BROOKINGS – Whup, whup, whup, whup.
If there’s a single sensation that brings the war in Vietnam back to the memories of those who served there, it’s the sound of helicopters – especially, the Bell UH-1 Iroquois Helicopter, better known as “Huey.”
The Hueys had three basic roles: “dust offs,” aeromedical evacuation, aka medevac; “slicks,” transporting troops into battle; and “gunships,” a pretty accurate self-description.
Four Brookings area Army veterans, all in their 70s and all South Dakota State University graduates (three of them also Brookings High School graduates) can especially relate to that defining sound: Terrance “Terry” Hill, Orville “Orv” Smidt, Neil Lee and Jack Hayne all flew helicopters in Vietnam.
They all had similar flight training and in-country combat experiences; and with the exception of Hill, they all returned home unscathed.
A short war
Following high school graduation in 1964, Terry Hill attended SDSU. But he didn’t stay on to graduate. In 1967, he volunteered for the Army as a warrant-officer candidate and the opportunity to fly. The Army was eagerly looking for helicopter pilots.
“I always wanted to fly,” he said. “I was in Air Force ROTC when I was in school. The Army was the only program where you could fly and not have a college degree.”
After basic training, he went to primary flight training at Fort Wolters, Texas, followed by advanced training at Fort Rucker, Alabama, where he learned to fly Hueys and such additional skills as instrument flying. He got his wings in late November 1968.
After a couple of weeks leave, he was sent to Vietnam. Now a chief warrant officer, Hill was assigned to the 7th Armored Squadron, 1st Air Cavalry, at Vinh Long, far south in the Mekong Delta. His unit wasted no time thrusting him into the war.
“The second day I was there, off we went flying,” he said, smiling and laughing lightly. “We basically inserted troops. We had the scout helicopters; we had the gunships; we had the slicks.
“I was only there five weeks when I got shot. It hit me in the elbow; it came in one side and out the other.” For Hill the war was over.
“That was it for Vietnam,” he said matter-of-factly. He would mend and complete his military obligation as a pilot-instructor, teaching Vietnamese candidates how to fly helicopters. In 1971 – after “3 years, 5 months and 11 days” – he left active duty and returned to SDSU and earned a degree in economic agriculture.
He stayed in the South Dakota National Guard as a pilot for about 3 1/2 years. During the Rapid City flood of 1972, he flew evacuation missions. He also “flew Gov. (Richard) Kneip around. I was a pilot for him and we went here and there.”
Soldier, pilot, lawmaker
Orv Smidt enlisted in the South Dakota National Guard at 17, while still in high school. He graduated in 1961. Following boot camp and AIT (advanced individual training), he returned to Brookings and enrolled at SDSU. He stayed in the Guard while at the same time being in Army ROTC.
After he graduated in 1966, he was commissioned a second lieutenant. Upon completion of the Basic Officer Course, “jump school” and 18 months with the 18th Airborne Corps, he took the same aviation training that Hill did; that pretty much guaranteed deployment to Vietnam.
Smidt served from October 1968 to October 1969, flying a variety of combat missions as a Huey pilot. Upon his return to the United States, he was assigned to instructor duty. After being promoted to captain, he decided to make the Army his career.
He retired with the rank of colonel in 1993; he and his family settled into Brookings. He became active in politics, first working on campaigns for Gov. Bill Janklow and then serving several terms in the South Dakota Legislature as a member of the state House of Representatives and state Senate.
Loved flying Chinooks
Lee had a lot in common with Smidt. They did some of the same things but a couple years apart. He was born in California; his family moved to Brookings when Lee was in the fifth grade. He graduated from Brookings High School in 1963 and from SDSU in January 1968. And having completed Army ROTC requirements he was commissioned a second lieutenant.
(Meanwhile, Smidt had married Lee’s sister, Charlotte, in 1961.)
Lee’s flight training and duty in Vietnam were similar to Hill’s and Smidt’s in all but one respect: he flew the Boeing CH-47 “Chinook” helicopter, which was bigger and faster than the Hueys the other two piloted.
Following Vietnam, where Lee served from August 1969 to August 1970, he went to Germany for three years. Then he left active duty with the rank of captain.
A couple years later, he joined the National Guard and flew for about nine years. Then he took about a five-year hiatus when the Chinnoks were pulled back for refitting as a newer version and he didn’t want to fly Hueys.
“So I got out. I was out for five years and realized I missed the military as much as I missed flying. So I went into the local Guard unit in Fairmont, Minnesota. I didn’t even know what they were. Turned out they were infantry.”
“My flying buddies, I was 45 years old, told me if you’re going to have a mid-life crisis, buy a Harley,” Lee said, laughing. “Don’t get into the infantry.” But he did.
“I ended up loving it,” he added. “I needed six years to complete 20 and I stayed for 10. Ended up being the first sergeant of that infantry company.”
However, since retirement works by way of the highest rank held on active duty, he retired as a captain.
Beginning to stand down
Hayne grew up in Rock Rapids, Iowa, an only son with four sisters. His senior year in high school, he moved to Brandon Valley. He graduated there and met Brenda, his wife-to-be. They “ended up at SDSU.”
ROTC was still mandatory. “I enjoyed it; I liked it,” he said. “I thought about going into the military. I had an uncle who graduated from SDSU. He was somebody to look up to. So I decided I was going to stick with the military and completed four years of ROTC and the flight training they offered.”
While in ROTC, he was a member of Pershing Rifles, a fraternal organization that also fielded drill teams. There he met Lee, who was a senior when he was a freshman.
“We really didn’t know each other,” Lee said. “But we were in the same organization. Now we ended up being friends.”
Hayne graduated in 1970 with a degree in sociology. On Aug. 1 he was commissioned a second lieutenant-infantry.
“There were two of us that volunteered for infantry – fifty-six that got it,” Hayne said. Smiling, he added, “There were a lot of unhappy pharmacists.”
In September 1970, he went to officer basic training at Fort Benning, Georgia. He followed that with additional training, including airborne, followed by flight schools at Fort Walters and Fort Rucker, which he completed in November 1971.
His next stop was to an air cavalry unit in Fort Knox, Kentucky, where he transitioned to a Bell Jet Ranger helicopter. Smaller than the Huey, the Rangers were used for command and control and for observation.
By the time Hayne got to Vietnam in February 1972, United States military units “were beginning to stand down.”
“Since I was a lieutenant, infantry, I ended up as a commander of some mercenaries, the Chinese Nung Security Force, in the Pleiku area.” He and a sergeant were the only Americans assigned to the force.
Hayne still had some flying assignments. And when the Ranger helicopters were sent back to CONUS in November 1972, he began flying Hueys.
With a cease-fire in effect in January 1973, he too returned to CONUS. He made the Army a career, retiring as a lieutenant colonel in September 1992. He and his wife Brenda live in Volga.
Looking at the military experiences of veterans Hill, Smidt, Lee and Hayne, one can see they have a lot in common: all were volunteers and as Army helicopter pilots, they all flew combat missions in Vietnam; and all are SDSU alumni and fans of their alma mater, especially Jackrabbit basketball. You’ll likely find them at all the home games in Frost Arena.
If you happen to meet them there, give them a genuine thank-you for their service.
Contact John Kubal at jkubal@brookingsregister.com.
