Ne= ws

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Staus Quo

=

If you have something to add to the Fox Fax, I need= it before the fifth of the month.

Cheers Y'all - Editor r.jennings14@verizon.net

=

(EOM)