Author: DeltaBlog

During our 2012 reunion we held a Honor Guard Ceremony to honor the members of Company A and Company D, 227th Assault Helicopter Battalion, 1st Cavalry Division, who were Killed In Action during the Vietnam War.

Our website is beginning the process to shut down over the next few years.
Please use the following link to view this video which is now hosted on our 227th AHB Video Archive on Archive-It.org
Memorial Service for A/227 and D/227. November 9, 2012
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CW2 Martin Beckman provided the following list of AH-1G aircraft assigned to Company D, 227th Assault Helicopter Battalion, 1st Air Cavalry, for the time period 1969-1970

12 AH-1G’s and 1 LOH assigned with their serial numbers (where known) and nicknames

A/C                      Nickname                         Serial Number

I

II                     Montana Mercenary

III                  Leprechaun and Raid           68-15058

IV

V                        Corsair                                 68-17077       ???

VI                     Arizona Gambler

VII                    The Odyssey                         548               ????

VIII               Johnny* then “Ghost”?         442                ???      *first VIII crashed

IX                          Hulk                                  66-15262

X                     The Gremlin                          67-15803        VHPA Mag. Vol.23,No.1

XI                    Timujin Ship                         67-15768

XII

XIII                   El-Loch-O                              -14388            (OH-6A)

We lost three ships between Aug 69 and Aug 70 that I know something about, one was Captain Carl Chapman, one WO1 Glenn Hirata, and one was one of our of our IP’s Warrant Officer Clark with an engine failure.

Carl was shot down near Song Be, a .50 Cal to the tail rotor, Glenn crashed, and the IP forgot to flare at the end of an autorotation to Thunder Road, near Thunder one just north of Lai Khe.  I was part of this flight of two returning to LK.

There are four known patches that were in use by D/227 during the Vietnam Period.

The first of these is the 131st Aerial Weapons Company Patch

From Leonard Bauer who served with D/227 in 1965.

“This patch (above) was created in October 1965. Major William Cressal proposed it and displayed a drawing one morning on the flight-line at An Khe. Major Cressal was Armament Officer and WO-1 Albert Bresnick was his assistant. Not sure who drew it up, but we all agreed to order them post-haste.

We were known as the Red Devils and our call sign was “Devil”.

In the 11th Air Assault we were the “Tigers” Delta 227th from the very beginning when Alpha was the “gun company”. When the UH-1D s were available A,B, and C were lift companies and D became the weapons company with B model “hueys”.

Major Frank Henry was the first C.O. while Colonel John B. Stockton was the first Battalion Commander.”

Next is the Delta Company Patch

Albert Audette says, “When I was in country with D/227 AHB as a crew chief / door gunner their wasn’t too many of these patches available for us. I still have my original patch in my home display case. The patch certainly displays our gun ships and we delivered the fire power that was needed for the missions 1st in the LZ and last out of LZ. ”

The company was know during this time period as “FANGS” and there is a copy of the Pouvoir Newsletter from 3 June 1967 on the A/227 history page that shows the same artwork.

Jim Puhala sends the following information about the above patch.
“A question has been raised about the pocket patch (above)that appears on the home page of this website. Here’s some history. I came to Phan Thiet, to join A/229 and a platoon of D/229, in early March, 67, transferring from B/229th. I had a cup of coffee with A Co, then joined the gun platoon. Seems to me that call signs for both A and D companies (and probably the rest of the 227th) were indian tribes at that time. Shortly thereafter, we began using snakes. D Co was King Cobra and A Co was Sidewinder (as I recall).
The patch that appears on the homepage, and which John LaDue and I remember so well, simply showed up one day after the call sign change. It may have been produced locally at Phan Thiet and may have never been used by the rest of D Co. So the patch reflects a particular place and time for at least part of D Co.”

The time frame of the above patch would probably be sometime during 1969 or later. The patch shows the outline of a AH-1G which came to D/227 during late 1968 (November).

From Jim Puhala:

ABC NEWS COMMENTARY
 
By Harry Reasoner 

During the Viet Nam War

16 February 1971

The thing is, helicopters are different from planes. An airplane by its nature wants to fly, and if not interfered with too strongly by unusual events or by a deliberately incompetent pilot, it will fly.

A helicopter does not want to fly. It is maintained in the air by a variety of forces and controls working in opposition to each other, and if there is any disturbance in this delicate balance the helicopter stops flying, immediately and disastrously. There is no such thing as a gliding helicopter.

That is why being a helicopter pilot is so different from being an airplane pilot, and why, in generality, airplane pilots are open, clear-eyed, buoyant extroverts and helicopter pilots are brooders, introspective anticipators of trouble. They know if something bad has not happened, it is about to.

I have identified six aircraft (AH-1) that served with D/227 that are now on display in the United States. This information is based on the listing of display aircraft provided on the “Warbirds and Airshows” website.

Tail Number     Dates with D/227       Location 
	
67-15766       12-1968 to 07-1971      Army Aviation Heritage Foundation, Hampton, GA 	
67-15768       12-1968 to 02-1971      City of Greer, Greer, SC 	 	
67-15771       12-1968 to 01-1969      City of Troy, Troy, AL 	 	
67-15790       01-1969 to 03-1969      AMVETS Post #4 , Massena, NY	 	
67-15803       01-1969 to 05-1970      American Legion Post #11, Florence, AL 	
69-16442       08-1970 to 07-1971      Borough of South Plainfield, South Plainfield, NJ 	

Tyler Alberts, who is the A/227 historian, has found a document in the National Archives that shows a roster for D/227 from about 1971 (Although there is no date on the document it matches with names known from that time period).

The roster is available in PDF format using this link – D/227 Roster

David Johnston has shared a video taken during 1968 at Camp Evans. David served with D/227 from October 1967 to October 1968 and his video is exceptional. His entire video totals about 35 minutes. We have the entire video broken up into about 5 minutes clips below. (No Sound)

Our website is beginning the process to shut down over the next few years.
Please use the following links to view these videos which are now hosted on our 227th AHB Video Archive on Archive-It.org

David Johnston, D/227, 1968, 1CAV, Camp Evans, Vietnam, Part 1

David Johnston, D/227, 1968, 1CAV, Camp Evans, Vietnam, Part 2

David Johnston, D/227, 1968, 1CAV, Camp Evans, Vietnam, Part 3

David Johnston, D/227, 1968, 1CAV, Camp Evans, Vietnam, Part 4

David Johnston, D/227, 1968, 1CAV, Camp Evans, Vietnam, Part 5

David Johnston, D/227, 1968, 1CAV, Camp Evans, Vietnam, Part 6

David Johnston, D/227, 1968, 1CAV, Camp Evans, Vietnam, Part 7

After our archived Video page completes loading – In the yellow banner at the top of the page – click the small blue play button at the end of the line of text. After clicking that blue play button all the video controls on this video page will work in normal fashion.

The following is from the current website of 4-227 AHB, 1CAV

“The  current 4-227th Attack Reconnaissance Battalion traces its origins to two distinct lineages:  the regimental affiliation with the 227th AVN REGT and its roots as the Army’s first armed helicopter unit- the Utility Tactical Transport Company (UTT)- known simply as “First with Guns!”.  Constituted on 15 JUL 1961, BG Joe Stilwell. Jr. led the UTT to develop attack helicopter tactics- evolutionary concepts as relevant today as they were innovative then.  The UTT was re-flagged on several occasions in Viet Nam:  in AUG 1964, as the 68th Armed Helicopter Company (AHC); in MAR 1965, as the 197th AHC; and in SEP 1966, as the 334th AHC- the first AHC in Viet Nam equipped with the advanced AH-1G Cobra.
During the same period, the Battalion’s regimental roots were constituted on 1 FEB 1963 as Company D, 227th Aviation Battalion, an arial weapons company assigned to the 11th Air Assault Division.  On 1 JUL 1965, it was reorganized and re-designated as Company D, 227th Aviation Battalion, 1st Cavalry Division.  The D Company “Guns” served valorously in support of 1st Cavalry Division operations, in Viet Nam, until it was inactivated on 30 AUG 1971.  The unit was awarded two Presidential Unit Citations and two Valorous Unit Awards for its sustained actions in the A-Shau Valley, and the provinces of Pleiku Binh Thuan, and Bien Hoa, from 1966-1971.  While the Guns of 227th de-activated, the Guns of the 334th AHC deployed to Hanau, Germany, in 1973, and were later re-flagged the 503rd Aviation Battalion.  The units of the 503rd would ultimately re-flag as AH64 units in the 227th AVN REGT, sustaining the First with Guns lineage in Europe.  Back at Fort Hood, D Company, 227th was re-activated on 16 JUL 1987, deploying with the Division to Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, in support of the Defense of Saudi Arabia and the Liberation of Kuwait.
The Unit was again reorganized and re-designated, on 16 NOV 1993 as the 4th Battalion, 227th Aviation Regiment at Fort Hood, TX, serving the Division proudly until its deactivation as a regular Army unit on 15 FEB 1997.  During this Aviation Restructuring Initiative, the Army also down-sized the 2nd and 3rd   (AH-64) Battalions of the 227th AVN REGT, activating the 1-501st AVN REGT (ATK) at Hanau, Germany as part of the 1st Armored Division.  Following distinguished tours to Bosnia and Kosovo, the Battalion deployed on a 15 month combat tour to Operation Iraqi Freedom, in April 2003, earning the Valorous Unit Award for its actions in the Baghdad area of operations.  In 2005, the 1-501st ATK deployed from Germany to Fort Hood to undergo the AH-64D Unit and Fielding Training Program and re-join the 1st Cavalry Division.  The Guns deployed to OIF 06-08 with the First Team on 24 SEP 06 and conducted sustained attack and reconnaissance operations for 15 months over Baghdad, in support of MND-B and MND-C.  The unit redeployed to Texas in January 2008 to prepare for future operations in support of the war against terrorists and extremists.”

Jim Puhala sent along a copy of his hand written notebook which he kept while serving with D/227 at Phan Thiet. Jim served briefly with A/227 before being transferred to D/227 to fly gunships. His tour was January 1967 to January 1968.

Jim states that during August 1967, “I began to attend the nightly task force briefings. the notes include the daily password/reply, troop dispositions for 2/7, action reports, religious services, movies, and miscellaneous other stuff (some of which I can’t decipher).”

His notebook has 95 pages of information from August 1967 to the end of December 1967.

This is a large file which will take about four minutes to download with DSL connection.

Puhala Notebook.pdf

BATTALION AND UNIT CITATIONS AND AWARDS

227^TH BN PRESIDENTAL UNIT CITATION –  PLEIKU PROVINCE –  23 OCT TO 26 NOV 65

CO A 227^TH , CO D 227^TH  PRESIDENTAL UNIT CITATION – BINH THUAN PROVINCE – 27 JAN TO 04 APR 67

2^ND &3^RD PLT, CO D 227^TH  VALOROUS UNIT AWARD  –   QUANG TIN PROVINCE –   01-31 OCT 67

227^TH BN VALOROUS UNIT AWARD  –  BIEN HOA PROVINCE –  6 MAR 69

227^TH BN VALOROUS UNIT AWARD  –  FISH HOOK –  01 MAY TO 29 JUNE 70

CO A 227^TH VALOROUS UNIT AWARD  –  FIRE SUPPORT BASE 6 – 31 MAR TO 16 APR 71

227^TH BN MERITORIOUS UNIT COMMENDATION  –  VIETNAM 1965-1966 – SEP 65- NOV 66

227^TH BN REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM CROSS OF GALLANTRY W/PALM  –  VIETNAM 1965- 1966 –  09 AUG 65- 19 MAY 69

227^TH BN REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM CROSS OF GALLANTRY W/PALM  –  VIETNAM 1969- 1970 – MAY 69- FEB 70

227^TH BN REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM CROSS OF GALLANTRY W/PALM  –  VIETNAM 1970- 1971 – 21 FEB 70- 28 FEB 71

227^TH BN REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM CIVIL ACTION HONOR MEDAL 1^ST CLASS  –  VIETNAM 1969- 1970 01 JAN 69- 01 FEB 71